Phuket Diaries: Day 1

1st Feb 2018 started with a 3:30 am flight from Don Mueang Airport to Phuket and we were all on the plane like we were drunk, especially me because I fell asleep as soon as I sat on my seat and woke up when the plane landed. I felt nothing nor did I hear anything during the entire flight. 

 Got a taxi for 800 baht to Patong which was about a 40 minute ride from the airport. Luckily no traffic so we made it to the hotel in a jiffy(Surprisingly there were no multi-colored cabs like we see in bangkok here in Phuket except the limos/reserved ones or the red open back type jeepneys blasting latest chart toppers which are hiked up pricey depending on your thai speaking skills)...

We booked out hotel on Agoda and since we all had no idea about Phukhet, we were glad we booked Patong because it happened to be the happening scene of Phuket with beach, night life and great choice of restaurants. We arrived at about 6am at a small reception of the Paton Bay Residence Hotel located right by the entrance and even though we had early check in on our agoda settings, they were slightly hesitant on handing out our room keys but seeing our half awake faces she were empathetic. The rooms were ready and we got the keys and off we hit the beds right away. No such scenery from the window but a lot of construction adjacent to our rooms on the 4th floor. That morning we weren't bothered by the noise of the drilling at the site as fatigue came in sooner than we imagined. We all slept till noon and decided to freshen up and head out for lunch.

We came by a restaurant PS2 by a connected resort and had some Thai Food and made out way to the Beach. On the way to the beach we decided to book a tour for the next day to the islands. we chose Phi Phi Islands from a local tour operator called Top 10 and paid 1300 Baht per person to visit Phi Phi Islands+May Bay and Green Islands via Speed Boat starting at 8am inclusive of Lunch and return back in the evening with Hotel pick up and drop off. We are not sure if we were ripped off on the price but we saw on the brochure that it cost about 3000 Baht per person and we managed to get a good deal for1300 baht. (Not sure if it was a good deal or not as we forgot to ask the other passengers on the boat regarding their fare per person that day)...

Then we headed towards Patong beach. A nice place to walk around under the trees and the guys took a dip into the sea while I took refuge under a palm tree watching them gleefully swim in the salty waters under the scorching sun along with a few hundred other people on the beach as well. 

I slipped away from the hot sand under my feet in search for  bottle of water to drink but instead found myself walking towards a blue ice cream lorry playing a creepy tune (the ones that play in the movies and a clown is selling the ice cream) attracting people on the beach as it moved along slowly up and down the beach pathway. I had a plain choco bar and it sure tasted good after a really really really long time. 

The boys took a dip twice in the sea before calling it quits for the day as the excitement meter was slightly falling due to the hot sun and the salt in the water I guess. I was dressed in pants and hadn't come ready to jump into the sea like them so was left along the sands people watching and getting amazed at people and society...

The beach was mostly filled with foreigners (I could identify a lot of Russian speaking tourists and Chinese tourists). I didn’t expect a lot of Russians to be visiting Phuket so did a slight homework research and found out that a lot of Russians have settled here in Phuket and Pattaya after the Soviet Union with settled businesses and illegal operations running in the market. It is said that Russian mafia runs alot of the businesses here from restaurants, cafes, hotels to night clubs. Bangkok post reported that Russians are involved here in Phuket with gambling, casino, money laundering, buying national forests, luxury houses and real estates, and paying off corrupt government officials and police individuals. The gang that is prevalent here is called "Spachiba"...

Then we walked back to the hotel and rested a bit till it was time for dinner. We walked down the streets of Patong and came across a mall called JUNGCEYLON and found a huge range of food options. We all love some good food after a long day of travel and sun so we chose korean and had some bibimbap. Not the best korean food we had but it was alright for Patong standards. after meal we caught a local taxi and headed back to the hotel to rest our aching feet.