It's my last night in Patong tonight, although I'm not going far just to the next beach along called, Karon. They all rhyme it makes me laugh. Right now where do I begin with Patong. Personally it's not my favourite I feel the restaurants have little variety, it's much more expensive here as its touristy. However I struggle to understand why it is so touristy, as there isn't much here, there a beach and only 1 temple. In Thailand there are usually quite a few temples in the area. I guess Patong is more of a 'lads' destination. The ocean isn't clear as it gets so chopped up by the cruise ships so you can't snorkel.
I'm not just complaining about the area. I have enjoyed my time here, I was lucky to have booked into one of the best hostels as the vibe here is great and the staff make it like family. Most of the days here in Patong we have relaxed around the beach, and just adjusting ourselves to the travelling lifestyle. When we arrived we were sharing a 6 bed dorm with just one girl in which was so lucky. Her name was bianka and she is from New Zealand, she was so nice and I was so blessed she was here at our arrival. She joined us with going to the beach and going out to dinner. We also met a lovely American guy from Tennessee his name was Alan, he was a deep sea diver and Patong is known for its diving areas. They have great ship wreckages you can see, you may also come across the odd shark. So the marine life is good, but it's not good for snorklers.
On the third day here we had booked a day trip to James Bond island and 4 other islands. The organisation began with individually picking everyone up from there hostels, we were lucky as we were the last to get picked up so didn't need to get up as early! We then drove 40 mins to the east side of the island and arrived in Ao Phanang national park. They dropped us as a centre where we could have tea, coffee and biscuits. We then proceeded to blindly lead each other to the boat we were meant to be taking we had to guess which boat pretty much and remember what the boat looked like from the brochure. The first boat ride took 40 mins, on the boat there was free unlimited drinks including beers and colas, this was totally unexpected as the tour was fairly cheap anyway. To get onto the first island we had to change boats in the middle of the sea and get onto a very small traditional Thailand boat. They are very brightly painted and are only run by a small car motor. When we arrived at the first island we had the options to go to the little market we decided as a group we didn't want too as it involves too much haggling and non of us were that interested. This island had a population of roughly 150 people, it was a floating village, that even had the first of a kind; floating football pitch. This football pitch came into the fame spotlight when they tried to get a team to enter the World Cup as a one of a kind, until they couldn't afford to get off the island in order to compete.
After this island we went on to having lunch as we continued our journey to James Bond island. Lunch was great you had beautifully prepared fresh fish, noodles, rice, soup, vegetables and chicken stew. So really something for everyone. Again I met a lovely lady on this tour her name was Lucky Triplett. What a name. She was from Orlando, Florida and we enjoyed chatting away over lunch. When we got to James Bond island unfortunately we only had 20 minutes until I realised that's all the time you need as you can only walk on certain parts. We got all the snaps we wanted and we're back onto the boat again.
From here we went to an island you couldn't inhabit. The anchor was thrown down and suddenly a group of 20 men on kayaks arrived paddling to our boat. We all got to choose which guide we had! Dan chose a great guide he was clearly the best there. We kayaked to see monkeys, and went inside a bat cave. Now this really was an experience when some guides turned back the tougher crowds decided they could fit through the other end, which is usually easier depending on the tides. We all had to lie down as much as we could to squeeze out of this cave. This island was incredible because no humans had touched it, it was the most natural and beautiful scenery I had ever laid eyes on. It felt like a life changing moment and I pray it stays this way.
After kayaking we got back onto our main boat and went to another uninhabited island where we couldn't get too close too. As we stopped about kilometre from the island the guide said now who wants to go for a swim. Me Dan And this Chinese guy instantly stood up took off our clothes and took a big jump and splashed into the water. Pushing ourselves and feeling like we would never touch the ground again we made it to this island, where I'm sure only a few have touched based. It felt a privallage to make it and was well worth the extra arm strength and determination. we only spent a short time here but some of the shells on this beach were amazing I was pretty much warning everyone not to take them. I was trying to make people aware of the shell crisis in south east Asia where tourists are taking all the shells off the beaches which are the homes for hermit crabs!
That is pretty much the summary of my trip and can you believe the whole thing cost me 1,500B which is equivalent to £30. A trip like this in England would easily cost £100 each, for all the drinks and food included and boats and minibuses. The value for money on day trips clearly struck me as money well spent. However don't be fooled on the leaflet it was advertised at 3,000B and everyone I spoke too paid different amounts, fortunately I heard that we haggled them to the best deal. I thank my dad for teaching me these great skills from observing him do the same on previous holidays.
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