Elephants at the nightly Patong market

Everyone is trying to sell something at the nightly market.

Even though the sign indicated with both text and a nicely painted animal that this was a boutique for elephants we sadly didn't see any.

You'll get the meaning of the left t-shirt after having spent a few minutes in the area. Take one step and you'll get one new offer; tuk tuk, suit, massage, etc. It's always "special price for you my friend".

Didn't buy the shirt though - I actually started to bargain just for fun and kind of liked it... Weird.

Interesting. Rip-off of the Swedish Dressman brand. Proud owner posing in front of the boutique.

Most male salespeople in the area run the handshake trick (con?) to get you into their boutique. Basically they try to shake your hand while asking where you're from. It's seems polite at first, it's after all just a normal handshake isn't it, but when the salesman won't release the grip and instead tries to pull you into the boutique the similarity with the normal greeting procedure is no longer apparent.

Per didn't have a camera in the right hand. You can guess what happened...

Tip: Place something (e.g. a camera) in the right hand. That way a salesman will have a harder time to run the trick as long as you avoid initiating handshakes with the left hand.

Thai women in our sideboard

First line support team at Rico's Hotel in action. It's not exactly what it might look like though...

The safe in our newly constructed hotel room didn't work so the receptionists replaced it with a new one.

Patong Beach, Phuket

We spent a few relaxing days on the Patong Beach studying the Thai beach culture, reading books, bathing, eating fresh fruit, having a few beers, interacting with locals, ...

Action shot of fresh fruit just-in-time delivery on the beach. It's a heavy load - they carry not only the fruit but also a lot of ice to keep it cool and fresh. I'm sweating just lying there reading a book in minimal bathing shorts (no, not that minimal) and this woman is walking around fully dressed, carrying two heavy baskets. It's impressive.

"Freeeshhh fruuuiiittt miiisteeer?! Mangooo?! Papayaaa?! Only tweentyy Baath! Piiineapple?! You want Mangooo?!"

If you're not up for fruit there are plenty of other business opportunities; t-shirts, ice cream, beer, water, wooden elephants, umbrellas, "Lolex" (it's basically a fake Rolex, but Thai people have difficulties to pronounce the R) clocks, cotton hammocks, massage, ... The list is endless.

So, if you're about to spend a day on the Patong beach prepare yourself for a day full of "1500 Bath?! Ok, how much you pay?! Nooo, can not! 1000 Bath?! Nooo, can not! 500 Bath?! Noooooo, can not!"

I bought myself a cotton hammock after the guy had been bargaining with himself (a lot of "Nooo, can not!") going from 1650 Bath down to 150 Bath. A deal I just couldn't refuse.

"No thanks! I don't need a big black t-shirt right now. I'm sweating just lying here..."

Breakfast at the end of Bangla Road

It's morning in Patong and Bangla Road is almost deserted. A few Tuk-tuks and mopeds slowly pass by on the road that's opened for traffic during day time. It's a totally different view compared to the night before.

Intersection at the end of the road that's closest to the beach.

We found a silent (and fan-equipped) restaurant just around the corner from the intersection that served breakfast until 2.00 PM.

An interesting observation was that if we got to the restaurant before 11.00 AM they would serve a simple breakfast, most likely directly from their hotel breakfast buffet. If we got there after 11.00 AM, the same breakfast order would generate a meal that was so much better - bigger fresh fruit plates, etc. I guess they closed the buffet around that time and therefore couldn't just pick from it.

Photographed by Per.

Rico's Hotel in Patong, Phuket

The taxi driver from the airport dropped us off at the end of Bangla Road in Patong. Per, who had been in Patong before the tsunami in 2004, had problems to establish a fix location point since he only recognized a few buildings - they were still patching and rebuilding all over city's central area.

We hadn't arranged for a place to stay before arriving to Patong. Didn't know for how long we were going to stay in the area. When we reached the beach with our backpacks two guys tipped us about Rico's Hotel, an "almost opened" hotel on a small Soi to Bangla Road.

Found out that "almost opened" meant that the construction of the hotel was just about to be finished. We were the first guests in the room we got - a really nice one!

Bangla Road isn't the most silent road in Patong. There's always something going on (e.g. a dragon dancing by) and its night life defines the area, it's busy and noisy. Had no problems to sleep though - the Soi Bangla Square that the hotel was located on was really quiet.

Part of a dragon in motion.

Leaving Koh Tao for Phuket

It was time to leave the east coast for the sunny west coast. Even though the weather had been great so far, visibility in the water could have been better. And it wasn't improving. Apparently the monsoon was approaching on the east side.

We took a speedboat from Koh Tao to the nearby island Koh Samui to get to an airport.

As can be seen on the pictures the airport security is not that restrictive. You can basically walk past the security scan at the entrance and straight into the airport area.

It's a small airport with a definite Thai feeling. At the airport restaurant I got myself a coconut drink, just to find out that there was a hole in the bottom of the coconut. No drink?! It took some convincing before the staff decided to give me a new one...

Airport logistic staff gathering the group going to Phuket.

Boarding. The stewardess looked at me and quickly decided that I needed some extra space for my legs; length in total app. 2 meters.

Another one of those airport limousine taxis.

Me and Per in the back, heading for Phuket's Patong area. Still haven't figured out why taxi drivers in Thailand are so keen on branding their taxis "limousine" - it's just normal taxis. Might have something to do with the price tag, obviously you're supposed to pay more for a "limousine" than a taxi.

Dive log; Thailand, Koh Tao, Pottery

AOW course; night dive; instructor #486876, Crystal Dive Resort.

10.1m, 41 minutes; Suunto D9 dive log.

http://www.crystaldive.com