|
|
#72043 - 05/08/08 10:34 AM
JBR
|
SteveR
Member
Registered: 09/12/05
Posts: 101
Loc: South Africa
|
Offline
|
|
Well after 10 blissful days of sunshine in Patong I arrived back in Cape Town to howling winds and pouring rain. It has taken me a total of 24 hours to book my next trip back to Phuket !!
Arrived in Phuket on 26 April. Flew with Singapore Airlines from Cape Town and as usual no complaints at all. Service and food was excellent and managed to even sleep for about 7 hours on the flight. Also had no charge for excess baggage when leaving Phuket (was about 9kg's over) It was good to be back in Phuket and spent the first 2 days visiting old friends at restaurants and bars.
Stayed at Thara Patong in a deluxe room. I really like this resort because of its location. On beach road but the rooms are set back so not really hassled by road noise. As usual the staff were fantastic and had no problems at all. Their breakfasts are a little bit limited in choice but then I am not a big brekkie eater so did not really bother me. Enjoy sitting at the brekkie room looking right onto the road and watching the early morning shoppers on their mission.
My prime objective for this trip was to complete my Open Water diving certification. Booked through Phuket Pro Dive (Richard and Megumi) and started on the Monday morning. Megumi was excellent and by Wednesday afternoon I had completed by 4 training dives and my final exam. I now have even more reason to return to Phuket !! Found a dive shop on Rathu Thit that was having a end of season sale and managed to pick up a huge bargain on diving equipment.
Booked a one day big game fishing trip with Sarusak. THB 3200 for the day which included hotel transfers, lunch, softdrinks etc. There were 8 of us on the boat and turned out to be quite a festive trip. Headed out from Chalong Pier to Racha island trawling along the way. I hooked the first catch of the day which was a small tuna. Stopped off Racha for lunch and snorkelling. On the way back in the afternoon the team was getting despondent and turned to Heineken for some encouragement. Within 30 minutes we landed about another 6 baby tuna! Should have started earlier !
A trip to Phuket is not a trip without the Friday night social. Had about 35 people and it was an excellent evening. Finally got to put some faces to names ( Oz2Go). Megumi handed over my diving certificate so that was even more reason to have another J Bomb ! Richard had broken his nose earlier in the week but was still in top form.
Did not intend to shop on this trip but still made a trip up to Central and Jungcelyon. Still think OTOP is a good place for all round shopping and with the little bars dotted around you can stop off for a frostie when it gets too hot. Heard the story about the different color bags that your purchases get put in and not sure how true it all is. In any event I landed up with heaps of black bags so I must have been doing OK! With it hitting low season there are less customers and found that the prices for TShirts etc were lower than I paid around Songkran last year.
Bought DVD’s, CD’s and Playstation games at Kittys. DVD’s were 50baht (got quite a lot) and playstation were 80 baht. Picked up some 2GB iPod knock offs for 1400 baht. Between my sister and I we bought 6 units. Took them back to the hotel and checked them all on the notebook and had to take two back – they were fine with it and happily exchanged them. So word of warning if you gonna buy then get them when you arrive and make sure you check them. The one that I had a problem with only played 5 songs before the battery went flat!
Found a tailor on Beach Road just out from the hotel - Uomo Fashion. Had some nice cotton work shirts made up for 650 baht each. My sisters boyfriend had some made up for a little more but he takes a bit more material !
Eating – One of my favourite pastimes in Thailand. Visited No1 and No 6 and both were excellent value and brilliant food. Went to Ali Baba for curry one night and this was great although did notice that prices are quite a bit up on last year. For lunches we have this little restaurant , No46 & 47, which is located on the beach side just before Rock City. Have been eating here the last 4 years and its excellent value for lunch. Can get a dish with some rice and a soft drink/fruitshake for about 150baht.
Bars – Could not resist a couple of beers here and there. Made a few stops in Bangla at our favourite being the Happy Night Bar which is at the entrance to Soi Crocodile. Found a new batch of beer bars in Soi Sea Pearl which is just outside the side entrance of Thara Patong. Nice quieter bars if you want to have a conversation and play some pool and the beers are a few baht cheaper.
Some things I noticed:
-The time share boys on the their motorbikes are still out in full force and got my standard response “Sorry no English” spoken in a heavy Italian accent – then they left me alone
-First time in 5 trips and I was offered hard drugs on beach road by guys on motorbikes
- Number of ladyboys trolling the beach in the early morning (6am) – cant even go for an early walk or swim without getting hassled !
All in all another great trip and I have now set my counter for October and cant wait to get back !!!!!
Steve
|
| |
Editors Recommendations : Thara Patong |
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#72045 - 05/08/08 04:34 PM
Re: JBR
[Re: SteveR]
|
travelsandy
Member
Registered: 12/29/05
Posts: 119
Loc: Sydney, Australia
|
|
Offline
|
|
Hi Steve,
Great report - glad you liked the Thara Patong. Was your room one of the newly refurbished ones, and did you have a look at the pool access rooms there?
My niece is looking at the Thara for her holiday in July.
Glad the Friday Night bbq's are still going strong - Richard & Megumi are excellent Ambassadors and always make everyone feel welcome.
Now the count is on for you until October.
Cheers,
Sandy
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#72049 - 05/08/08 11:58 PM
Re: JBR
[Re: travelsandy]
|
SteveR
Member
Registered: 09/12/05
Posts: 101
Loc: South Africa
|
|
Offline
|
|
Hi Sandy
Not sure if mine was refurbished. Looked pretty much the same as teh room I stayed in last year.Have looked at the pool access rooms and not sure if its worth the extra cash just to be able to walk from yr room to the pool. While I was swimming this time I swam past one and could see right inside so from a privacy side of things it doesn't work for me. Had a pool access room once at the Banthai and did not really like it.
STEVE
|
| |
Editors Recommendations : Banthai Beach Resort |
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#72050 - 05/09/08 12:08 AM
Re: JBR
[Re: SteveR]
|
shwaygwailo
Member
Registered: 12/03/05
Posts: 255
Loc: OZ
|
|
Offline
|
|
Thanks Steve, sounds like you had a good time.
Be there myself in July.
shway.
_________________________
"I ought not to let my mind wander, as it's too small to go off by itself"
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#72053 - 05/09/08 03:33 AM
Re: JBR
[Re: shwaygwailo]
|
CathyP
Member
Registered: 11/15/04
Posts: 643
Loc: Australia
|
|
Offline
|
|
Great report Steve, well done on your diving certification, Im to chicken to try anything like that, well - so far I am!! Hope thats not going to be a regular thing with the guys offering drugs, we were asked every time we went to Bali and always say to friends we have never heard of it happening in Phuket.
Its great going to the Friday Night BBQ's and putting faces to names isnt it, ahh I can just taste those spare ribs.
Thanks again for your report.
"Shway we should catch up for a drink in July!!"
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#72064 - 05/09/08 07:19 PM
Re: JBR
[Re: CathyP]
|
os2go
Member
Registered: 08/08/06
Posts: 86
Loc: Melbourne, Australia
|
|
Offline
|
|
Hi Steve,
Just like me sorry to see that you are back home and can't wait to be back in the land of smiles.
It was great to meet you and your JBR says it all.
This is the first year that we also came across drugs and as CathyP states above, we also hope its not a regular thing.
I will soon post my JBR for all to read.
We are now in the planning phase for our return trip.
Take care
regards
os2go
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#72105 - 05/12/08 05:39 AM
Re: JBR
[Re: os2go]
|
ella
Member
Registered: 09/20/06
Posts: 37
Loc: western australia
|
|
Offline
|
|
My husband is an early riser and so often goes for a walk around quite early - usually around 0600am (he knows better than to wake me up!) and for the last couple of years he has been offered a variety of things at that hour...
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#72108 - 05/12/08 09:45 AM
Re: JBR
[Re: ella]
|
judeloveen
Member
Registered: 04/29/08
Posts: 17
Loc: Ireland
|
|
Offline
|
|
Thanks for the report Steve. I just returned from Phuket and did the very same as you-booked my next trip out! I'm heading back end of May to start 6 months of travelling. I'm going solo so if anyone reads this and wants to meet for a beer or three-please get in touch!
Thailand is such a magical place isn't it? I don't know one person who visited and hasn't returned!
Jude
_________________________
Jude
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
Moderator: CathyP, Darrin, Faa, Neil, AWD-Peter, AWD-Alan
|
0 registered
and 14 anonymous users online.
|
|
6517 Members
19 Forums
17032 Topics
69090 Posts
Max Online: 175 @ 07/13/07 08:24 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
