Thailand - Kata Beach

We moved to another hotel for the last 3 nights of our time in Thailand, Avista Kata Beach. It wasn't as nice as the Avista Hideaway in Patong but it was still really nice. It was just smaller, and older, and only had one pool, but otherwise the rooms were almost exactly the same and the breakfast spread was just as elaborate. Anyway, this hotel was maybe a quarter mile, max, away from Kata beach. So we spent a good amount of time lounging on that beach. Below are some pictures of it. It was a nice beach, very clean, but also quite crowded. There were probably a thousand lounge chairs with umbrella lining the beach - three rows deep. We also noticed that both times we were at the beach we were surrounded by Russians - Kata beach seems to be the place where all the Russians go on vacation.



This isn't beach related, but here is a picture of some tuk-tuks, which are little open-air cars that operate like taxis. We rode in a few of these and it's all well and good when you're on flat straight roads but when you go around sharp curves and up and down hills at a fast pace it's pretty scary.



My typical Thai lunch that I had at a restaurant on Kata beach, Khao Phad:

Thailand - Phang Nga Bay and James Bond Island

One of the fun things to do when you're hanging out on Phuket is to go on a boat trip. There are an infinite number of boat trips you can take to all the different islands in the area. We decided to start with a trip to Phang Nga Bay and James Bond Island - which is the famous island seen in The Man With the Golden Gun. Phang Nga bay is a 400 km² bay in the Strait of Malacca between the island of Phuket and the mainland of the Malay peninsula of southern Thailand. It has 42 islands in it.

The trip was on a speedboat packed as full as it could possibly be. Thankfully the views in the bay were worth it. We cruised around a bit in the morning, just taking pictures of the islands. A lot of the islands had bits of rock hanging down around them and sticking out over the water; in the second pic below that's what you see hanging down in the top because we were cruising right alongside one of the islands:



For lunch we stopped at Pawnee island, which isn't an island at all but a collection of buildings on stilts filled with little touristy shops and restaurants. It's really just there as a stop for all the tourists on boat trips and there is nothing special about it and no reason why you'd want to spend time there:



After lunch we headed to James Bond island, along with about a million other tourists. It actually wasn't too awfully crowded but there were a lot of other people there, not to mention little stalls selling touristy things. Here are some pictures of the view from the island and the different tourist boats hanging out there:



And some pictures from around the island:



One of the little stalls selling kitsch:



... and all the tourists taking pictures of each other with the famous needle-like island.



After we'd taken a million pictures with everybody else, we went kayaking. In Thailand, kayaking means you sit in a kayak while a guide paddles you around. We really didn't do anything physically taxing on this trip. It was awesome. Below are pictures from the little kayak excursion.



Then we finally got to hang out on a beach and swim! I don't remember what this island was called, but it had a really nice beach that wasn't crowded at all so it was a nice peaceful way to end the day.



Islands in the distance:



While James Bond island was neat and the beach we visited at the end of the day was relaxing, we could have done without the crowded boat, crowds of tourists in general, kayak trip where we didn't get to paddle, tourist trap lunch spot, and all the little shops on the islands. We don't think we'd recommend this trip, unless you could find a trip where they don't fill the boat beyond its capacity and they avoid the really crowded touristy areas except James Bond island (such trips do exist but you have to do some research and book at least a few weeks ahead of time because they book up fast).

Thailand - Patong

Our first stop in Thailand was Patong, which is a town located on the island of Phuket. We stayed at the Avista Hideaway resort and spa, which was one of the top three best hotels I've ever stayed at. I'd rank it with the Legian in Bali and the Komaneka at Bisma, also in Bali. I didn't take many pictures around the hotel because we really just got there and sat in lounge chairs the whole time, doing absolutely nothing, but trust me it was a really nice place. Not only was it a nice hotel but the food there was also amazing. Everything we ate there was good and the breakfast spread was the best I've ever seen. Here are a few pictures of the view from our room, the pools (there were 3 pools to choose from), and sunsets:



The hotel was located on a hill outside of Patong so you had to take the shuttle or a cab in order to get into or back from town. But that was okay because Patong is known for its night life and we didn't want to be staying in the middle of that for sure. And being on a hill keeps the hotel safe from tsunamis!

On our first day in Patong we wandered around and did some shopping during the day. We didn't buy much as most shops are selling cheap touristy items. You are constantly badgered on the streets by women outside of massage parlors offering you massages, men offering to make you suits, shop owners telling you to come into their shops, and cab or tuk-tuk drivers offering to take you places. The town was very colorful and alive and everybody was friendly.

On a side note, here are some pictures of the mess of electric/phone/cable wires:



We stopped for lunch at a restaurant right by the beach and enjoyed a mango smoothie and a coconut and the local beer, Chang, which I don't think was very good. We never went to Patong beach because it didn't look very nice. It was really crowded and the water was more brown than blue or green so we stayed away. We found nice beaches elsewhere, and our hotel offered a shuttle to a nicer beach so we had no problems there.



One thing we were told to do while in Asia was to have some clothes made. Tailors all over Asia are known for making clothes quickly and cheaply (high quality but not expensive). So, Martin had some dress pants made while we were there:



We also explored some of the nightlife on the Bangla road. There are tons of people on this road, and it's lined with bars (and maybe a prostitute or two). The amount going on here at night is impressive and the bars are enormous. We didn't hang around too long, just took a few pictures: