Day 3: Tuesday. Day at Leisure. Around Karon and Towards the South.

We slept until around 8 o’clock. Suprisingly enough neither of us had even the slightest case of jet lag, but we were starving when we got up. Breakfast was included in our room fare and we decided to go see what was on the menu. The resort’s buffet restaurant is called Le Bayon and we were immediately impressed. There was plenty of food, though I’m not a bacon-and-eggs type of person and around day 3 or 4 I started wishing for a little more variety. The food was always good though and we started each day with a nice solid meal. We never had supper at Le Bayon, because it was 495 baht per person and very pricey by our standards. They have a different theme every evening (Thai night, Brazilian night, etc) and between the cuisine and live entertainment the guests always seemed to have a great time.

During breakfast Dirk decided that the first thing we had to do is rent a scooter for the week. Just down the street from the resort was a small travel agency where we rented ours. The lady quoted us 200 baht per day, we asked for a quote for 6 days and paid 1100 baht. Dirk had the option of handing in his passport as security or paying a 5000 baht deposit. We considered both options and he decided to hand in his passport. This lady’s travel agency seemed slightly more civilised (i.e. legitimate) than a few other backstreet ones we saw during our stay, so we figured it was a reasonable request. We made a point of going to a decent place and not necessarily the cheapest. We had specifically done a significant amount of research on this topic prior to our trip and had come across a number of tourists who had had bad experiences with their rental scooters. Some of these stories were horrifying, from accidents to run-ins with corrupt officials of the Tourist Police, to scooter mafias, you name it. People being charged exhorbitant fees when they returned their scooters for so-called damage that didn't exist. The list goes on. It just didn’t seem worth the extra 100 or 200 baht they saved on their rental price. During the course of our stay we went back to the travel agency at least 4 times, mainly to use the internet & email, but also to make sure Dirk's passport was still okay. And not only did the lady keep his passport safe, but she was always forthcoming with information of sights to see and places we could go. She was definitely one of the people that helped give Thailand it's nickname as "The Land of Smiles".

The roads are full of narrow lanes and sharp turns, and you are most often either driving up a hill or down one.

We got on our scooter and set off to explore our immediate surroundings. We first had to stop for petrol; it cost us about 50 baht to fill the tank (a previous driver had left a little petrol in the tank for us). Then we drove to our first stop: Kata Beach. It was hot and humid and we spent about 30 minutes there. After taking many pictures and each having a Coke we left again.

Next stop was the Karon View Point. I don't know why it's called "Karon View Point", since it's actually located on the hills above Kata Noi Beach. Nevertheless, this place was spectacular; sitting on top of a hill you can see Karon Beach, and both Kata Beaches. We took loads of pictures here as well; there are plenty of excellent angles. We came accross two other Afrikaans men, and it was almost strange to hear our own language!

We then drove towards the south of the island, Nai Harn Beach, Yanui Beach and the likes. The roads are full of narrow lanes and sharp turns, and you are most often either driving up a hill or down one. You obviously can’t go very fast on a scooter, but you get to stop as often as you like and the road is very scenic! We loved Nai Harn Beach, it was very remote and quiet. It’s obviously intended for the truly wealthy and we spotted several yachts in the bay (one with a SA flag!). This is the very southern part of the island and was particularly devastated by the tsunami in 2004, though almost no evidence of it can be seen today.

We drove to Promthep Cape (but neither of us actually noticed the famous most southern tip of Phuket island). “Prom” is Thai for a Hindu word signifying purity and “Thep” means God. Local villagers refer to it as God’s Cape because in the olden days it was an easily recognisable landmark for boats. We’ve heard that this spot is exceptional at sunset; we were there twice during our stay and unfortunately both times were during the day. It’s still amazing though, and it offers spectacular views of the sea and coastline. We drove through Rawaii Beach to Chalong Circle and all the way back to Karon Beach.

Lunch was at 14:00 at an Italian Restaurant called Long Beach Terrace, located on Karon Beach main road, about 500m from the resort. We were both starving from the morning’s sightseeing (and heat). We paid through our teeth for a Margarita pizza, which was 375 baht. We each paid 80 baht for a Coke, and suffice it to say we did not go back there. It is way, way overpriced. By looking at plenty of menus from several different restaurants that week I came to realise that pizza is definitely not a cheap commodity in Phuket. And not nearly as delicious as back home.

Afterwards we went back to the resort for a swim. It really gets unbearably hot, and while you’re on the scooter you often don’t realise when you’re getting sunburnt. My advice is to wear lots of sun block…all the time.

In our room we discovered that our key to the room had a specific bracket next to the door. The power supply to the room only gets turned on if the key is put in this bracket. It took us about 10 minutes to figure that out, Dirk even had to ask the housekeeping service for help. We didn't realise that the power supply is automatically turned off once we take our key and leave the room. We found the same thing a week later in Bangkok. Only then we had a plastic card instead of an actual key. But the principle was the same.

We went to Karon Plaza around 4pm for our first bit of shopping. This was our first try at bargaining; after serious negotiations I bought a Billabong bikini for 350 baht, a Billabong t-shirt for 200 baht and a Chanel t-shirt (better quality) for 250 baht. Dirk bought a pair of Billabong shorts for 300 baht. We only realised later that any place that says “Plaza” or “Sale” or “Discount 30% - 80%” is without exception more expensive than the stalls on the street or normal little shops in the alleys.

And I must say that we definitely had to get used to the persistance of the shopkeepers. We weren't used to being bothered all the time, and people trying to sell us all sorts of crap we weren't in the least bit inclined to buy. A day or three later we learned to be polite but firm. To say no thanks even before they ask. To avoid eye contact, if possible. Or if all else fails, to pretend you don't speak English at all and just walk away. It's not always easy, some people give you such sad puppy-dog eyes. Or they'll tell you straight out that they need this sale because it's been a bad month and they can't pay their rent.

Anyway, we crossed the road and went for a walk on Karon Beach (a.k.a. "our" beach) afterwards. We saw a pretty special sunset and relaxed a bit after the busy day.

Dinner was at around 18:00 at a small place called Pop Thai on the edge of Patong, which was our first trip to this infmous part of the island. The traffic was pretty bad, it turns out that red traffic lights are treated as guidelines only and drivers often ignore it. It was a busy place, big hotels and resorts everywhere, many not even close to the beach. I had my Spaghetti Bolognaise for 150 baht and Dirk had a cheeseburger with chips for 150 baht. It wasn't the best Spaghetti I ever had, it didn't taste even half-Italian, but I was so hungry that it smelled just devine. I thought about the taste later.

Back to the resort around 19:00. Dirk wasn't comfortable being on the scooter after sunset. There are just too many drunkards on the roads and we put safety first. Besides, there was nowhere that we wanted to see at night that we couldn't see during the day. We parked our scooter in the resort parking lot and decided to explore a few of the shops in the alleys close the resort on foot. We had a great time walking around. We always felt safe and had lots of fun looking at everything. Dirk bought the most beautiful gifts for his mother, stepmother, and sister. They were flowers carved from soap, with detail you can’t imagine. I liked it so much that I got one for my mom too, and at 100 baht it came cheap. The poorer part of a community is usually also more creative, and I found myself wondering how many of these soap flowers had to be sold in order to earn a month's rent money. It disgusted me to see other tourists trying to negotiate an insanely low price for these types of handcrafted items. It is already cheap as it is!

We found a decent-looking massage parlour in the same street as our resort and thought we’d give a Thai Massage a try (200 baht per person). We had expected something different and we were both surprised when we realised that it wasn’t going to be as gentle as we thought. Those girls (massage therapists) can bend your body in ways unimaginable for anyone except a gymnast! Dirk had been suffering with an injury in his right shoulder blade for months, and once his therapist got hold of it she wouldn’t let go until she felt confident that she got rid of the problem. Surgery might have been a less painful solution, but Dirk could feel the improvement immediately and asked to buy a little jar of the ointment she had used (a shocking yellow colour, smells like a combination of Vicks and Puma Balm and it’s very oily). She charged him 100 baht and he left happily (obviously assuming that his new wife will give him regular massages!). I expected to be sore the next day but surprisingly enough had no bruises…or scars!