Breakfast at Nap Patong

It doesn’t quite have the ring as Tiffany’s, but we like it better.

Nobody can remember the last time that they had continuous rain in Phuket for 5 days. Even during the rainy season it rains for a couple of hours every day, then the sun comes out. We have been in Phuket for the very same 5 days and only saw the sun for the first time on our day of departure. Its a shame as we never got to use our lovely balcony and roof terrace but at least we had a nice room to hibernate in and cheap dvd’s to watch. It was also compensated by the lovely breakfasts at the Nap Patong. I always started the day with a 3 course breakfast as it was in with the room price and it was so nice. Starting with a fruit course which varied each day and I hardly recognized any of them. There were huge eyeballs with eyelashes around the sides and the fruit tasted like a lychee. There were

proper lychees still in the skin and I had one at the back in the middle of my plate. For main course I always have the freshly cooked omelette and the crispy bacon but today I only had vanilla toast and sweetcorn with them. Finishing off with a small cheese course and bread with home made strawberry and honey butter. All washed down with a different fresh juice with each coarse and a nice cup of tea.

Our mini bus picked us up at the hotel and we arrived at the port just in time for the ferry to Koh Phi Phi. The journey is just under two hours and it didn’t rain all day. It was overcast but the sun felt strong through the clouds. We disembarked, paid our 20 Baht island cleaning fee and walked the 2 minutes to hotel Natasha, dropped our stuff off and rushed out for lunch as we were starving by this time. Claire had already had a slice of pizza at the ferry terminal as she was too upset to eat much breakfast. Hotel Natasha is fine and we have wi fi in our rooms but everything would be a come down from the Nap. We have a fridge, tv, air con and shower room with a window this time but it feels small after our suite. Its not bad for under £20 a night and whilst walking we spotted the place that we stayed in last time we were her called the Phi Phi Inn and Claire had a quick look inside to make sure.

Phi Phi has no roads or cars so its walking all the way which adds to its charm. Added to the fact that its quite cheap, its swamped with young backpackers. I was the oldest swinger in town last time we were here and now Im 4 years older. Its not as busy as last time as we are in the quiet season but its better for us. The walkways are lined with shops, bars and restaurants, dive centers and massage shops. Perfect for the young. Last time we were here we walked for miles and miles but I can hardly remember any of it. Dementia setting in I guess but can’t remember for sure.

The islands around here are a sight for sore eyes but there seemed to be cats everywhere this time. Lunch was great,

with a largeSingah to wash it down and all for a tenner for the two of us. Not quite Goa prices but still not bad and you get authentic fresh cooked Thai meals thrown in. We bought some supplies on the way back to our room and sorted out the wi-fi and hi-fi when we got back. Most drinks are cheap over here except for wine which is very expensive. The cheapest bottles are about 600 Baht (£12) in a shop and more in the restaurants. A large local beer is between £1 and £1.50 according to where you buy it but I have tried them all and trust me the Singah is the best followed by Chang, Leo and Tiger. They were selling the cheap “buckets of booze” that you get at Koh Phang Yang for the full moon beach parties so we got one. You get a bucket with a quarter bottle of spirits, a can of coke and a small bottle of Red Bull. We got the rum one this time but they have all different versions. Not bad for 200 Baht or £4. You normally get a bag full of ice with it and you are supposed to pour everything into the bucket, put the bucket in the ice bag and share it by drinking out of the long straws provided. The Red Bull is not official Red Bull as it is officially sold only in cans produced by Rexam who I used to work for and contains Austrian spring water. 

The laws are different over here and I hear that the ingredients that stimulate you are about 100 times stronger than back home. That’s why they give you such a small bottle. Got to go now; got to get Hi !

Drugs & Timeshare Touts

I don’t mean to be a bar humbug and I realise that I am fortunate to travel far and wide for such a long time, but things are not going to plan.  It started out great, good flights, brilliant birthday night for Phil with Tom and Youngja but monsoon rains have damped our time in Thailand.  We had such a good time when we were last here in 2008 that this time it just doesn’t compare.  I love Thai and all things Asian but the rain stops you doing things.  Sunday was pretty much a duvet day because it rained all day non-stop.  We ventured out for lunch at midday but only got as far as the Irish bar.  Normally we wouldn’t frequent western establishments but we were so soaked by this point, we couldn’t face walking any further.  We had a couple of beers and burger and chips and then it was back to our hotel to watch DVD’s.  Not very exciting I’m afraid.  Phil couldn’t find the Grand Prix on our television so was back to the Irish bar in the evening to watch the race. 

The skies seemed a little brighter on Monday morning but by mid-morning the winds got up and brought the lashing rain.  The drama for Monday was that we realised that Phil hadn’t brought his cancer hormone drugs with him from home.  We tried a couple of chemists and were directed to a hospital nearby but the pharmacy didn’t stock the drugs.  They gave us a telephone number for a hospital in Phuket Town.  After giving up the drug hunt, we went to a Thai restaurant by the beach front for lunch which was cheap and cheerful.  As we were walking back to our hotel, Phil got stopped by a travel tout who produced scratch cards and he said we’d won prizes.  Somehow and god knows how, Phil agreed to go on the promotional tour which involved signing a consent form and being taken by taxi to a resort about half an hour out of Patong.  I had my suspicions straight away that it would be time share sales and I was right.  When will we ever learn???? This is not the first time we’ve been caught out with timeshare, on no, we are veterans; Ibiza, Las Vegas, Tenerife, Lanzarotte and now Thailand. No, I correct that last sentence, when will Phil ever learn?  I love Phil’s for his enthusiasm for everything in life but sometimes he tests my patience to bursting limit. 

The taxi arrived at the resort and we were taken for coffee at a nearby café by an English guy and subjected to an hour of sales patter.  The guy was okay but a little seedy, aren’t they all?  Finally we got taken to see a room in the resort.  It was very nice but there was no way we were going to part with £3k for a free week for 3 years.  I can’t even believe that Phil was seriously tempted to pay a deposit but thank god he came to senses.  The salesman was seriously cool when he knew that he didn’t have a sale and left us with the receptionist.  Our free prizes were a beach bag and a free week’s holiday at the resort.  A complimentary taxi took us back to our resort and how glad I was to return.  I suppose the only positive to loosing 2 hours of my life was the chance to see the sights outside of Patong.  Last night we turned left out of the hotel and went to the Thai restaurant next door for a light meal then it was back to our room to watch movies.

Sods law the sun is out in full today and it’s not raining, the only chance we would have had to try out our private sun terrace and this is the day we are checking out.  You think I’d be happy today but I’m not, received some rather disturbing news by email this morning which has rather upset me.  Normally I would share, but on this occasion I can’t because it’s too close to home.  Phil has tried to calm me down but I’m afraid it’s made me more resolved to cut short our trip and go home early.  Especially with the drug situation

Being hotel bound has given me a chance to catch up with blogs, emails and allowed me time to set up Skype on my laptop.  This is a useful tool and gave us chance to catch up with a few friends and also to have a long chat with Phil’s mum and dad.  We knew they would be worried and normally we would phone to confirm safe arrival but somehow this went out of the window.  Anyway, all is good with them; since we’ve been gone they have had a long chat and decided against moving to Milton Keynes and instead buy a bungalow closer to home.  This makes sense really and I think they have made the right decision.  They have put their house on the market and found a lovely bungalow in the next street that they want to buy.  It needs work and they have asked us to fit a new kitchen, bathroom and redecorate.  This is not a problem and is the least we can do.

Today, in fact very soon, we check out and have a taxi picking us up to take us to Phuket town where we will catch the 1.30pm ferry to Koh Phi Phi.  We have been there before so know what to expect and I just hope I’m not disappointed the second time round.  I have a problem about going back to places, however good they were the first time round, it’s never ever the same for me when I revisit.  Hey ho, I will try and remain open minded.  Right now I need to post this blog, finish the packing and get ready to vacate.  We’ve had a luxurious 3 night stay at Hotel Nap Patong, just a shame about the wet weather………….

 NB: photo’s to follow later, no time now.

Eat, Drink, Sleep

Phil asked me to blog today so I am sorry folks you are stuck with my waffles once again.  It’s been months since Phil has been able to work on his book and I am glad that he has started to write again. Mind you, not sure I am going to be able to write anything of interest for this blog posting, because of the monsoon rains we really haven’t been up to much, mainly just eating, sleeping and drinking beer.  Yesterday (Saturday) we actually awoke to torrential rains so we stayed in our room until it slowed down then ventured out for breakfast. Our check out time was midday so we decided to stay in our room until we got kicked out; Phil worked on his chapter and I wrote the blog and caught up with emails.

Thankfully by lunchtime the rain had almost stopped, we checked out of the hotel and went to Octopus for an early lunch.  More curry and afterwards we grabbed a taxi and made our way to Patong which, because of the traffic, took nearly an hour.  Patong is a big place and first impressions whilst making our way to our hotel weren’t great.  Pretty much what I expected really, very built up with buildings squeezed in everywhere and lots of development.  Once again, grey skies and drizzle as we checked into the Nap Patong.

I really messed up BIG TIME with this booking.  After discovering my mistake with the room rate, I went back on the www.booking.com website and saw that apart from screwing up with my currency conversion, I had actually selected the 3 night special deal and only booked 2 nights!  There was no way of altering my booking online because it was non-refundable offer, so I decided to phone customer services to see if I get the extra night for free.  The call centre was in the UK and eventually I got through and spoke to an American lady who said no problem she would sort it with the hotel.  I said to Phil, if we are paying through the roof we may as well take the free night and spend it in luxury. 

If I am honest I was kind of expecting trouble with checking-in, maybe the cynic in me but the rules of booking.com were very specific.  The staff at the front desk didn’t speak great http://thenakedbloggers2011.blogspot.com/English, I don’t speak any Thai but eventually the manager was called and he explained to me that the extra night had been booked but was not free and had already been charged to Phil’s credit card.  Now Phil was already pissed off for having to pay so much for 2 nights so learning that he had to pay for a third night didn’t please him much.  I was really in the doghouse!  To be fair, the manager, sensing our distress, gave us an upgrade to a suite which soothed Phil especially when we were shown our Blue Moon Deluxe room. www.nappatong.com

Our room, which is not really a suite, has a terrace with steps leading to a rooftop terrace. We have a fridge stocked with complimentary soft drinks, a kettle, a massive shower and a flat screen TV.  It does have the wow factor and would be amazing if we had sunshine instead of rain.  We have a view which overlooks the pools and the ocean.  The Pap gets a place in my top 5 hotels, the Leela in Goa being my number 1.  As we were staying 3 nights on the trot we decided to unpack which was a nice feeling.  It was mid-afternoon by this time so we walked down to the beach and along the busy road to find supplies. We found some reasonably priced wine, got TV nibbles and some cheap DVD’s as we have a DVD player in our room.  Then it was back to our room for internet. We have free Wi-Fi which we get in our room which is another bonus.

Last night we went down for the buffet because it was cheap, roughly £7 each.  The buffet was excellent; I have eaten lots of great Thai food both at home and in Thailand but the buffet at The Nap was seriously good.  I didn’t think I was that hungry but it was so delicious I ended up having several courses as did Phil.  After dinner, we saw that it was raining, so decided against heading into town to check out the Patong nightlife and instead went straight up to our room where we watched a couple of movies before going to sleep.

This morning we were awake early so were down at breakfast for 7am.  The skies seemed a little brighter and I did think we could have some sunshine today but the grey clouds have appeared.  Still it’s not raining yet even though the forecast is rain for the foreseeable future.  I am not sure of plans for today; as I type, Phil is out on the terrace writing his book.  He’s not happy this morning because he has lost all of the writing he did yesterday.  I don’t think he has actually lost it, I think it probably somewhere on his new Apple Mac Air but he’s not familiar with Apple Mac’s yet and he doesn’t know where to look. 

Phil did say at breakfast that he would like a blog and a book day but I feel like exploring, if not today, then certainly tomorrow. Patong is too big to explore on foot and I think we are going to need to hire a bike.  Otherwise I don’t feel that I can pass judgement on Patong without delving deeper under its surface.  Having just typed this last sentence and it’s gone really dark and the rain is lashing onto our terrace. Its amazing how it can change so quickly. Phil’s come dashing back inside and I think no exploring for us today.  I’m snuggling under back under the feather duvet in our king size bed with the remote control.  C’est La Vie, a duvet day then it is.

 

Rain Rain Go Away

With his newly acquired state of the arc technology, Phil has been more than eager to update the blog, which is just as well really, because I’ve been severely jet lagged since we started out.  I always suffer with jet lag and normally take Melatonin 5mg which really helps, I ordered from Victoria Health last minute but they didn’t show up in the post before we left.  I think the jet lag has been worse for me on this trip because I was seriously stressed and knackered before leaving home.  Both flights with Sri Lankan airways were really good and made me realise what crap customer service we get with the likes of Ryanair & Monarch. 

With the aid of free red wine I did manage to get a fair bit of sleep, far more than Phil but on arrival at our hotel in Kuala Lumpar I still felt like shit, really light headed and not able to concentrate or focus.  I was worried that I wouldn’t be very good company for Tom and Youngja but a few beers sunk and we had a great night.  Tom had put considerable thought into making Phil’s birthday one to remember and he succeeded.  Both Shirley & Jim should be very proud of their son, he’s a great guy and we are very much looking forward to catching up with both him and Youngja in a couple of weeks.

I felt a little better on Thursday morning but the tiredness kicked in again late afternoon at the airport.  As Phil said, our AirAsia flight into Phuket was a little scary but all was well in the end, and the bonus was, that the hotel I’d booked, with little research, was great.  Phil was pleased with me but that didn’t last long but more about that later.  We slept like babies, enjoyed a lovely breakfast outside and then the rain started.  Great big lashes of the wet stuff and by lunchtime we thought our ground floor room may be in danger of flooding.  Tummies rumbling, we decided to brave the weather and armed with raincoats and an umbrella we went in search of a restaurant.  Within seconds of closing our door, way before we exited the hotel grounds, we were soaked.  And by the way Harriet, you were right, the raincoat that you so kindly lent me isn’t waterproof!

We found a local restaurant shack called Octopus, very basic but the food was authentic and very tasty, just a shame about the rain which was seeping into the restaurant in places.  Phil said that we were just unlucky but I did some reading before we came out and discovered that actually we are now officially in ‘monsoon’ season.   If I’d had time to do some research prior to flying, I wouldn’t have agreed to come to Thailand.  Having visited before, I know that the Thai are islands are great with sunshine but when you’ve got rain and lots of it, there is nothing much to do but stay in your room and sit it out.

It wasn’t so bad yesterday, after lunch we went back to our room and stayed there for the remainder of the day and night which gave us a chance to get the laundry sorted and just chill out.  The forecast is rain and storms for the next 10 days and I can see that we will probably head back to Malaysia much sooner than planned.  Our original plan was to hire a bike and then make our way down the coast heading for a boat to take us to Phi Phi and Koh Lanta.  But this is not practical for a number of reasons.  One, because it is not ideal riding a bike with a non-waterproof fat backpack a bike and also we’d need to return the bike to where we booked it from.  And secondly, with the flooding, the roads are barely drivable in a 4-by-4 let alone on a scooter.

So change of plan. Today we are getting a taxi and heading for Patong.  This is where most of the tourists head for and I am not expecting to like it much but we figure that whilst we are in Phuket we have to take a look for ourselves and see what the attraction is.  I went on line and using the same website that I used to book the Nai Yang Beach Resort which we got at a bargain rate.  The hotel I booked looked fabulous and had great reviews and really should have sounded alarm bells in my dizzy head.  I thought I had got it at another bargain price until I picked up the confirmation email and saw the price.  I had got my Baht conversion seriously wrong and nearly had a heart attack when I saw the price, even more so when I saw that the booking was non-refundable! And no my friends, I hadn’t had any red wine, not a touch had touched my lips! Of course, I admitted straight away to Phil my mistake and he really was naturally very unhappy with me.  Understandable really, but to be fair, he didn’t shout or get really angry. I won’t divulge the cost of the room because it will upset Phil even more.  I am just so cross with myself for my blonde stupidity and for not double checking. I suppose the only consolation is that if it rains in Patong, like it rained here yesterday, then at least we will be holed up in luxury.  I suppose it will be cock-roach infested back-packer rooms for me from now on until we return.  It’s no more than I deserve for my feckless, foolish f**k-up. I am not going to be beat myself up any more than I have done already though, that’s just life I guess, some you win and some you seriously lose, bit like gambling.

Phuket - How do you pronounce that?

It’s amazing how well you sleep when you don’t have a window in your room. I didn’t even have to go to the toilet unit 7am. Trouble is, it was pitch black and I couldn’t find it. I ended up sitting on it sideways thinking that it was the other way around. I found my phone for some light and got my computer out to write the blog while Claire finished off her sleep. I had to

shut the computer down as I only had 5% charge left but of course it was still pitch black so I got my i-pad out to carry on reading my book. I’m reading a really good one by David Eagleman called “Incognito”; highly recommended. I letClaire sleep until about 9am then woke her with a kiss. I know, I’m a hopeless romantic - even at my age and I don’t even feel a year older.

We didn’t plan on doing much today as we fly out to Thailand at 20:20 so I had a walk down to to little shop to get some fresh milk while Claire put our travel kettle on for a nice cup of tea. I paid an extra 50 ringgit’s (about £10) to keep our room until 6pm but we have no real alternative. 

While I was at the shop I also bought a little triangular parcel in brown paper thinking that maybe it was a samosas but they packed a spoon with it. Never mind it was only about 20p. When I got back I opened the packet to find a little rice dish with vegetables, soy and little tiny fish, even smaller than whitebait, all sitting in a banana leaf. Mmmm yummy, I know what I will be having for breakfast from now on when there is no fresh fruit around.

We had a walk to the Petronas twin towers but it was 11am by the time we got there and the next available tickets were

for in 3 hours time. We decided to revisit early when we are next back in KL. We walked back and stopped off at Lot 10, a shopping centre opposite Maybank where we met last night. The basement floor has all food and Claire was starving as she had no breakfast. We both had different versions of Nasi Gorang, spicy rice dishes with meat, seafood and vegetables. Less than £4 for both of us; our drinks were more than the food for fresh orange and Coke. Once re-charged we caught the monorail to Sentral Station where we must catch the bus to the Airport tonight. We got our ticketsfor both the bus and monorail to make it a little easier when we are carrying the big backpack. It was very hot and we were pouring with sweat. It takes a little while to acclimatise. When you acclimatise you don't stop sweating. You sweat just as much,but you get used to it and stop feeling uncomfortable. The bus to the Air Asia airport is about £1.50 each so thanks for the tip Tom. Get off at Sentral station, cross the road, turn right walking under the covered walkway. Follow the walkway which turns right and leads you all the way to the bus terminal going to various places around KL. You can’tmiss it, there are loads of people walking along it both ways.

I forgot to show the picture of our room wardrobe yesterday; very inventive, the Japanese would be proud of you. I have also included one of our room office; most of the

technology is ours. Claire also has her laptop and Im glad I managed to squeeze in my i-phone docking station which has a circular speaker all around it. I just had time to rip down about 50 cd’s and copy to my i-phone before leaving. Also I still have “sun arise” by Rolf Harris that I downloaded at Jim’s Australian party and also “Little Boxes” by Pete Seeger. I had forgotten all about this song until it was used in a tv advert whilst we were in Goa last year. The docking station is compact but its not a very good shape for backpacking. We didn’t want to leave any of our computers in our room so I’ve been lugging them around all day. It will be better when we check into a hotel for a few days and can settle for a while. When travelling like this wealways bring a chain and padlock so we can lock all our valuables in the wardrobe. As you can see, that trick didn’t work in this hotel.

The monorail and bus journeys were fine except that we left early and broke our long walk with the bags with a quick beer and consequently were bursting by the time we reached the airport. This airport is very close to the Sepang F1 circuit so I might be back one day.

We were a few minuets late taking off but our approach to the airport in Phuket was very wobbly and the pilot abandoned landing but barely managed to pull up again. A narrow escape but it made the journey memorable and quite exciting. A taxi took us to the Nai Yang Beach Resort which is a little way out but there are a few little sleazy bars along the coastline. They are not very busy at the moment so they upgraded us to a Thai Mini Suite. Claire had found a great internet deal anyway so we ended up with a room

costing 4800Baht for 1500Baht a night which is about £30 with breakfast and taxes included. We had a couple in one of the little cockroach and lizard infested bars before retiring to our lovely room. Claire couldn’t bring herself to undo her elephant towel so we shared.

Breakfast was excellent with fresh fruit, chicken curry and rice, continental and cooked breakfast with an egg chef etc. This swayed us to book an extra night and get our dirty clothes laundered. It makes sense to take advantage of the value for money rate we have before moving back to our more normal cheap hotels. I hope that Claire doesn’t get too used to this
sort of luxury otherwise I might have trouble prizing her out. The weather doesn’t look too good or sound promising in the short term so we might be laid up for a while. Never mind we need a break to recover from our travels. Im hoping that Claire will give me a break from the blog again tomorrow so that I can get back onto my book. Actually, Im sitting here in a pair of swimming trunks writing this waiting for our same day laundry; I may have underdone my luggage slightly.