Patong - Phuket

One thing I have to say about Patong is that the staff in hotels are not very polite. You pay on arrival which we have not had to do else where in Asia and once they have your money they don't care, literally.

My advise: Pay day by day then if something is not right they will want to sort it so they get your money.

We got a boat from Koh Lanta to Patong which went past Phi Phi islands. You could get off here but we stayed on until we reached Phuket.
We had already arranged a transfer from the ferry port to our hotel but you could easily pick up a taxi.

Our first hotel we stayed in was about a 10minute walk from the Mall and Bangla Road. It was in a nice local with night markets along the road and plenty of restaurants, very easy to navigate around.

We had 2 nights in this hotel which we thought we would spend by the pool but unfortunately this did not happen. We spent 2 days arguing with the hotel over our room and money. We had arrived about 8pm and there was only one guy on the desk, he checked us in and gave us a room key. The room was massive and we were very impressed with it, until the morning came when we had a rude awakening by a member of staff telling us to leave the room. We asked what was wrong and they she said we had been given the wrong room, she showed us to another room which was falling apart. We refused to move rooms and wanted to speak to the manager. On speaking to the manager we found that our card had been charged 2 days prior to our arrival. When we book hotels through booking.com we always check that we choose payment on arrival as our card company will charge us for using our card otherwise. So this was a shock and not a good one. After hours of talking to the staff we eventually spoke to booking.com direct and within minutes we were issued a refund for the hotel which included our bank charges. This was great so off we went shopping with a spring in our step.... or so we thought!!

NOTE: Any problems your having with hotels which have been booked through booking.com, call them straight away as they will have it dealt with in minutes.

After our 2 nights in this hotel we moved to another one which was further from the hustle and bustle of Bangla Road. It was about 30 minute walk to the mall, but we thought this was fine as the hotel provided a shuttle.. NO NO NO that was the old owners of the hotel, the new owners could not care less if you stayed or went. There was no staff in the hotel after 3pm until the next day so if anything goes wrong your on your own. Some people were left a note and their room keys on the desk, not a very warm welcome from the hotel. We had problems with the WiFi and our friend was coming from the UK for a holiday, we had arranged an airport transfer through the hotel but her flight was delayed by 2 hours so who do you inform?? the non speaking taxi driver of course. After about 30minutes of trying to tell him we finally had it sorted and my friend arrived safely. We did not pay the hotel until the end and we called booking.com which they arranged for us to get a discount because the shuttle bus was no longer running.

Anyway Patong itself is great, we really enjoyed the area. There is so much to do in and around Patong, things that cost and things that are free so plenty to please all age groups.

Attractions we did:

• Roof Top Mini Golf:

This is 18 holes on top of Banana Walk, which looks down onto the busy party streets below and the Andaman Sea. I love playing mini golf and do it on most of my holidays so i really enjoyed this evening. It cost 500 baht per person with a cocktail of your choice at the end.

• Ping Pong show:

You walk down Bangla Road at night and you will approached by at least 50 people offering ping pong shows. The entrance is free but they do request you by a drink. The drinks are expensive, a bottle of beer in the supermarket is around 50 baht and in the ping pong bars you will pay around 900 baht, but they are an eye opener and a great laugh. Something you have to experience while in Patong definitely.

• SF Cinema:

The cinema is on the top floor of the Jungceylon shopping mall. It is super cheap 180 baht and Wednesdays are even cheaper 120 baht,with all the new release movie so a must while in Patong.

• Fantasea:

This is a evening show is for all the family, with many different things to look at. The magic starts at the door with a beautiful waterfall, and into a village of shops selling souvenirs to jewellery, etc. Have your picture taken with parrots or looks at massive cat fish in the small rivers that run through the palace. Before the show you enjoy a sit down all you can eat buffet, which has everything from Chinese, Indian, Steak, Pasta, Salads and a great selection of deserts. After dinner you head over to the main stage where you can ride of touch the elephants that are walking around outside. Inside while you make your way to the seating area you can have you picture taken with baby tigers. We booked the day before so our seats were high but good views but i would advice booking in advance so you can be sat near the front and really experience the show. They has everything in the show from elephants, tigers, goats, rabbits etc a real fun thing to watch. We paid 800baht each but this can be bartered down and if you book as a group it will probably be cheaper.

• Quad Biking, Elephant Trek and Monkey Show:

We booked this as a package to do both but you can book separately. There were 11 of us so we got a good price of 800 baht each, it is usually about 1,500 baht. We first watched the monkey show, this was more for kids, I didn't really enjoy it, felt too sorry for the monkeys as didn't seem very happy. The preform tricks for food and then come sit on your knee for photos. It only lasts about 15 minutes.




The quad biking was the best part, zooming down the dirt tracks pulling in on occasion to admire the views across Rawai Bay. Standing on top of the hill the guide was telling us when the tsunami hit you could watch it coming across the sea before it hit the land, The views are amazing from up there and you can see how close the hotels are which got hit, but have now been rebuilt.
Advice when on the quad bikes, don't be at the back. I was and my lovely partner thought it would be funny to wheel spin the sand which blow up into my face...Twice! Pay back was given don't worry.

After that we went on the elephant trek, not the best one Ive been on, was a small walk, those stood on the platforms could see you so good for pictures. I wasn't sure how safe it was as our guide told me to get off the seat and sit on the head mid walk, was very scary as nothing to hold on to so i quickly got back into my seat. The best bit of the ride was at the end playing with the baby elephant and feeding it milk for kisses. Very cute.

•  Night market:

As a large group we organsied a bus to take us to the night market and pick us up again but you can get the local bus for 34 baht each. The local bus is called a Songtaew and is blue, you can hail it down if your not at a bus stop. The market was huge but a lot of the stalls sold the same stuff. The food market was the best bit as it had a variety of food on offer and for those of your who are brave... fried bugs, worms etc. I did try the bugs and they tasted like peanuts as long as you didn't think about what you were eating. Did get a leg stuck in my teeth though. lol. The market was really cheap, cheaper than Patong area itself so was happy to look around.

• Big Buddha:

The big Buddha sits on top of a mountain between Chalong Bay and Kata Beach which can be seen from almost anywhere from the southern part of the island. The Buddha is still under construction and weighs 22 tons of brass and stands 12 meters high. Its is amazing at how big the Buddha is and the detail which has gone into it. You can have your name carved into the bricks they are using to build the Buddha so it will be there for ever.

• Gem Gallery:

To enter the gallery you take a small train ride inside the gallery which talks you through how they mine for the gems and how they are made into Jewellery. Once the train stops you can walk around and watch the locals work on  making earrings, rings etc and the detail/time that goes into making them. After that you are shown into 2 huge rooms containing the finished products which you can buy, and given a free non-alcoholic drink of your choice.

• Beaches:

The beaches in Patong are very clean and not over crowded. You can hire umbrella's and beach mats or for the more adventurous jet ski's and paragliding.

• Bangla road:

This is an attraction in itself, there is always something to look at with plenty of bars all along the road, with kebab shops at each end for when you fall out the bars at 2am, oh sorry we are in Patong i mean 6am. lol.

We were lucky enough to be there for their New year, (Songkran) In Thailand they celebrate New Year a lot differently to what we thought, They celebrate with a 3 days water fight on the street. Be warned you can not walk anywhere with out having a bucket of water thrown over you. Everywhere has and sells super soakers and even our hotel got involved and set up water stations outside to throw over passer by. Groups of people drive through the streets and throw water over you its crazy but in the best possible way. Was the best new year Ive celebrated.

Hotel we stayed in was booked through booking.com
Alfresco Phuket Hotel, 1,890 Baht (today's exchange rate £131 ) for 2 nights. This was the first hotel mentioned at the start so we did get it at a reduced price but this is that booking.com advertises it as. Worst hotel we have stayed in.

See Sea Hotel, 28,800 Baht (today's exchange rate £ ) for 12 nights. This was for 2 rooms and it has so much potential to be a great hotel, the rooms are big and decorated nicely it is just a shame the owners don't care about it.

Buasri Phuket Hotel, 4,893 Baht (today's exchange rate £ ) for 7 nights. I never mentioned this hotel above but after See Sea Hotel we moved here. It was closed to town with plenty of places to eat near, there was a cut through from the hotel to the mall which took 5 minute walk but i think this has been closed off so the walk round to the mall will now take 10-15 mins but plenty to see along the way. The hotel had only been open for 2 months so was very clean, the staff were great and provided anything we asked for, there was a large pool but the owner was in there a lot of the time which put us off going in and there were only 2 double sun beds but the hotel was not very busy. We loved this hotel it gave us everything we wanted and would stay here again.

Laos to Hanoi (Vietnam).

There are only two ways to leave Laos, by bus or by plane. The bus is a sleeping bus and can take between 24-26 hours, so we decided on an hour plane ride.

We flew with Lao airlines $130 (Us dollars) each. (Todays exchange rate £86) and although it was a small plane and short ride we were well looked after. We were given free meals which included a sandwich, water and a desert, for the price we paid was brilliant.






Vietnam Visa:
You must apply for a visa before arriving in Vietnam, as you MUST print out your confirmation details to hand over at the Vietnamese boarder control. The application can take 2 or more days to process. For single entry for 1 month costs $16 (Us dollars). (Today's exchange rate £10) per person for the online application. There is an additional $25 (Us dollars). (Today's exchange rate £16) per person to be paid to the immigration office on arrival in Vietnam.

We landed in Hanoi and we had arranged a taxi through the hotel which was waiting outside. We had heard stories of people arriving and picking up a local taxi outside the airport, but the driver not taking them to their hotel until they paid a ridculous fair so would strongly advise you to pre-arrange a taxi through your hotel.

We thought we had found a bargain with this hotel at £85 for a week including breakfast but upon arrival we realised why it was so cheap. Dirty sheets, stains on the walls, never been dusted and hard very old mattrasses, but its only somewhere to sleep right?!

The city of Hanoi is crazy, full of mopeds and people, I have never seen anything like it before. We walked to the centre of town which only took 10 minutes when we worked out where we were.

In the centre there is a huge lake called Hoan Kiem lake and this is a historical feature in Hanoi. The Lake is full of turtles and is a lovely walk with a Turtle Tower in the centre of the lake which you can get to by walking over the bright red Huc Bridge. You don't have to pay to walk on the bridge but you do have to pay to enter the tower, which we didn't do so I'm not sure how much it costs. The lake is surrounded by coffee shops and restaurants and at night when the lake is all light up its lovely to see from one of the restaurants at the top of the shopping mall.
While we were sat at the lake we were approached but local teenagers studying English at school and they wanted to ask us some questions so they could practise their English, which we did with a young lady, my partner became the camera man while she asked me questions and she was very excited that someone was helping her.

The traffic in Hanoi is an eye opener, everywhere you look there are mopeds and we were told by a local that if the traffic lights are on green it means go and if they are on red it means whatever they want. Go or Stop. So when crossing the road just make sure your always looking but they will slow down or weave round you if you do make a run for it and not wait for the crossing.

Things to do in Hanoi:
There are loads of travel agencies around all wanting to find you that prefect trip, so just ask around for prices. With us only staying a week we only went on one trip which was to Halong Bay.

Halong Bay: It was a 1 night 2 day boat trip to Halong bay and I would definitely recommend it. It took roughly 3 hours from the city to reach the bay, where you will be put on a tug boat to reach your bigger boat anchored a little off shore. There are loads of tours and companies to choice from and you will see this by the amount of boats waiting to start their tour. We chose the Halong Bay Cruise Company which was a superior cruise but you can choose from superior, deluxe and luxury cruises.

Once on board the boat you are seated in the dining area for an induction on what we will be doing. You are introduced to the other members of the group then shown to your room to freshen up. 

The cabin was much nicer than i thought it would be and very spacious. As we made our way to the Hang Sung Sot Cave we were served lunch, salad, fish, rice, a very large feast for everyone to enjoy.

The Hang Sung Sot Cave is called a "surprise cave" in Halong, there are a few steep steps up to the cave and obviously what goes up must come down so there are steep steps down side the cave. You are guided round the 3 chambers covered in thousands of stalactites and stalagmites. The views over Halong bay when you reach the mouth of the cave are very beautiful.





After the tour of the cave we were given the option of kayaking, which we did. This was the best part of the trip for us we thoroughly enjoyed it. The guide takes you around various islands in the bay and it took around an hour. It is hard work especially when your partner is very competitive and even wants to beat the guide back to the boat.

Once back on the boat you had a few hours to freshen up, sunbath and enjoy the views before dinner was served. There was a huge variety of food and more than enough to feed us all. After dinner you were invited to join the team in drinks or if you didn't want to do that a spot of night fishing. This was fishing for squid and you have to be very patient. We stood for about an hour and caught nothing and a guy came over, he was there for 10 minutes and caught two so he must have had the right touch of the job.

One the second day we were taken to a pearl farm. These were floating houses and jewellery shops in the bay. We were put on some very rocky rowing boats by the locals and shown these floating villages where people used to live in houses floating on the water. Unfortunately no one lives in the houses any longer but there are other villages where people like and go to school. It is suggested you tip the person who rowed your boat as they don't have much.
 

We were then shown how pearls are made and the cleaning process that is involved which was interesting. You are then invited to look round the finished jewellery and purchase some if you wish.







Back on the boat and on our way home we were given a lesson on making traditional spring rolls which was fun, and then time to relax and say your goodbyes to the people you met before getting back on the bus to the city.

Another attraction:

Lotus Water Puppet: This is popular in Vietnam and there are a few around the city. You can buy tickets on the door and it costs 100,000VND. (Today's exchange rate £3). A traditional Vietnamese puppet show in water, with Vietnamese singing. It was funny to watch, didn't really understand what was happening as it was in Vietnamese but we enjoyed it.

 


Hoa Lo Prison: The prison was used by North Vietnam to house prisoners of the Vietnam war. It was demolished in 1990s but the gatehouse remains open as the museum. There are many different rooms with plaques on the wall giving information about what the room was used for and who died within the room, and the names of everyone who died are listed in each. The prisoners here endured poor food and unsanitary conditions often chained by their ankles for weeks. It was used to torture and interrogate prisoners and in glass cases throughout the prisons the instruments used for the torture are on display. Walking round the prison you really get a sense of sadness and pain within the walls and its hard to imagine what the people captured here went through. I would definitely recommend anyone to visit. It cost 20,000VND (Today's exchange rate £0.60).


 

Women's Museum: This is about Vietnamese women through time. Samples of clothing that was worn, giving birth and their children and marriage. To be honest it wasn't very interesting to us it was over 4 levels and most of the levels were the same. I wouldn't go again but it did only cost 30,000VND. (Today's exchange rate £0.90) which is very cheap.

• We also went to the cinema a few times, it is about 30 minute walk from the city centre. (The lake). The cinema is modern, clean and cheap as it only cost 70,000VND (Today's exchange rate £2). The popcorn and drinks however I felt were over priced.

We booked a flight from Hanoi to Da Nang to stay in Hoi An. This was the cheapest and quickest way to Hoi An but you can get a bus there if you wish. The flight cost us around £25 each with Vietnam airlines.

Note: The women walking the streets with baskets of fruit will offer you to take pictures holding the baskets of fruit which most tourist will do, well they will charge you to do this or ask you to buy some fruit. Just make sure you take the fruit BEFORE giving over the money. We gave the money first and the lady decided that the bunch of bananas in the bag weren't included. Not that we minded as it wasn't much just more about principles of it.



The hotel we stayed in booked through Booking.com:

• Paramount Hotel, $126 (Us dollars). (Today's exchange rate £85) for one week. Breakfast was included within the price and it was either a buffet or the chef would make you something fresh if you asked. However the rooms were very run down and neglected. Very dusty, wires coming out of walls, mattress was very hard and dusty. You can see that this hotel was once lovely but unfortunately has been left. I wouldn't stay here again if i was to return.