Patong- Day 10

So far what I've liked about where we've been staying in that everything is under a 10 minute walk away. In Hong Kong, we frequented The Peak which had a mall and was about a 7 minute walk from Uncle Stevens apartment, anywhere else we just jumped on the tram. Hong Kong was ultimately foggy, which was fun when we were walking because you could just run ahead and disappear. We visited a few markets, had dinner on a floating resturant and of course my parents had to hit the horse races so we tagged along. One of the events i'll never forget is the Wonderfish! treatment where hundreds of Graffa fish suck the dead skin off your feet and leave then feeling sooo smooth and lovely.


We've been in Phuket for 6 days now. Were staying in an apartment that has a pool, thank god, but is also a 10 minute walk from the beach. For the 3 days we've gone to the beach, we leave our apartment and walk down a steep hill then make a few turns and walk down a few more hills until we reach town. Choosing either the left or right side of the road, we continue picking our way past restuants and stands usually selling the standard tshirts, dresses and sarongs until we reach the beach.
Even the beach costs money, 100bht per chair and we get 4 every time because someones always walking alongside the beach or diving in the waves. A view from where we sit is always the same, chairs in front and beyond that, ocean. Every minute there`s a new merchant selling dresses hanging from their arms or offering you a look into a book of henna tattoos, if you show the slightest amount of interest the next second their pushing a calculator in your face showing you how much. So far i`ve gotten a thai massage, my hair braided in those tight braids and a hello kitty henna all for $40.
A trick i`ve noticed a few times is that they allow you to set the price and if it`s too low, they show you the original but if it`s higher they keep quiet and take your money. On the days we didn`t go to the beach, we went on a tour that involved riding elephants, rubber tapping, riding in a buffalo cart and a hike to a waterfall. Another day we had a 2 hour thai massage and on the third day we just lazed around at the apartment and did some grocery shopping.