Today we woke up early as we were planning on seeing Patong. We headed down for breakfast at about seven and poor Kai looked shattered (she had been out last night). We had a chat and I had a very strong coffee (she puts at least two to three spoonfuls of coffee in a small cup) before we packed a beach bag up ready for the beach and went on our way. We wandered down to the old town and picked up one of the buses, very much like a songthaew but bigger. On asking the price the guy said seventy five baht... I then rolled my eyes and saw we were going to have a battle here. We checked the price we a nearby hostel and as we thought it is only twenty five, we then went back and asked him again and again if he meant twenty five until he waved us on the bus and stopped speaking to us. When the lady came round to collect the fare it was indeed twenty five baht.

We arrived in Patong just after ten and it was pretty much what we expected... It's one of the most popular destinations in Phuket and likely to be why Phuket has lost its charm as a destination. Everyone told us not to come to Phuket as its touristy and horrid and I'm sure that's because they bypassed the charm of old Phuket town and headed straight for Patong which is what most people do. Thankfully we did not and were staying in a charming hostel in a quaint little Portuguese styled town.

As soon as you get off the bus all you can see is sun loungers... The beach is rammed with them so you have no choice but to hire one. However at 100baht each for the whole day, it is a bit pricey but totally acceptable... Especially as it turned out the guys actually provide a service. They are constantly sweeping sand off the loungers... Moving the parasols so you remain in the shade and asking if you need anything. We pulled up a pew right on the sea and laid back to chill out. We debated exploring the town and being proper tourists but it seemed there was little culture on this strip and although the beach had a "package resort" feel about it, It was definitely the better option. We chilled in the sun and then when the midday sun hit we put the parasol up and then swam a bit before drying off in the sun again. It was a very relaxing day and if you could ignore the constant thai locals trying to sell you something then your okay. It was quite nice to have people bringing you food and drink but their prices were beyond ridiculous so we didn't bother. Instead Steven headed up to the seven eleven and bought some noodles and fruit juice. On returning he said he could see why people just paid the extra to have it bought to them... In the short journey up the road he was grabbed constantly by thai massage girls trying to drag him in to their parlour haha... Wish I had followed with the camera. It was quite funny that on walking the street again later with me no massages were offered so not sure what kind of massages they were offering.

We laid on the beach most of the day chatting and reading before we thought we would go and explore a bit and maybe grab some dinner. The actual town is very touristy and aimed very much at the lads holidays... Its how I would imagine an 18-30s resort like Ibiza. Every street is covered in massage parlours where about twenty very dolled up girls (and ladyboys) sit and wait for their prey... We saw several guys being jumped on by the girls and then being enticed as they do the sad face like they are being rejected. We just laughed and I think Steven was glad for the back up haha. I found a swimsuit I liked but the girl was charging seven hundred and fifty baht (about sixteen pounds) and it wasn't even lined... I laughed and left, the lowest she would go was three hundred which was still ridiculous. We wandered around taking in the craziness and passing restaurant after restaurant selling over priced food and beer, before long we decided to head back to the friendly and charming Phuket Town.

It wasn't long before we found a bus and headed back... We dropped off near the small night market and headed to the same restaurant as last night. I ordered a Tom yum soup and some boiled rice while Steven had mixed seafood noodles. We also enjoyed a couple of crisp cold beers before heading to the hostel for a shower. Today was Chinese New Year so we thought we would go and explore the night life. We had a shower and I throughly enjoyed doing my make up and straightening my hair (first time in at least two weeks) while sipping a beer. We then sat downstairs with Kai and enjoyed some San som rum which is stupidly cheap. We finished the bottle and then Kai informed us that in Thailand you can take bottles of rum with you into nightclubs, so on that note we bought another bottle and headed out.

Firstly we came to a small bar in the old town, it was in a really nice location in a very Portuguese street with Chinese lanterns lit up everywhere. We wandered in and bought some cokes before sitting outside and chatting with various fellow travellers. Two guys from Finland got chatting to us so we took them along with us to the bigger club called "timber hut" where we spent the next few hours singing and dancing. The club had a local lady singing a mixture of English and thai music and she was really good. She belted out several Adele classics while I stood in front of the stage singing and gyrating with some local girls and guys. We also crashed a birthday party and joined in with the celebratory singing. The locals were really nice and there was a big group of us dancing and chatting while sipping rum and cokes.

The night flew by and before we knew it two am had arrived and we were being turfed out ...but only after a very nice free bowl of rice porridge. One of the guys from finland (who looked like Spencer from the Hills) said we could all head to a place called sofa... But we got lost and soon it was too late. Instead we headed to the seven eleven for munchies. On route Steven was yarning with the other boy who was really sweet while Spencer was bugging me for love advice that he really didn't want to hear. It was relentless lol... In the end it was nearing three am and we were wanting to fall into bed so we had drunken hugs and said our good byes before retreating for the hostel where we sat in bed eating crisp sandwiches before passing out.