Day 78 - 13th feb
We are up and out today slightly later than normal and heading straight for the beach.. Shiree's a little grumpy and a lot tired today so a lazy day on the sand is in order....
On our arrival we decide to opt for a pair of white plastic reclining chairs and beach umbrella package for 200bt per day... The beach is already getting busy so we consider ourselves luck to find one quickly, and close to a central walkway that leads you either to the sea, or to the restaurants behind.
There's a handful of guys that run the chairs, and they double up as waiters for the restaurants too, so getting refreshments is never an issue... Along with this is a steady precession of Thai women who work the beaches offering head or foot massages, various beauty treatments and all kinds of differing snacks like corn on the cob or prawns...
The beach, although busy is really nice, and has a roped off swimming area... The area is roped off to prevent the swimmers and the many jet skis and speed boats coming into contact....
One of the beach sellers arrives selling something made from wood that we'd been after for a while... It has some moving parts and whilst looking at it whilst discussing a price I manage to break it... The seller is not bothered and simply hands us another one, and as we'd managed to agree a good price just prior to me snapping it in half we buy the unbroken one, and have learnt its weakness too...
There's a large European guy sat a few chairs in front of us and he's burnt all over... The local " beauty products" girl sees him as a sure sale of a Aloe Vera leaf message, and she was right... The a Aloe Vera leafs here are huge... There cut in 18 inch lengths and range between 3 to 5 inches wide and an inch think...
This guys has obviously agreed to an Aloe Vera massage, which basically involves having the sliced up leave rubbed all over the burnt areas of your body... It was most amusing to watch this Thai girl rubbing this blokes face and hair with a cut open Aloe Vera leaf, and as it has a pretty slimy content he must of felt a right plonker, but I'm sure it was worth it...
The suns heat today has been noticeably hotter than previous days and I spend almost every minute of the day making sure I'm under the shadow of the umbrella, with the only exception of four or five swims, with I do in shorts and a t-shirt so by 3 o'clock in the afternoon when I can feel my skin more sensitive than it should be I'm a little confused, but either way, I'm fed up of being burnt so we're moving on, back to the hotel... Is we walk back, exposed to the sun I can feel I'm burnt, but god knows how... I've been ultra careful today, and Shiree asks the question... Can you burn through an umbrella ? Don't be silly I reply, it blocks out the sun.... I'm sat in a shadow all day.....
Well, once back at the hotel, having passed our somewhat miserable reception guy and with the help of google we learn that yes, you can get burnt through an umbrella... And I have been.... Apparently fabrics also have a SPF rating and there surprisingly low, plus dry sand is very effective at reflecting UVB rays back up off the ground and under your umbrella... Great !!
Well, after a cold shower and half the contents of an Aloe Vera bottle in my skin we head down to the street restaurant that's reappeared outside our hotel and order some food....
Shiree's been "tired" all day so in an attempt to cheers her grumpy ass up we have some bbq's red snapper hoping that it'll taste as good as the fish on a stick we had in Laos. When it arrives it's served on a plate and looked good, it also tasted great, so I go back up to the fish stand and order some crab and rice... The sea food is all fresh, and some is still alive, but everything we order is dead already... The price of the seafood is dependent on its weight so we had to agree a price beforehand in both the red snapper and the crab...
When the crab arrives it's changed colour and it's now lobster red... The meat in the claws is nice, but the body meat we're not fussed on... It was a nice experience, and crab was a first for Shiree but I'm not sure she'll be trying it again anytime soon...
From here we part company... Shiree's pooped so heads off to bed, but it's still early so I decide to head back in the direction of a group of streets we'd walked yesterday that had more than there fair share of pubs along them.... I've no intention of stopping into any off them, but there loads of people out as it's such a tourist town and I'm off to see the streets alive at night....
It's not long before I'm back.... I've been offered all manner of things on my 40 minute travels including my first "special massage" but I politely decline.... I locate an ATM and return for our last nights sleep in Phukets Patong.
As we are climbing into bed my Asian iPhone begins to ring....
Phone calls from Asian numbers are relatively common once here, but this calls persistent... I ignore the first call, but answer the second and it's the company we have booked tomorrow's transport with.... There calling to rearrange our collection time... 40 minutes earlier to 06.20...
We'd better get off to sleep.