Today we went on a tour of the island. So in a private air conditioned car we were driven to various places interesting to tourists. "View point" gives a nice view of the beaches along Karong & Kata. The beaches are nice and clean to swim at, and you're able to relax without too many hustlers unlike Bali. Next stop was Promthep Cape - Phuket's most southern point and famous for its sunsets. There is also a Hindu elephant shrine on top of the hill consisting of hundreds of elephants of all sizes, some adorned with garlands of flowers. People make incense offerings for wishes or give thanks to wishes that are granted. After this we passed Rawai beach, which is meant to be good for pearls, on the way up to see the "big Buddha". This is an impressive monument still a work in progress. This huge Buddha sitting 45m high on a hill it is made of small marble tiles over a fibreglass mould. There are nice views of the east coast of Phuket. Our last stop was again another "gem shop". We were taken on a quirky rail car trip through a reconstruction of the history of gem mining in Thailand, then onto the showroom. Being completely happy with my previous purchase we had the obligatory look and then caught a lift back to the hotel.
For tea we had some local food. Patong is full of tacky bars and nightlife, but the street food is unbeatable - tasty & cheap.