After a few days chilling out at Rai Leh, we headed to Patong for the nightlife. We booked a 3hour boat ride and transfer to our hotel in Patong (650bht) through a travel agent in Rai Leh. The first part of the journey was on a long-tail boat from the shore to meet with a larger boat. In typical Thai time we waited around for the long-tail boat to leave, then sat out a sea waiting for the larger boat to arrive. It did however provide great views back at east Rai Leh beach. The transition from a small wooden long-tail boat to the larger boat was slightly tense, as watched our luggage being passed between praying it wouldn't end up in the sea. Once on the larger boat we relaxed in the sun on the upper deck, taking in the Thai islands and snoozing.

Our hotel was on the main beach a short walk to the main nightlife. A 2 minute walk from our hotel was a great massage shop, called Pimpisa Massage. We ended up becoming regular customers having 3 1hour Thai massages whilst in Patong. At £4 for 1hour it was hard to resist. Opposite the massage shop was many bars all under one roof. We ended up drinking in here mostly as the beer was cheap and lots of sport was being shown on TVs, including some tennis!

In the daytime the main beach street is a hassle, with tailors, dodge DVD shops, taxis and hammock sellsmen try to get your attention. In the night though there is a good selection of restaurants, bars and night clubs. We had a couple of big nights out in Patong and felt fragile after. For fun we even took a walk down Bangler road, a street lined with girls and bars. We had to double take at few of the 'ladies' and turn down the constant “you want boom-boom?” offers. It was an experience to see.

After Patong we headed up the coast 20minutes to Kamala. The tour book had promised a lovely quiet beach, however it ended up being too quiet. It rained the whole day and most places were closed as May is the start of low session. With little else to do we had a nice meal in the only open restaurant and in the evening me and Marcus got a taxi back to Patong for some more beers. It ended up getting so late we had to book a hotel in Patong and travel back to Kamala the following morning.

The next day my friends from England, Jo and Marcus, had to go back to Bangkok to fly home. It was sad to say goodbye after a great 14days travelling with them. Really enjoyed their company.

With Kamala being so quiet I got a taxi back to Patong and checked in at a hotel 15minute walk from the main town. The hotel was great value, £15 per night, including free wifi, air-con and a nice swimming pool (I was paying this price for a 6-bed hostel room in Australia and New
Zealand!) It also had 2 large ponds full of thousands of tropical fish (mollies). I found a few local restaurants where you could eat breakfast for £2-3 and a nice Thai meal with a large Chang beer for £4. I made plans for my remaining time in Thailand, used a local gym (only £3), relaxed around the pool in the lovely sunshine and had another massage. It was nice to relax and see a different, more local side of Patong away from the main beach.