Patong Beach is like the Waikiki of Thailand
This morning was overcast following last night’s rain. We were a bit slow getting organized. A phone call to Linda’s Mom, June, was the first thing we did this morning. We had a really good visit with her while we had our breakfast. The 13 hour time difference can make it a challenge to connect sometimes.
We packed up our bathing suits and beach stuff as the weather did start to improve just before we headed out. We drove back to Karon Beach and went back to the Island Creations tailor that we’d talked to yesterday. When we walked in the shop he said “oh, you came back, you are honest!” We’d told him we’d come back but don’t think he believed us. We ended up ordering a couple shirts for Gary and a jacket for Linda. Prices for the shirts were fair and the jacket price was really good. We couldn’t buy the fabric at home for what he is charging. Linda also picked up a bathing suit for $20 CAD from the adjoining shop that the tailor’s wife operates. It hasn’t reopened yet but he opened the door and uncovered the rack of bathing suits so Linda could browse.
From there we drove on to Patong Beach. It actually was busier than we expected. It is a gorgeous beach but far more crowded than we wanted. We walked down the beach and looked around.
We thought we’d have a fruit smoothie but they wanted ฿150 which is considerably more than we’ve been paying. We finally decided to drive back to Karon beach. We grabbed 2 passion fruit smoothies for ฿50 each from the little restaurant where we ate yesterday. It was so dead we quickly changed into our swimsuits in the car and then went down to the beach. It was so quiet and peaceful! Our 2 beach beds were all on their own, it was very nice. We spent our time reading and swimming. Think Gary snuck in a nap too!
Before we left we chatted with the guy that looks after the beach beds and umbrellas. He said he was born in Karon and lived here his whole life. He said ” I don’t think tourism will get back to normal here until 2023″. He then thanked us for giving him the business today. We changed out of our wet suits in the car and went to the little restaurant for supper. We did ask what the restaurant name was, that caused a bit of a discussion amongst them and they finally explained that they only recently opened and don’t have a name yet! We enjoyed generous servings of cashew chicken and shared an order of rice and 2 bottles of water. We were stuffed and then the owner appeared with a plate of watermelon, papaya and pineapple and a big smile. Supper, including tip was ฿400 about $15.50 CAD.
We headed back home before it got too dark. Streets were much busier and we really need to find some window cleaner as the glare and haze on the windshield from the sun or headlights is not great for driving. Maybe the ocean spray is building up too! The first few days saw the wipers getting turned on at every corner. The wiper control on this car is where we would expect the signal light lever on all vehicles in Canada. Today the wipers only came on once, it got bumped. Haha Remember we are driving on left side of the road and the gear shift is on the left. We arrived home safely, showered and enjoyed an icy cold beer!