Chilling out in Patong

The rain arrived for our travel day, which made it easier to say goodbye to the beach life we had enjoyed, and the scenery through northern Krabi was lush and green and made the drive interesting. 

The Club Wyndham resort is perched alongside the cliffs overlooking Patong. There have been a few changes to the resort since I last visited with Linda in 2019. We were impressed with the new owner’s lounge, which we used whilst waiting for our room to be available, and later to catch up on our blogging whilst enjoying complimentary soft drinks and biscuits. The resort has a total of 8 pools for those wanting to pool hop or a place to be alone!

Our room was the same room that Linda and I stayed in last time which has been refurbished with a modern beach vibe throughout.  It is always nice to see that Club Wyndham are using our fees to keep updating the existing resorts. We enjoyed having the extra space of a two bedroom (one room was used as our dressing room), a kitchen, large bathroom, two toilets and lounge area, not to mention the three TV’s.  We were spoilt with a private cool jacuzzi on our balcony, which we enjoyed since we were missing our spa pool on the deck at home.

Tony had an ex-colleague reach out mentioning that she would be in Patong at the same time as us. We couldn’t pass on the opportunity to meet up for a drink or two and chat to people that were not Tony or Sandra. We met Kelly and Dwayne at Manina Brunch & Bar which is situated along the main beach of Patong with stunning views across the beach and sea, so we were well situated for an afternoon of conversational catch ups and cocktails. We were even treated to a one-man band playing soft tunes whilst we watched the sunset and afternoon parasailers. We were surprised to have such a brilliant spot all to ourselves for the entire afternoon including sundowners overlooking the beach.  Later that night we learned that it was a Buddhist holiday and alcohol should not have been available. Another lucky break!

After a few drinks and small plates, we said our farewells to Kelly and Dwayne.  Tony and I decided to head to Malin Plaza night market which was originally on my list from 2019 but I never got there. This time I was sure to visit for a look-see.  We wandered through the food market and picked up a couple of winning dishes.  In full disclosure, I already knew what I wanted as I had watched another You Tuber’s review. If you are ever in Patong, be sure to swing by...especially if you have a hankering for some grilled crocodile kebabs!

Quick travel tip: It is a clever idea to carry hand sanitizer or wet wipes, and we also carry our own metal cutlery set and straws to save on plastic where possible. Sometimes you are not expecting something to come with plastic and next minute you are presented with your drink in a plastic bag to make it easier to carry along with a straw in its own separate plastic bag. We just do what we can to reduce and re-use and forgive ourselves for the rest…

If you are in Patong and looking for a good quality “Western” meal, head into the Central Mall.  On the ground floor you will find several eateries.  One spot (you cannot miss it) has a seated area where you can order off the menu or you can choose your dishes from the premade sections and pay per 100grams.  This day we enjoyed roast pork loin with crackling, roast potatoes, mac cheese, vegetables and a chicken breast smothered in parmesan cheese.  So, we enjoyed a roast meal with two glasses of prosecco – all for less than $30 NZD.  Afterwards, you can head into the TOPS supermarket and pick up a few essentials.  Tony found it interesting to find several well-known NZ brands on sale there, for not that much more than we’re paying in NZ (divide the amounts by 20)

We did a lot in the south of Phuket during the first week with Linda, so we opted to spend less time travelling around and instead enjoyed our time chilling at the resort. Some of you may be wondering why we have not mentioned Banglor Road and its famous/infamous night life. Well, we've enjoyed quite a few nights out in our travels to date with beach parties and lively bars, so didn't feel that we needed to get amongst the more "colorful" club scene in Patong just to say we did.  We'll leave that story for someone else's blog.

So here ends our time in Phuket.  We’ve done a reasonable job of seeing it from tip to toe over the past few weeks.  Our summary: Phuket has a lot to offer.  Remember to do your research because not all beaches on the island are created equal and you should ensure you stay close to the areas that you’re interested in as it is a bigger place than many realise to travel across, and traffic does get heavy in places.  If pressed, we would say that we preferred the southern end of the island to busy Patong. If you’ve only got a short time to spend in Thailand and want to experience a lot in that time, particularly if you enjoy nights out on the town, shopping, and other entertainment alongside days on the beach, then Phuket is a wonderful place. 

Time for us to head north of Phuket into Phang Nga province.