Phuket, Thailand day 3-4 - Last days of the trip

  Our last full day in Thailand started at Kata Beach for the morning. Breakfast was just as good as the day prior - veggie sandwich and veggies
  And beans and toast. Had to fuel up for all the swimming!

  Some plants around the hotel grounds
  Raymond was still tired and sunburnt from the prior day so he hung out in the room all morning while I swam around in the pools. We didn't have to check out until noon so I had plenty of time to swim! We were headed up the coast to be closer to the airport for our flight the next day and wanted to get some lunch before we left. We checked out and then went to the taxi stand to see how much it would cost to get to where we needed. The guy at the stand told us 1,200, but he could get it for us for 1,000 and drew all over my map I had. We said okay, but we want to leave in like an hour as we want to get some lunch and stuff first. Well that was just not good! We should leave right now!! They have restaurants up there! Leave now! You must leave now! It was so odd...we eventually just walked away as I was already hungry, it would take at least a half hour to get up to our next place and then to find food would be way too long. I kept thinking how strange it was and why was he so persistent that we had to leave immediately. I mean if there was something going on that would create a lot of traffic or something then sure, but just because? 
So we went back to the same place for lunch, the Thai place with the super nice guy. We had more noodles and they were delicious. Then instead of going back to the hotel to get a tuk tuk we just went to the stand that was close by and we got a better deal there. I was just like oh, no wonder that guy wanted us to leave immediately! Annoying. 

  The drive up the coast was really nice - up through some mountains then down by the beach. Patong was much more touristy and I am glad we didn't stay there. We arrived at our next hotel in Laguna Bang Tao and the people at check in were odd. They were saying nice things, but they acted like we were a big inconvenience. Our room wasn't ready yet so we left our bags and went to explore the beach. The whole place was incredibly empty. 
  It was really hazy and while I was checking in Raymond found an English language paper that had an article on the haze - how it was from the fires in Indonesia to make palm fields. How you should try and stay inside as it is obviously not good for you to breathe all that in. I was glad we were leaving the next day as the haze was just getting worse. While waiting we walked along the beach, then got tired and just lounged in the lounge chairs. 
  Our room overlooked the one larger, nicer swimming pool and we did go swimming for a bit in the afternoon. This is afternoon - you could look at the sun the haze was so bad. It was...we did try and stay inside as that really can't be good for you. 
Sand crabbie who is even better camouflage than the other ones we have seen!
    We swam and hung out in the room until sunset then walked back down to the beach...only you couldn't see the sun at all. It got darker, but there was no sunset. We walked along the beach to "town" - a small strip of road with shops and restaurants - to find some dinner food.

About halfway down the beach there was a small stream to cross and there were a bunch of people there all looking at it like they didn't know what to do. Raymond was looking on the map to see if he could find a way around and I just thought why not walk through? Which is what he did, but he went so quick I wasn't ready and then I got stuck. There was a row of tiny fish along the shoreline so I couldn't cross! I know it is stupid, but I just can't do it. So I have to wait until someone else was crossing and go right after them. They parted the fish for me.

The people in this town were so much better. They would say hi, how are you? But there was no intense pressure to eat there. I loved it. Overall it just felt much more relaxed and laid back there. There was one place at the end of the road set back a bit that we didn't see a menu for, but there was a friendly guy outside who started talking to us. He showed us where the menu is and was just super nice so we decided to have dinner there. 
  We had a veggie pizza and french fries - yep very Thai! It was alright, the fries were delicious, and we were seated by the water. Or tiny stream that went by the restaurant. You couldn't really see it since it was dark, but it was there. Oh, and the restaurant had bug spray in case you needed it which was nice. We were eating dinner and having a lovely time until this group of 6 Japanese people came in. The lady showed them to a table for 6, but they all decided they wanted to sit in pairs. The one couple decided to sit by the water behind Raymond so then they all wanted to sit by the water. The one couple sat behind me, and one at the table next to us which is fine, or would have been had they not decided that they still wanted to talk to each other so they yelled across us every two seconds. They were really loud and annoying and it always surprises me when people are that inconsiderate. It is one thing if you sit together and having fun and making a ruckus, but to literally yell across other people because you don't want to sit together but still want to talk to each other and the other people are just in the way? Very rude. They eventually all decided to sit together so then it was better, but they were not happy about anything. As we were leaving the one couple was complaining to the waitress that their fried rice was only vegetables and the waitress was just like you said again and again and again no meat! no meat! no meat! So there is no meat! The ladies reply? Well seafood is okay...the waitress was so annoyed. We just got out of there as soon as we were done and walked back to our room. 
When we got back we turned on the telly to watch some before bed and I am so glad we did! After a few minutes the shows were interrupted by a special announcement which was incredibly interesting to watch. A guy came on to talk to the people of Thailand - not sure who he is, but someone associated with the royal family/government. He talked for about an hour about a ton of things. All in Thai, but with English subtitles so I could understand. He started off by telling us that His Royal Highness the Prince is going to have a bike for dad event in December (there was just a bike for mom event that we might have seen in Bangkok - there was some large bike event going on). He wants everyone to come together and and show that we support each other, but he also wants us to be safe while training as this should be a fun event. His Royal Highness the Prince wants us to have fun with it, but be safe. Then he talked about how we are focusing on real estate right now, but we don't want you to get into more debt than you can handle like happened to so many people last time. We all need to help out and not let him do everything himself. Then the buses need to be upgraded to electric and maybe we can make the parts ourselves. We can make everything like spare batteries and such. It needs to happen and we can do it. 
Then how farmers should be careful with their water consumption and should be making water storage areas. Flooded farmers need to think first before releasing the water as what happens if it doesn't come again? You should start making your water storage now, don't wait for the government to do it for you. Then he commended a guy for helping some Norwegian tourists who got stuck in the sucking mud. There was a video and the guy tried to help pull them out, but that wasn't working, so he laid down on the mud so they could climb/crawl over him to get out. It was kind of crazy. The guy talking was just you should do kind things for others not for attention or to gain something, but just because it is the right thing to do. Then a commendation to a student who helped an ambulance get through traffic by knocking on car windows and asking the drivers to move to the side. We should all try to help out where we can. Then how we need to keep the Thai culture alive and remember our roots. Some of the younger generation seem to not care so much about it, but we need to remember our traditions and dances or no one will visit Thailand. It is a true democracy and everyone needs to help out. He can't do it all himself and you shouldn't wait for the government to do things for you. It was really interesting watching the whole thing. Like a glimpse into what the Thai people get told by the leaders. Fascinating. 
After that we found this riveting show called Supreme Skills which highlights the skills of Japanese engineers who compete in challenges. We only caught the last half of one where two teams were competing to see who could make a needle to pierce a thick aluminum plate. Team one's first two needles had broken, and team two was on their second needle - which succeeded! Then back to team one - would their third and final needle succeed? Will it pierce the plate? Or will it break as well? The needle was super thin so it was edge of your seat action...really it was ridiculous how they tried to make it super dramatic. Here is the website for the show if anyone wants to check it out. It was fun. 
  Our last day in Thailand we got up and had some breakfast. Veggie sandwiches, tortilla chips, and fresh fruit. Pretty good. It was odd though as the day prior there weren't very many people at the hotel. When we came back from dinner there were a few people in the lobby hanging out, but almost all Russian people. At breakfast they were missing and the place was overrun with other Asian people. We were just like where did you come from? We didn't see any of you yesterday...we didn't even see many people out and about in town so where were you all? Strange.
  We just hung out in our room all morning as it was nice and cool and it was still really hazy outside. When it was time to check out we packed up our stuff and went to book a ride to the airport, but the people working the desk there didn't seem to know what was going on and we ended up just coordinating with one of the taxi guys outside. 
We walked into town and had lunch at a bar that had a great vegetarian menu - pretty much everything could be made vegetarian. We had one last pad see eew
  And a massaman curry. This was so tasty! I was thinking why didn't we get curry more often while we were there? Because I am a noodle fiend...

While we were eating Raymond saw this Spiderman tuk tuk and said hey we should take that back to the hotel! I said no way, we can walk, but then it started pouring!

  It poured while we finished eating and sat drinking our beverages. It let up a little bit, but then just started coming down again. It was a lot of water so when we were ready we ran across the street to get some more snacks to take home with us
  Then took the Spiderman tuk tuk back. 

  So much rain!
  Since our flight wasn't until the evening we had the afternoon to hang out and relax. Originally I was thinking about swimming, but it was so stormy outside I didn't feel like it. There was a library in the hotel so I went to see if they has any English books and found only two (lots of Russian books though) - Too Close to the Sun - a super romance space thing. You can click to read the synopsis - a galactic smuggler on one of the riskiest missions of his life disregards the help of the lady who saved him. Or the lady who finds his consciousness in a ship as apparently his body is elsewhere. She would do anything to prove she can help, but she didn't count on his physique being so magnificent...yeah it sounded good in a horrible way, but I just wasn't feeling up to reading it right then. Right now as I am writing this up I am thinking what was wrong with me? That sounds amazing in such a bad way. The other book was Deceit which was supposed to be a thriller and sounded better than the romance. So I just read all afternoon until our taxi came to whisk us away to the airport. 
Overall it was a really great trip. I loved Laos so so much, and Railay Beach was my favorite place we visited in Thailand. It was just beautiful there. I wouldn't make a special trip back to Thailand as it was just eh overall, but I would go back if we were in the area again during the vegetarian festival! Since that is the whole reason why we planned this trip for when we did it worked out and we ate a ton of super delicious foods. Even though it was WAY too hot and humid for me by the time we left it wasn't that bad. I had definitely acclimated some and was much better than my initial "we have made a terrible mistake" thoughts. And lovely to end our adventures by having days of swimming at gorgeous beaches. Hope you all enjoyed our SE Asia adventures