Day 12:  Pa Tong

Tomorrow morning we were to fly out to Singapore, so this would be our last day of beach and we took full advantage of it.

We lounged until about 1pm and then freshened up for our trip to Patong.  The Tuk Tuk mafia (as it's locally known - they collude to keep prices high) charged us 400bt just to go to Pa Tong from Karon beach (about 10 mins ride - for about $13.

Pa Tong reminds you of Vegas in that there is neon and bars everywhere.  The hawkers (vendors) really come after you as well here).

We had booked a Thai cooking class this evening (Pum's Thai Cooking School) which was quite a bit of fun.  Pum herself was a quirky Thai lady who grew up in Australia (if memory serves) and she went through all the ingredients used in Thai cooking (like basil, lemongrass, coconut milk, etc).  They used a different kind of sweet ginger (galenko?) as well.

We first mashed up a paste of all the Thai ingredients to make a hot and spicy blend to add to each of the dishes.

We each had the opportunity to choose 3 dishes, and mine were: Chicken with Cashew nuts, Kang Penang and Coconut soup.  Simmi had Padh Thai, Chicken satay, and Tom Yam soup.




None of the dishes took more than 5 minutes to actually cook, and almost all of them were delicious.  I say almost because my Padh Thai (I didn't make the coconut soup due to a mix up with another student) was pretty bland.  It was probably because I couldn't use shrimp paste, and we didn't add anything except soy sauce.

Thai cooking is actually quite quick and easy (especially when the food preparation is done for you), but you just have to get the order of additions right, as well as when to use low heat vs high heat.  Having worked in food safety, I also saw where cross contamination occurs in a Thai kitchen - in the boiling pot, as well as in the woks (sometimes).  Another big surprise was the amount of cane sugar that goes into many Thai dishes.

We had a lot of fun in the kitchen, and also learned how the chefs do it.

After stuffing our faces with our dishes and enjoying a fun dinner with our fellow students, we waddled out and walked around checking out the sights and sounds of Pa Tong.

Eventually we got to Bangla Road, which is the party district.  It's about 4 blocks (no traffic) of non-stop bars (many 2 to 3 storeys high) and with alleys leading up to more bars, restaurants and clubs.  There's nothing like it; you have to see it to believe it.
Sleaze is on display everywhere, but it is mostly in good fun - as most of the crowd are couples and families at this time of night.   The ladyboys are probably the biggest attraction and they parade around in showgirl outfits taking photos with all the sightseers.  There are also "Go-Go" bars everywhere with their hostesses yelling at you (nonstop) to come in.

We picked a fairly modest pub playing 80s tunes, and enjoyed cocktails for an hour or two, watching the partiers and tourists roll by.

Finally we headed out (after another banana and nutella crepe) and it was 300bt back to our hotel.

Although buzzed, we did manage to pack before passing out.