We spent 2 nights in Patong, phuket. The plan for the second day is to just explore the vicinity as our hotel is at an excellent vicinity.
We stayed at Presley Guesthouse. The hotel is full of Elvis' - "The King of Rock and Roll" memorabilia, thus the hotel's name.
From here, the bustling Bangla road nightlife is 10 mins walk away, it is close but far enough away to avoid the noise. Most people are concerned that this town is a huge party town and you won’t get any sleep! It is true if your hotel is too close to bangla road and you will surely hear the loud sounds. It is a debaucherous party town by night with mostly lady-boy performances.
During day time, Phuket is a lovely, relaxing town. From bangla road, walk for about 5 minutes more, you will reach Patong beach. We walked to the beach very early that day to catch the sunrise unfortunately the sun didn't show up because it was drizzling. However, it is perfect for swimming! But on late mornings the weather was suddenly hot and we noticed tourists started to flock in. Most were sunbathing, while others were enjoying their massage. Parasailing, jet-skiing, wakeboarding, kayaking and banana boating are some of the watersport activities that may interest you. There are keen operators on the beach waiting to do business with you.
After idling yourself along the beach, you can also check out for shops along the area.
Next stop is Jungceylon Shopping Mall. Just to clarify, I am NOT a mall person. I would never travel trans-Pacifically to spend my time in a mall. Every tourist town has a mall, but Jungceylon is an especially welcome respite from the humidity in Patong. Jungceylon is the largest shopping mall in Phuket. During our very short stay in Phuket we passed this mall a few times as it is just a 10 minutes walk from where we stayed. Jungceylon was a name used by Europeans for Phuket back in 1511 when it was a prosperous port and tin mining town & it probably has nothing to do with Sri Langka aka Ceylon.
Besides shopping, there are a lot other activities to do here. The mall is divided into four zones. "That's Siam" in the zone called Silang Boulevard sells all types of Thai arts and crafts and I like the ambience of this section most. It is on the basement floor and that's where you also find the massage parlors.
The open air section called "The Port" is a favorite hangout for visitors. There is a man-made lake with a replica of a Chinese Junk Boat and visitors are seen clicking away their cameras here. The musical fountain comes on at specific hours.
The 3rd zone is called "Phuket Square" and the two anchor tenants are located here. One of them is the Big C Supermarket and the other anchor tenant is Robinson.
The 4th zone is called "Sino Phuket" and it is made to look like a street. This may be called the food street as there are many restaurants and pubs lined along it. We ate at Cafe 101 Bar & Restaurant that day, we were very full after we ate the lasagna and steak. It was the best lasagna I have tasted in my whole life. But seems their pizza is the best seller.
There is Shell World Museum & Shop is this street but you need to pay for some fee to enter. This place is a must-see for sea shell collectors.
At the junction of Jungceylon Mall to Presley Guesthouse, you will definitely not miss the Bangla Boxing Stadium. This stadium organizes kickboxing championship and attracts competitors from all over the world. We don't have an interior look at it because we can't tolerate violence and also tickets are expensive. You can easily spot this building because you will see Tiger statues all over.
Opposite to the stadium is Banzaan Fresh Market. The building consists of 3 floors. The ground floor is where you find fresh market produce. On the 1st floor are some apparel stalls and a food court. The basement floor is the parking floor. On the outer part of the building are small shops selling a variety of goods. Cooked food and desserts are also sold in the market. Many people would just buy from this market and take them home to eat, and this is also what we did.
This ends our Phuket stay. Tomorrow, we will be going back to Krabi via Phi Phi Island.
We stayed at Presley Guesthouse. The hotel is full of Elvis' - "The King of Rock and Roll" memorabilia, thus the hotel's name.
 |
| Presley Guesthouse |
From here, the bustling Bangla road nightlife is 10 mins walk away, it is close but far enough away to avoid the noise. Most people are concerned that this town is a huge party town and you won’t get any sleep! It is true if your hotel is too close to bangla road and you will surely hear the loud sounds. It is a debaucherous party town by night with mostly lady-boy performances.
During day time, Phuket is a lovely, relaxing town. From bangla road, walk for about 5 minutes more, you will reach Patong beach. We walked to the beach very early that day to catch the sunrise unfortunately the sun didn't show up because it was drizzling. However, it is perfect for swimming! But on late mornings the weather was suddenly hot and we noticed tourists started to flock in. Most were sunbathing, while others were enjoying their massage. Parasailing, jet-skiing, wakeboarding, kayaking and banana boating are some of the watersport activities that may interest you. There are keen operators on the beach waiting to do business with you.
 |
| Patong Beach |
After idling yourself along the beach, you can also check out for shops along the area.
Next stop is Jungceylon Shopping Mall. Just to clarify, I am NOT a mall person. I would never travel trans-Pacifically to spend my time in a mall. Every tourist town has a mall, but Jungceylon is an especially welcome respite from the humidity in Patong. Jungceylon is the largest shopping mall in Phuket. During our very short stay in Phuket we passed this mall a few times as it is just a 10 minutes walk from where we stayed. Jungceylon was a name used by Europeans for Phuket back in 1511 when it was a prosperous port and tin mining town & it probably has nothing to do with Sri Langka aka Ceylon.
 |
| Jungceylon Mall |
Besides shopping, there are a lot other activities to do here. The mall is divided into four zones. "That's Siam" in the zone called Silang Boulevard sells all types of Thai arts and crafts and I like the ambience of this section most. It is on the basement floor and that's where you also find the massage parlors.
The open air section called "The Port" is a favorite hangout for visitors. There is a man-made lake with a replica of a Chinese Junk Boat and visitors are seen clicking away their cameras here. The musical fountain comes on at specific hours.
 |
| The Port |
The 3rd zone is called "Phuket Square" and the two anchor tenants are located here. One of them is the Big C Supermarket and the other anchor tenant is Robinson.
The 4th zone is called "Sino Phuket" and it is made to look like a street. This may be called the food street as there are many restaurants and pubs lined along it. We ate at Cafe 101 Bar & Restaurant that day, we were very full after we ate the lasagna and steak. It was the best lasagna I have tasted in my whole life. But seems their pizza is the best seller.
 |
| Cafe 101 |
There is Shell World Museum & Shop is this street but you need to pay for some fee to enter. This place is a must-see for sea shell collectors.
At the junction of Jungceylon Mall to Presley Guesthouse, you will definitely not miss the Bangla Boxing Stadium. This stadium organizes kickboxing championship and attracts competitors from all over the world. We don't have an interior look at it because we can't tolerate violence and also tickets are expensive. You can easily spot this building because you will see Tiger statues all over.
 |
| Bangla Boxing Stadium |
Opposite to the stadium is Banzaan Fresh Market. The building consists of 3 floors. The ground floor is where you find fresh market produce. On the 1st floor are some apparel stalls and a food court. The basement floor is the parking floor. On the outer part of the building are small shops selling a variety of goods. Cooked food and desserts are also sold in the market. Many people would just buy from this market and take them home to eat, and this is also what we did.
 |
| Banzaan Market |
This ends our Phuket stay. Tomorrow, we will be going back to Krabi via Phi Phi Island.
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