Bangtao, Patong, Karon, full on!

Sawadee!! Time to explain what's happening here.. Started off in Bangtao and to be fair it's going to be hard to beat there. Genuinely beautiful little village although the prices did reflect on the lack of competition.. Or the vast number of "drink too much whiskey" Russian tourists. We were staying at a dainty little 'bangalaw' chalet just a minute away from the beach. Two days there and an early morning at the beach with fresh coconut before heading to the city of Patong, a much vaster complex of towers, markets, discos and massage shops.
The heat is unforgiving, so afternoons can be almost ruled out on hotter days unless you get to the breezy beach - which we didn't and our hotel was a good ten minute walk from town, with a fair sized grove inbetween it and the sea guaranteeing no cooling wind. I took a stroll up a steep hill one day to get a good view and my bearings - one local laughing at me saying "just homes and forest!" Well, i liked the homes and the view was something to behold..
Some good food was on offer but you had to shop around, being an overly tourist orientated area you aren't saving even a penny some places. Despite the many hundred offers we haven't got a suit, dvd, bags, watches or ladyboys - but we did have a massage.. Oh my days, I have never been contorted and cracked so much and felt so good after.. Definitely worth the £6/hour we paid including a tip.
Overall Patong is an interesting place and it's easy to get the flavour of the region but i didn't think another day there would do us any favours as it's not somewhere you would find much peace..

We've just moved to a new hotel down the coast in Karon, a much smaller town and hopefully somewhere we can feel less crowded.