Patong exploring, Simons Cabaret, massages, pedicures and teeth whitening

21 July

I was well enough to be able to spend time exploring Patong. I had my check up with Dr Sanguan on 25 July at 2pm and was due to fly home on 28 July.

Patong is a party town during the evening. During the day there are a large number of places to eat and shop, most shops sell knock-off replica clothing and cheap goods, and have owners that are keen on you buying from them. They are not as aggressive as other places like Bali and take a refusal fairly well.

Bangla Walking Street is the main thoroughfare through to the beach and it is here that most of the action happens, especially at night. We were approached continually by people holding up laminated signs offering all the different types of ping-pong shows imaginable, which usually consist of women using their pelvic floor muscles to retain and eject a variety of objects from their vaginas. While many of the objects are unsurprising – ping pong balls being a staple – others can be more than a tad more cringe-worthy and may include chopsticks, darts, and razor blades (!).

We didn't attend one of these shows, I was keen but pretty tired in the evenings and was on a strict three times a day dilation schedule so most nights just found somewhere to eat and headed back to the hotel, watched Netflix and dilated.

Bangla Walking Street, during the day it's rather mild

The tuk tuks are a good , relatively cheap way of getting around. Most are pimped up Toyota Dynas or similar, with flashing lights, pumping music and enthusiastic drivers. We walked nearly everywhere but some days I just wanted to take it easy (and in hindsight I probably should have taken it much easier!)

If you do anything, PLEASE GO TO A SIMONS CABARET SHOW!! These ladyboy performers are fantastic entertainers, the show is a mix of music, comedy, magic light effects and spectacular outfits. No photos are allowed during the performance but at the end you can take a picture, and have a picture taken, for a cost

Another thing to see is a Muay Thai boxing event. They are held a few times a week and advertised relentlessly by trucks driving around with loud hailers and boxers doing demonstrations on the back of the trucks.

We also had massages, pedi and manicures and had our teeth whitened at Sea Smile. Sea Smile is a professional and well priced dental treatment provider but the teeth whitening left us both with extremely sensitive teeth for a few weeks afterwards, so that's something to be aware of if you are prone to tooth sensitivity.