From reading the online reviews it seems that most people have a pretty low view of the old town Phuket, and I can see why. Yet, I am enjoying staying here far more than I think I would from what I remember of Patong 5 years ago. The old town comes across as a far more normal slow paced Thai city. It doesnt have a lot of special sites to go see, but then it is not overrun with Swedish families, packs of Germans or drunk Americans. After all the months of travel I have found that there are times for going out and having a crazy night, but I have no desire to be out every night. Patong from my memory is a terrible mixture of so many clashing cultures that it comes across as fake or slapped together and dirty. Boxing stadiums next to starbucks, beautiful beaches but covered in people trying to sell you crap so that they are always blocking the sun. Seemingly more tourists than locals on the streets. An almost all white customer base with an almost all Thai set of staff.
Two days ago in old town I was able to go for a run and found a really cool hilltop track. Just north of where I am staying there is a hill with a set of TV antenna's. From the maps it looked like a good run so i set off. Clearly it has been set up for recreation because there were a good number of locals running/walking the trail to the top. After passing a small temple/altar near the bottom I realized there were dogs everywhere. Dozens. I am used to strays in Asia, but the density was impressive. Then about a third of the way up the dogs gave way to pigs. One or two dozen. Mostly small but a few giants among them. Just chillin on the side of the road. As I continued up the hill the pigs gave way to a troop of monkeys. Seemed to be about 30 I could see and more in the trees. Finally as I neared the top there was an amazing viewpoint looking out over the city and a little further right at the top was a small outdoor weight facility. Now I use the term facility lossely but there were benches with bars and cement blocks on the ends for weight of different sizes. An ab bench, dip setup and stretching area. I am not sure if it is paid or open to the public, but I used it for a while and no one said anything to me. It was a really pleasant place to work out before starting the somewhat uncomfortable steep downhill run to the bottom. I understand why most people seemed to run up and walk down.
I really like running uphill, the extra work and sense of achievement when you get to the top, but hate the downhill. Feels like a waste, too easy ruining my hard work on the run. And hard on the knees to maintain any real speed. still working on how to only run uphill, it will be great when i can have my driverless car drop me at the bottom and pick me up at the top... hope i can still run then.
Two days ago in old town I was able to go for a run and found a really cool hilltop track. Just north of where I am staying there is a hill with a set of TV antenna's. From the maps it looked like a good run so i set off. Clearly it has been set up for recreation because there were a good number of locals running/walking the trail to the top. After passing a small temple/altar near the bottom I realized there were dogs everywhere. Dozens. I am used to strays in Asia, but the density was impressive. Then about a third of the way up the dogs gave way to pigs. One or two dozen. Mostly small but a few giants among them. Just chillin on the side of the road. As I continued up the hill the pigs gave way to a troop of monkeys. Seemed to be about 30 I could see and more in the trees. Finally as I neared the top there was an amazing viewpoint looking out over the city and a little further right at the top was a small outdoor weight facility. Now I use the term facility lossely but there were benches with bars and cement blocks on the ends for weight of different sizes. An ab bench, dip setup and stretching area. I am not sure if it is paid or open to the public, but I used it for a while and no one said anything to me. It was a really pleasant place to work out before starting the somewhat uncomfortable steep downhill run to the bottom. I understand why most people seemed to run up and walk down.
I really like running uphill, the extra work and sense of achievement when you get to the top, but hate the downhill. Feels like a waste, too easy ruining my hard work on the run. And hard on the knees to maintain any real speed. still working on how to only run uphill, it will be great when i can have my driverless car drop me at the bottom and pick me up at the top... hope i can still run then.
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