Culture Shock

I never thought I would experience culture shock coming back into Thailand, but after spending almost a month in Northern Thailand and Laos it was such a shock when I finally made it to the south. After two LONG days of traveling, I arrived in Phuket. I definitely underestimated how long it would take to get from Laos to the Southern Beaches. Poor planning on my part. I arrived in Phuket utterly exhausted and I was dropped off in the middle of the craziest beach in Phuket, Patong Beach. The only way I can really describe it is like Bangkok only next to the beach. It was busy, noisy, crowded and really overwhelming. The streets were crawling with farang and I counted about 6 McDonalds on my hour long walk trying to find my hostel. Is this really Thailand? I was not liking Phuket so far. I decided to give it a chance and after a good night sleep and my first real meal in two days (does McDonalds count as a real meal?) I woke up refreshed hoping my view of the city would change. Unfortunately it didn't. It had absolutely no appeal to me at all. My friend Katherine and I decided it was time to get the heck out of Phuket and find a quieter island. Its amazing to me that Phuket is so hyped up. It doesn't even feel like Thailand.