Raining buckets. The sort of rain when the wind blows, you can see it in sheets-as though curtains flapping in the wind-but sheets of rain. And it kept raining & raining. There aren't pedestrians strolling by. Very few motorbikes. People were staying put because of the rain. Not a chance were we going to willingly enter an absolute downpour. (Mer has a strong aversion to being wet.)
It was during this waiting interlude that Mer and I finally shared that there was something wrong about this place. She woke up with weight and anxiety. I woke up with equal weight and a darkness. Thank you, Jesus, we were able to see it and share it. Call it pervasiveness. Call it wrong. Call it evil. Something about this place is off.
The up side was good internet & the ability to determine our next destination and where to get out. The rain let up once, only for the clouds to rip open new sheets of rain. Finally, around midday, the rain stopped again and we packed up our ponchos to head out.
Our location was very near the 'party street' of Patong Beach. Whatever our fortunes may have been, it was the fastest route to the beach.
In a place like this, tourist information abounds. We noticed several places selling tickets to islands and areas around. Since we didn't really know the best way to get off the island nor other options for moving on, we decided to get our exit booked. The only issue was the price. Everywhere we saw tickets for 900 baht each ($25). As we discussed with one lady, Mer just casually mentioned, "Ugh, it's just so much!" Without even a breath she offered 750. With that window, Mer jumped and offered 700. The seller agreed (which means we could have gone lower! But at least we saved $11 without much effort). The only decision was 7 am or 2:30 pm. What little we'd seen and the darkness we felt, we jumped at the first bus out.
As we were finalizing our tickets, the rain started up again. We ponchoed up and started to head down the street. 
We got about ten steps before we just had to wait it out under an awning (remember: sheets!) Finally, it slowed and we tried it out again. As we neared the beach, the wind picked up as the buildings and palm trees gave way to flat sand. Our ponchos didn't stand a chance.
And take a rain soaked selfie.
After we got plenty wet, we headed back to the street.
Who can't eat pad thai in Thailand?
We once again waited for the heavy downpour to subside before continuing on. Perhaps very cliche American, but we headed toward the mall that was between lunch and our place. It was a smart choice as the rain got heavier as we walked there.
Throngs of people were already inside doing what we were doing, waiting out the rain. As we walked, Mer commented that this mall reminded her of Malaysian malls. It definitely reminded me of our previous mall stop in Dalat, Vietnam. We mostly just looked around. There was a dedicated, small 3rd floor for a spa. An entire wing housed a resort. We tried to find an ice cream place we were recommended to go to and eventually found it. While they had all kinds of flavors, mixings, and cones, the average menu item was around $7! What is this? San Francisco? (Where the shop was originally founded)
If we were having a treat, then I wanted my 50¢ coffee from 7 Eleven and Mer wanted her 50¢ cone from McThai. Budget crisis averted. After our desserts, we were two blocks from our place. It was time to get dry clothes.
We booked our place at our next destination, had a rest, and changed to head out again. The rain had stopped for a while. Evening was falling as we made our way back through party street. The attractions were notably more lit up as American pop tunes bumped from each place. We had to politely decline all the hawkers along the way trying to push drink specials.
Finally, we made it to the beach. It was a quiet respite from the street we traversed. The lights were much softer. The loud gave way to the peaceful surf crashing behind us. The photo opportunity was perfect.
If it weren't for such a horrible town, this place could be quite gorgeous.
It was time to walk back. By this time, night was fully on. The parties were fully starting. The crowd was thickening. There were more drink offers and now a pamphlet being shown to us with a pot leaf and "ping pong." I fully will claim naïveté in not knowing what goes on at these "ping pong" events, nor did I try to find out. However, they were quite aggressive. A simple 'no, thank you' was no longer working as drink deals and ping pong was shoved in our faces. Mer even put up her hand up to one and the guy pushed back! We had to get out of this place.
We made it back to our hostel fast enough to finally exhale. Patong needed to go the way of Sodom and Gomorrah. At least we had 7 am tickets out that picked up at our hostel.
Only one hitch: In our hustle back, we never stopped for dinner and we were hungry. We knew we'd be leaving too early for breakfast, so we needed some protein. We didn't want to have to go back out at night, but we tied up our shoes nonetheless.
Then there was a knock at the door. I opened it up to see the hostel staff holding plates of food. "It's our friend's birthday and there's food left. Do you want some real Thai food?"
Thank you, Jesus again. We got to eat from the security of our own room. We showered and then got ready for bed. One sleep to get out.
Except it wasn't that easy. About 3 am, both Mer and I were awoken to blood-curdling screams. There was a slamming of doors as someone nearby our room just yelled the whole way to the exit. There was more screaming again an hour later until said participants entered the room and closed the door.
I could not wait to get out of Phuket.
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