After arriving in Phuket we sorted out a taxi to take us into Phuket Town where we had decided we would try to find a room and stay in the town for a couple of days. After walking around for half an hour with our backpacks on and trying 5 or 6 different places only to be told they were full we were becoming a little frustrated but as we walked out of a place an old guy sitting on the stairs said he could take us to a nice hotel on Karon beach with a/c and a pool for 500baht. He showed us the brochure for the place and rooms and it looked nice so we hoped in his car and off we went. The hotel was stunning! we had our own bungalow with a/c, fridge, tv, a really nice pool and we only had to walk across the road to get to the beach! on checking the price list, we should have been paying 1200baht per night! Sweet! We spent a couple of days realxing and walking around but unfortunately wendy had to go home for Christian's funeral so i was left to fend for myself!

The next day i sat on the beach and watched some surfers for a couple of hours until i realised my back was burning so i headed back to the hotel to realx in the shade by the pool and later that ecening i wondered around to find a bike hire shop so that i could tour the island. I was up early on Thursday to make the most of a days hire of a bike and set off in search of the zoo with only a basic map and hoping a wouldnt get too lost. Fortunately, as Phuket isn't too big i only ended up a little bit lost but found some stunning view points and managed to find the zoo by about 11am. Possibly one of the most depressing zoos i have ever been to! There were monkeys in cages on just big enough for them to walk around in, Ostrich's with half their feathers falling out, a monkey show which didnt quite look right, an crocdile show where i was hoping the croc would get the upper hand and catch one of the thai 'entertainer's' and a pretty good elephant show but beforwe the show the elephants were tierd up with about 1foot of chain to their ankle so all they could do was walk around in a circle. definitely not a zoo i would recommend! After the zoo i went for another ride to try and find some accomodation in Patong. Easily done and i found a pretty similar quality room for the same price. Although a couple of the rooms were a bit pricey and one i went in to told me it was 'ok for girls' and by the tv was a selection of assorted condoms and massage oils.... probably not the place for me!

I moved to Patong on Saturday and spent the day walking around to get a feel for the place and checked out the massive shopping mall where i got lost for a couple of hours. The next few days were spent on the beach with my book just passing the time away. Evening times were a bit of a mission as apparently a man walking on his own in Patong at night is only there to go for a massage or to be dragged in to a go-go bar full of thai woman who would be only to pleased to clear your wallet for you. After a couple of nights of fending them off trying to find somewhere to eat it was starting to p*ss me off. I think it would be an funny place to be with a few mates but if your not there for Thai women it's not a great place on your own.

One day when i was sitting on the beach an tattooist walked past and stopped to show me his art work then offered to draw a tattoo on me and if i liked it he would arrange a price but if not then no problem... i thought why not! Back to the tattoo shop and first he shaves the top of my arm then after giving him an idea of what i would like he draws away for 20 minutes. Not really the best of artists and the price worked out about GBP50 per hour, as much as at home so i decided not to have it done. At this he tells thats fine but i would owe him 200 baht for shaving my arm..... after a little argument he decided not to charge me and off i went.

The day before i was due to leave to fly to bangkok to meet wendy i found out that there was a cable ski water park near by where i could go wake boarding so i got a taxi to the park and paid 750 baht for an hours wake boarding. It was quality, pulled along at 27k/m with a few jumps and rail slides along the way. o tried a few of the jumps but couldnt master the landing and my backside was getting sore but it is definitley something i would love to try again. it so easy on a flat lake compared to the sea in st aubins bay!

Friday morning was pack up day and off to the airport to fly to bankgkok to meet wendy although i must admit my muscles were aching from the wakeboarding and lifting my bag was a bit if a struggle!