Greetings from Phuket! I never came here on either of my two holidays in Thailand so Im happy to make it to another place. Im in Patong which anyone whos been knows is NOT the best part of Phuket to spend time, Id heard rumours that it was loud, crass, ugly and seedy etc. And it kinda is. Except Im used to all that now. It doesnt really even register anymore if the bar im drinking at has go-go dancers wearing teeny tiny shorts and thight high black plastic boots, shaking their thing. Surely thats just normal? ;) And I like the beach here. Its nice! Its like Vic says the places that get majorly touristy are that way for a reason - cos their nice! So for the record, the beach at Patong; the sea is clean, its baby blue. its warm, the sunloungers are cheap, theres fruit and hot sweetcorn and beer, the sellers arent to pushy. Im very happy here. Which is lucky, cos Im likely to be here a fair bit. Add to that, Im staying at Sweet Home Guesthouse which really is a sweet home as its 200 baht a night (about 3 quid) for a really big room with a really big fridge for beer and a really big tv. Im staying here at the moment with Vic, who I met in Vietnam, first Phu Quoc, then Na Trang, Hoi An and my friend Stella, who who enjoyed the holiday in Thailand 4 yrs ago so much that shes come back for more. I also have my sister and her boyfriend Rich out here and his two workmates Mike and Graham have only just left for samui. So we've got everyone here! Its really nice to see familiar faces :) Mind you I should mention that it was my sister driving the jetski at a fair old velocity where we hit a rogue wave and came careering off. I hit the water and skimmed along just under the surface a bit and my only thoughts were waiting for the impact of the jetski to smash into my head. Which it didnt. Which is lucky. Cos they werent insured. Man am I feeling it in my arms today tho. Trouble is on a jetski the accelerator is on the handlebar so you feel yourself losing control ad the automatic response is to hold on and squeeze tighter which makes you go faster... Kyla has a bruised chin and probably a bruised ass too. That was from my driving. Im so proud ;D Jet ski-ing is fun man, I really enjoyed it. Esp as it was a blazing hot day that we did it, the sun on the sea was beautiful... gaah. This stint of my trip is definately the extended holiday section. Yesterday for example we were in the Ibis hotel's swimming pool which is gorgeous, and deserted in this season, floating around on a lilo. Its not really the hard life is it :D And Ive gone a bit laid back, where no planning seems neccessary. Stellas here for 10 days, were gonna do the IKO kitesurfing course, we might go to phi phi, we might go to krabi... Decisions to be made another day. Today is joining the locals watching the olympic boxing on the telly. When in Rome..