We decided to fly to Phuket from Chaing Mai in the North.After looking at the prices it was a similar cost but we preferred the idea of a 90 minute flight over 22 hours on buses!We got into Phuket at around midnight on 2 November and thankfully the hostel had arranged an airport pick up for us which meant we just jumped straight into a car and off to our hostel rather than having to try and haggle a price at that time of night as we were both shattered.

There had been heavy rain the day we arrived and many of the roads were impassable so it took a bit longer than expected to get to our hostel.We don't know if you have seen the news about the floods in Thailand but they have been really bad and we have actually been very lucky as we have missed the worst of them all…….sometimes by only a matter of hours!We arrived at our hostel around 1am and it was basic and simple but clean and our room was grand.

We were staying in a resort called Karon which was a bit quieter than the main resort of Patong and had an absolutely fantastic beach but as far as we could see not much else.All in all during our week we were not that impressed with Phuket as it really was just like any other budget holiday resort but a lot seedier as well with a lot of old Western men with young Thai women - quite sad really!!We didn't get up to much during our week in Phuket apart from spending a few days on the beach which was great.Laura also had a final trip to hospital as she still wasn't feeling great but the doctors confirmed that her previous chest infection had all cleared up which was great news and hopefully a change in luck going forward!!

Some strange experiences that are totally unique to Thailand were meeting a baby elephant in the street which was just standing outside a bar with its owner who was selling bunches of bananas so passers by could feed him!Craig also got a large iguana put on his shoulder while sitting in a bar and asked for 200 baht (around £4) for a photograph…….the guy with the iguana was told where to go!Most importantly of all we went to a sports bar on the Sunday night to watch the Brazilian Grand Prix.We sat at the bar with the bar owner and one of his mates from England who was blocked and decided to stand right in front of Craig for the final 30 minutes of the race talking rubbish to him which didn't go down too well as you can imagine as he missed most of the end of the race!!Sebastian Vettel won the race - not a good result and didn't get too many cheers from the crowd in the bar!!

Glad to be leaving Phuket and onto Phi Phi Island which we have been told is like paradise so we cannot wait for that.Photos and the blog to follow from Phi Phi Don (big island) and Phi Phi Lei (small island and home to Maya Beach from "The Beach" film).

Craig and Laura =)