And so that is pretty much it for our time in Thailand. Two months has already passed and it is almost time for us to get on a plane and go to Vietnam. Unfortunatly not before a twelve hour bus ride from Phuket to Bangkok.

We have spent the last ten days or so in Phuket town. Opting to stay in the busy but cheap town insted of the expensive tourist beaches that can also be found in Phuket and this worked out very well. The buildings around the town are amazing and would not look out of place in Madrid or Barcalona, (im guessing as i've never been to either). Just a ten min walk from our hostel was the best nite market we have found on the trip. Stalls selling everything from cheap kebabs, to fish cakes, to fruit shakes and dragon fruit. We had dinner here on a number of occasions.

Unfortunatly the weather since we arrived in Phuket has been pretty poor. It has rained part of every day, and this stopped us taking a bus out to any of the beaches surrounding the island. But never mind, we have done beaches, and there was plenty to do in town. We spent one evening in an Indian resteraunt and made friends with the owner. He kept us in drink all nite with a bottle of burma rum. I managed four shots myself. Beating my own record by ... well, four! We spent other evenings in the bar attatched to our hostel where we also got free drinks in the form of my now favourite beer, chang! Our hostel also had a huge dvd collection and as we had a dvd player in our room I used the time during the more severe downpoors to educate and refine lew's movie tastes!

It has been a very relaxing time here and a nice end to our time in Thailand. I now can't wait to get to Vietnam and start exploring there. Maybe the next twelve hours on the bus can be spent planning our route through the country. Next stop Ho Chi Mihn.

One small footnote: 'The Beach' is a truely aweful film which we have now been subjected to (in parts) every day since we have been in Phuket. One scene was filmed in a hostel just around the corner from ours and aparently that means that every backpacker needs to watch it in hostel common areas at lease once a day. When we return from our travels please never mention this film ... we may break down and cry.