After a very early start and a 6 hour bus ride we arrived in Phuket Town from Koh Samui. Phuket Town is just 20 minutes from the major beaches of Patong, Karon and Kata, but the accomodation there is a fraction of the cost compared to staying at the beach resorts! Our first morning was spent at the post office getting rid of another bag of souveniers that we had accumulated in Koh Samui, before heading to the beach in the afternoon! We decided to try out Patong beach first, but having spent the last 4 days on Koh Samui our expectations were high! As nice as the sand was, the water was inferior to Koh Samui and the beach was so busy that it seemed more like a european resort than thailand. Although everything has now been rebuilt you could still see remnants of the 2004 Tsunami along the coast, and the Tsunami evacuation routes and shelters are a constant reminder of the horror seen there.

The next day we boarded a luxury boat for a day's tour to Phi Phi Island. We had originally only signed up for (and paid for!) the basic tour package. However, when we got there they had us down as having paid for the VIP package, and so (having failed to correct them!) we enjoyed loads of extra free perks! The trip over to the island was spent up on the sun deck topping up our tans (and sunburn!), and once we arrived we went straight to Phi Phi Ley. This is the uninhabited island where 'The Beach' was filmed and once we were there we went snorkling in Maya Bay with all the tropical fish (the bay in which the shark attacks the swedish guys in the film The Beach!). Phi Phi Island is, without a doubt, the most beautiful place we have ever been to (no exaggeration!)! The pictures we took and the postcards we bought (and the film!) don't do it justice. After snorkling in Maya Bay we sailed on to Monkey Beach (where there are loads of tame monkeys that you can feed) for more snorkling and kayaking around the coral reef, before heading on to Phi Phi Don for a huge buffet lunch. Then, after a quick walk around the island, it was back to Phuket, where we subsequently rented and watched the film The Beach!

For our last day in Phuket (and Thailand!) we decided to spend the day on Karon Beach. This was much nicer than Patong beach as it was a lot quieter and less-resort like, although the sand was the finest (in size) we have ever seen and so for many days later we kept finding it on us, even after many showers! This was our last day in Thailand as the next day we had a long bus ride to Hat Yai and then on to Malaysia....