Hello everybody,

Well after a very long journey and two coach breakdowns we have finally made it. The first coach had a tyre blow out while on the way down to Bangkok. We were in the middle of nowhere and had to drive slowly for an hour till we got to a garage that could help fix the tyre. The journey down there was ok and we were supposed to get on a coach from Bangkok at 7.30pm. It ended up being at 9.30 as the coach's aircon had busted and the coach wouldn’t start. No one was informing us about what was happening but we were ok although a little hot and its very humid at the bus station. The coach we finally got was very nice. The overnight journey was ok and got to Phuket at 9am, a little earlier than planned.

We hired a car for 3 days as this province is huge and got a cracking deal. We are staying in Phuket town which is inland from the main beaches and is also a lot cheaper on the accommodation. We first went to Patong beach. Wow this place is defiantly not us. Very busy and full of westerners. It’s just like we had gone back to Spain or the Canary Islands, not very nice. The beaches were full of umbrellas and couldn’t see the sand for them. Its just like Turkey where all the market traders talk to you in slang English (Alright mate, How’s its going), No defiantly not the Thailand we like. One guy tried speaking to Darren in an Australian accent from which Darren said "why you speaking to me like that, I'm not bloody Australian". He soon got the message. They even ask you constantly "where are you going." We always say "just walking" but then one of them said "why walk." So Darren replied "cos god gave us feet!" It's not us here at all! We got back in the car and went for a drive around the north of the Island. Up here there are three beaches. All of which got hit by the Tsunami. We read in lonely planet that there was a campsite on one of them so decided to go and check it out. When we got there, a lot of it had been damaged by the Tsunami. We spoke to the girl who owned it over a drink and she told us she cried for 2 days after the Tsunami. They all did. The devastation here was terrible. The toilet blocks and reception had completely gone and they had to rebuild it. It was so strange to be there as we could still see the aftermath two years on. It really makes you think. Yes we all knew how bad it was on the TV but when your actually here it’s awful. You just can’t imagine what it would have been like. We always make a note of the closest Tsunami escape route just incase it happens again.

We went to a Gibbon Rehabilitation centre which we didn’t take any photos of as they are trying to rehabilitate the gibbons to be released. A lot of them had been rescued because they were being used as tourist traps in Bangkok. A lot of them were made to drink Whisky and smoke cigarettes. We both felt awful for them but glad they had been rescued. The people there do an amazing job. Once the gibbons are ready they are then released in the jungle just behind the centre. There was a great waterfall behind the centre which we went to see. Shame it was the wrong time of year so it wasn't flowing much but still nice to see. This was in the jungle and we knew it. Very very humid and there was some bloody big ants around here. Scary!

We also went to the bottom of the Island and saw some more devastation of the Tsunami. It’s everywhere still. This was the nicest day as we went for a drive around to all the different beaches and we couldn’t have done that without a car. Saying that some of it was on major dirt roads which were not accessible by normal car. This was good for us as we had a jeep and it wasn’t very touristy when we got there. Phuket is a nice place although you do need a car to get around seeing it all. Phuket town was ok’ish. We went to the hotel which was used in The Beach movie. It’s called On On Hotel and is not very nice, rock hard beds, no hot water but it was clean which is the main thing.

We are off to Ko Phi Phi tomorrow and can’t wait. We will speak to you all when we get back as there is no internet on the island. But we will be coming back to Phuket as we have a return ticket

Lots of love Gemma and Darren xxx xxx