My journey from Koh Samui to Phuket was a total contrast to the previous journey I had to endure.

The relaxed regulations at the Koh Samui airport meant I could rock up at pretty much anytime before take-off at 11am. I arrived an hour early just to be on the safe side.

The Koh Samui airport is open-aired and probably the nicest I've been to. It's pretty small with being on an island but is very luxurious. No expense has been spared on the facilities.. they were superb! Pleasant open-aired areas to walk around in, nice shops and cafes, unbelievable marble designed bathrooms, and comfortable departure lounge areas with free wifi just a stones throw away from the runway. Fantastic!

The plane I boarded was only small with two seats either side of the aisle.. been a long time since i last flew on a plane like that. The flight was a simple up and down job taking only an hour.

It was 12 noon and I arrived to a very rainy Phuket.. it is the wet season after all. I collected my luggage and jumped on the airport minibus.. I was staying in Karon Beach, supposedly the 'nicer' part of Phuket but I didn't realise how far away it was. I was the last drop and took 2 hours to get to my hostel but that was including drop-offs for other people in different areas.

The hostel I stayed at was very basic but I knew the main reason I came here was to get to Koh Phi Phi in a few days time. The rain was relentless and showed no sign of stopping so there wasn't much to do. Usually in places like this you'd go for a few drinks if it was raining but it was some sort of Buddha holiday over the next two days so alcohol cannot be sold or consumed.. bad timing or what?!

I had a little walk in the rain to see what was around stopping off at a local cafe to try some local cuisine which was very good and cheap! I thought I might as well head back to the hostel and sort some accommodation for the rest of my trip whilst I had time on my hands.

I chilled for the rest of the evening grabbing another bite to eat late on. I got speaking to an old guy in the hostel and turns out he's from Blackburn.. Brownhill to be precise, just down the road from where I live!! Very weird! He only goes home for 2 months of the year and spends the rest of it travelling around Asia.. whatever floats your boat I thought. The first person I meet from Blackburn on my travels and they come across a little strange.. typical!!

Saturday was a better day with brighter weather but still predominantly overcast. I sorted my return transfers by minibus and ferry to Koh Phi Phi at a local travel agents then had a sandwich for breakfast.

I took a walk down to Karon Beach just before noon and chilled for a few hours watching the world go by. The beach is quite nice with thousands of tiny white crabs darting in and out of their burrows but spoilt somewhat by litter where the sand met the grass banking. The Andaman sea was extremely rough and very loud.. big crushing waves were clattering the shore with the tide going beyond the grass banking every now and again.

I took a lazy walk further round the coast into the next town, Kata. There was much more on offer here.. plenty of shops, bars, restaurants and cafes.. even a Starbucks. I walked beyond the town and came to Kata Beach which was smaller than Karon but very similar in it's way. I found a cafe near by and had some lunch before walking back towards Karon Beach. On my way I happened to stumble across a game of football between two young teams at the local stadium so I sat and watched for a good half hour. The standard was poor but I enjoyed watching it.. the constant commentary over the speaker system throughout the game was a bit unusual and off-putting.. can't imagine what it was like for the players.

I came back to the hostel where I freshened up and grabbed a bite to eat. The Buddha holiday was still going on so the 'no buying or consumption of alcohol' was still in force.. but a lad I'd got friendly with, John from Yorkshire, came across a local shop selling it under the counter whilst out on his scooter. As long as we kept it on the down-low we could have a drink so I jumped on the back of his scooter and we bombed it to the shop. Sure enough we bagged ourselves some booze and brought it back to the hostel where we enjoyed the drinks quietly outside. A girl called Sarah from Exeter who had just arrived joined us outside for a few drinks and we had a good natter. I planned on getting myself an early night with the minibus coming to pick me up at 7.20am in the morning but time passed and we ended up calling it a day just before 1am.. not great preparation!

I woke up today feeling a bit dodgy and tired but I've got to go and catch the minibus now which will take me to the pier where a ferry will take me over to Koh Phi Phi at 8.30am.. so excited!! Good weather is predicted too!! :)

xx