Today was our last day in Phuket and tonight was the start of a big festival in the old town of Phuket to celebrate the Chinese New Year. We may of mentioned there is a significant Chinese influence in this region and is reflected in the cuisine plus the Chinese lanterns everywhere! The previous night sleep had been an unsettled due to a gang of male students from Bangkok arriving at stupid o'clock for the said celebrations and not really understanding the concept that people may be sleeping at that time of night! The morning consisted of the usual routine of breakfast and chilling and I had to book our ferry tickets to Koh Phi Phi then on to Koh Lanta which proved surprising painless. I decided to hunt down a valentines treat for Laura and stumbled across a quaint little bakery. They sold these petit four cakes of various variety such as lemon tarts, strawberry tarts, cherry bakewells amongst many others. I thought they were prefect and set them out on a plate with a heart in the middle that I formed from strawberry jam, had to improvise on that one. They were very well received by Laura and we enjoyed them as we sat an watched another film as it was unbearably hot again and we had had enough of being the mad dogs! Plus it was so nice to tae some time out, you always feel guilty of your to trekking a hill or seeing a temple so a lazy day was well needed. We then headed to a noodle shop a few doors away where a lovely young girl served us... We both had noodles with sauce and the biggest plate of vegetables I've ever seen... All for about 50p... It was amazing, so filling and yet so healthy. Plus they I've you a gorgeous little soup with it for free.

During the afternoon the street outside the hostel was starting to become busier with make shift stages and stalls being erected in various places on the road. Out the back of the hostel on the green an elaborate stage had been set up with the obligatory sound tests happening! We chilled out for the rest of the afternoon while Kai was busy setting up a couple of stalls outside the hostel along with some family and close friends. At around 5pm the local authorities shut off the roads in the town centre and people were starting to appear, mostly locals browsing the numerous stalls that had suddenly sprang into life. I had a little drama getting ready by knocking the lampshade off the light in the shower whilst I was taking off my shirt. There was a juggling act followed by a loud smash which I felt could of woke the dead. The staff were not about and Laura had her hair dryer on which meant no one heard it. Although i summoned her help and after she laughed and rolled her eyes she assisted me with cleaning it all up and although I felt a little stupid... I guess it's my fault for being lanky. After that minor incident, we decided to sit out the back with a sneaky beer from the 7-11 and watch the opening ceremony that was due to start at 7pm on the green.

The next decision was obtaining some proper alcoholic beverages which involved the local shop and a very cheap bottle of local rum. We had a few rum and cokes but unfortunately apart from a few speeches nothing much happened even after 7:30pm. Laura decided to go out the front and see if any more was happening. By this point there were a lot of people on the street and we kept going with the rum and did the old pastime favourite of people watching before we face timed Mum as it was her birthday! (happy birthday mum). We tried these fried pancakes filled with pork and topped with sweet chilli sauce which Kai's friend was selling out front for an amazing 20baht... they were delicious! Kai was then very generous and gave Laura a mojito cocktail for free which Laura felt was one of the best she had ever had... quite a statement.

A joint decision was then made to wander through the town which was an experience to say the least. There was anything from school children playing instruments and singing, fresh meat being butchered and even boys showing off their pimped up cars with subwoofers on full blast sending shock waves through the nearby buildings. Laura was able to negotiate quite well with the hawkers and picked up a slightly damaged straw hat for the haggled price of 30 baht (about 70p). The weirdest thing was these women in full body white make up and made up blood under their eyes and mouths. We couldn't work out what it was all about but a local explained to a degree about an old style ritual, that sort of thing just generally creeps me out.

After our stroll in the muggy evening heat which extenuated the smell from the vast number of food stalls we headed back into our little restaurant by the hostel. Unfortunately they had run out of noodles so we opted for the delectable rice dishes which as always did not disappoint. We learnt the young owner was married (husband was the chef) and her whole family helped out including her very sweet father. We said our goodbyes explaining we were leaving tomorrow and headed back to the shop for a large bottle of 'Hong Thong' the local popular blended spirit mixer and then back to hostel for further drinking.

As the night progressed, Kai's DJ friend was mixing the tunes and had lured in a few westerners for a dance. We later found out most of them were expats or working in Phuket, quite commonly as teachers. The drink kept flowing and the dancing ensued with random sweat drenched men chatting to the young women. Laura and I were tired but obviously could not go to bed with the music playing which didn't peter out till way after 1am. On attempting to steer Laura onto the soft drinks warning her we were up early... I got the same response as always... you only live once... Lets get the rum, coke and ice! haha she will never change. I went to top up our drinks when Laura was cornered by a more mature man should we say. I joined them and picked up on the fact he was a boatman of English origin which was reinforced by him constantly quoting 'I'm a boat captain and been to some amazing places.......' A little bit of 'change the record mate' came to mind but there you go. After he departed we both breathed a big sigh of relief and then popped to the shop for late night noodles for us and Kai. After eating and chatting we realised it was 3:30am and the thought of waking up at 7am to catch our boat filled us with dread. The night ended with Laura's famous but never kept to quote 'I'm never drinking again!'.