After a long a horrible journey in the back of a cramped old minivan we arrived in Phuket around 6pm. We had booked really nice accomodation over crimbo and New year as a treat and this was our first night of 3 weeks of nice hotels, we were so happy. Jez and Wilba stayed in another very nearby which was also nice. It was so good having air con, a fridge and fresh towels/hot water!!, instead of our usual little wooden huts with mosquito's everywhere haha. Don't get me wrong we love it really but it was nice having som luxury after slumming it for so long.

A little later on I started feeling really queezy and was ill, I tried to go out for dinner with the rest of them but couldn't man it as I felt terrible, so I went back to the room and gave dinner a miss. It turned out that Wilba was also ill through the night with the same symptons so it was clearly something we had eaten as we ate at a dirty little cafe for lunch on the way here as there was knowhere else to really eat.

The next morning I was ok but Wilba had been up all night so he stayed in bed for most the day. The rest of us chilled on Patong Beach for the day which was really nice, eating chocolate cake from all the vendors lined up along the beach. It was a very busy beach lined with deckchairs with lots of water sports and families on 2 week holidays. It was a bit crowded but the water was lovely, clear and very warm. Phuket carnival was on so there was lots of food stalls and thai people celebrating. The atmosphere was really good but the carnival really wasn't that great.

We weren't very keen on Patong anyway, again it was so commercial with all the american fast food chains and it was probably the sleeziest place we had been with go go bar after go go bar, it was all a little full on for our liking, but we were only there for 2 days and for one of those we went on the popular phang nga bay tour around the huge limestone cliffs which was amazing and so beautiful. This is where james Bond Island was, which was very picturesque. We started the trip on a big boat and a 30 min trip to the Phang Nga cliffs, which upon getting closer to them were huge and very scenic. We took a couple of canoe trips with the local guides through caves (very low caves where you had to lie down to get through) into huge lagoons, with mangrove trees growing out the water. It was really cool but I wouldnt have wanted to swim in the water, it had a very creapy feel about it!

Next was James Bond Island which was awesome. This is where The Man with the Golden Gun was filmed (I think its that one anyway). The main sight was the big cliff in the water that has eroded all the way around the bottom which is the part of the Island they used for the film. It was really impressive but eventually it is going to collapse as it has been eroded by the water, but that wont be for a while yet.

Following on from James Bond Island we had a lovely lunch aboard our big boat, a huge buffet, of fish, thai dishes, chips, onion rings, prawn salad, fruit and all you can drink soft drinks all day. It was gorgeous and it left us very full. After, they took us to an area good for swimming and canoeing where we had free time to do what we wanted. We all jumped of the top deck of the boat and took 2 canoes out around the huge cliffs exploring caves and trying to tip each other in, it was a right laugh! Jez and Wilba fell in a number of times but they couldn't get Kate or I in. It was really fun though and fighting the current to get back to the boat was a barrel of laughs as well but it was a good work out nevertheless. By this time it was time to head back as it took about an hour to get back to the pier. We had such a good day though and were really pleased with the tour. That night we found an Irish bar for dinner and had the biggest steak and ale pies I have ever seen, they were amazing and so filling. Jez being Jez ended up finishing all ours of as Wilba and I were just taking it easy after being ill. After a few beers, we needed to hit the internet cafe to sort accomodation out etc and then Wilba called it a night as he was still really tired from being up all night the day before. Jez followed him shortly and they watched a movie together while Kate and I looked around some shops and chilled out for a bit and then also called it a night. We were leaving the next day to Karon and kata beach up the road so we said our fairwells, however we were meeting Jez on Phi Phi in four days after Wilba had flown back to Bangkok for Christmas, which we were looking forward to.

The next day we moved to Kate and Karon Beach area and relaxed there for 4 days, just the 2 of us again, in a lovely hotel between the two beaches. All we did was relax on the beaches which we thought were alot nicer than Patong, did some washing, post some stuff home, send postcards, and eat at some really cheap little cafes and vendors. It was great just to take it easy for a few days. There was no rush to get up in the mornings and we just relaxed at night having a few beers, watching some movies and relaxing on our balcony. It was alot quieter than sleezy Patong which we preferred and was more of a family resort area. However a few days here was definitely enough as there wasn't much to do.

Our next stop was Phi Phi for Christmas which we have been told by numerous people is fantastic and again we have some great accomodation booked up for 10 days over Christmas so we can't wait, wohoooooo!!!!!!!