So eventually I arrived in Phuket. It was around 6pm and after I collected my rucksack I headed outside and managed to find a mini-bus to take me to Patong Beach (where my hotel - the Aloha Villa - was) for only 150 baht. We headed off and I don't know why but on the map it looks like its just a short drive over the island to Patong. In reality though, Phuket is a huge place and it took over an hour to get there! Up and down over these really hilly roads. On arrival though, I was given a nice complimentary fruit drink and had my bags taken up to my room. Room was very nice. Big double bed and a balcony (albeit with a view of the car park!) and the TV had satellite so I had a much better choice of english channels. Anyway, in reception I had collected a few flyers offering day excursions to various local sites of interest. I was most interested in taking a boat to the Phi Phi Islands and going snorkelling and one of the flyers I picked up offered exactly this. Pick up from the hotel, return boat ticket to Phi Phi, snorkelling in Maya Bay ("The Beach"), free buffet lunch and 2 hours of free time afterwards to laze about/swim. So I went down to reception to enquire. I didn't want to spend anymore than 1200 baht as this is what the Rough Guide specified that these trips cost. The Rough Guide was right - the trip cost exactly 1200 baht, but the nice manny at reception said he'd give me it for 1000. Bargain! So I booked up straight away and as it was a 7.15am pick-up decided I'd better get an early night. Woke up not exactly bright and breezy and got ready before heading down to reception to meet my chauffeur!! haha. After another 45 minute drive with some other people we arrived at the pier. There were hundreds of these big tour boats and I lost my party and ended up boarding the wrong boat!! By the time I'd realised there was just enough time for me to hop off, find my group again and board the correct boat. Then we were off on the 1 and a half hour journey to Koh Phi Phi. I slept for half an hour on the way but soon we were sailing into the pier on Phi Phi Don - the largest of the Phi Phi islands and the main tourist centre. Some people disembarked here and then we sailed across to Phi Phi Leh - smaller and a lot more mountainous than Phi Phi Don. Because of this, Phi Phi Leh is uninhabited. It is however, home to Maya Bay (location of "The Beach") and this was our one and only stop on the island. We sailed into the bay and set down the anchor. Then everybody on board had to change into their swimming gear and grab a snorkel and mask. Life vests were available to those who needed them as well. I grabbed my stuff - asked this nice dutch girl to slap some factor 30 on my back and then queued up at the door to jump down into the water. I was remembering how cold the sea had been in Lanzarote 2 weeks before but as there were people queuing up behind me I had to just jump! On landing in the water, I opened my eyes and all I could see were fish all around me! The water took me completely by surprise - as although it was deep, it was as warm as a bath! Re-surfaced and sorted my mask and snorkel. Then I was off. For the next hour I swam about the bay, exploring the coral reefs and seeing how many amazing species of fish I could spot. The colours were just incredible! The time went so quickly and soon I was back on board. By this time I had befriended the 2 dutch girls and they were sitting with a nice german gentleman. We went up to the sun deck on top of the boat for the short cruise round the rest of Phi Phi Leh and back to Phi Phi Don. We anchored just off Long Beach on Phi Phi Don and had to jump in longtail boats to get to shore. Once there, we walked up to this lovely restaurant just off the sand where there was a lovely buffet - serving, amongs other delights, noodles, spring-rolls and huge shrimps. The 4 of us then sat at a table under a palm tree and ate our lunch, whilst observing the perfect beach. None of us could quite take it in. I"m not kidding - it was just perfect (my photos don't do it justice!). After lunch, we found 4 sun loungers together under the shady palm fringe of the beach where we dumped our stuff and spent a lazy couple of hours snoozing, sunbathing and swimming. It was a perfect day and I couldn't believe how glad I was to be there! Soon however, it was time to jump on the longtail boats again and board our cruiser back to Phuket :-( Back on board, we ate ice-cream and as much fruit as we could manage! One of the dutch girls and I fell asleep (again!) and soon we were back in Phuket and after a short drive I was back at the Aloha Villa. Went out and checked out the street markets that evening and found an internet cafe and then had another early night. Next day I just walked about Patong for a while before I had to head off to the airport to catch my late afternoon flight to Koh Samui. So I didn't see much of Phuket during my short time there - not even Patong Beach! - but it was entirely worth it just for my idyllic day spent in the Phi Phi Islands - I will never forget it!