So, my last entry was from Koh Tao, and I had done 1 day of diving but only in the pool. The next day we were in at the deep end, out in the ocean. To pass the course enabling you to dive all over the world, you have to complete a series of drills, so on each dive we spent about half the time doing "work" the other half seeing fish. Some of the drills actually wernt too pleasant, such as removing your mask, and then clearing it again by blowing air through your nose, displacing the water. When this type of thing was out of the way, we got down to business in the water. The coral reef was truly stunning, and very alive. Some of the coral opens and closes as you swim past, the fish are everywhere, and some even like to clean your skin for you by pecking you every now and again.

The thursday night was the party at The Castle, where I stayed the first night, and it was an absolute belter. The place looked amazing, cleverly lit and the Dj had played at Pacha and Amnesia in Ibiza, so the party was pumping. I did behave myself, and left at 4am! I also discovered the most amazing hangover cure- diving in a tropical coral reef! As you progress with the technical side of diving, like anything, you improve, and so as we did more dives, we went to greater depths in the water and saw more fish. On the last day we set out early, 7am, and had a filmographer with us to record our day. By chance I had seen a movie of a previous group, and knew that at one point, you get to put on sunglasses under water and mess around for the camera, so I planned ahead. When it came to my turn to be filmed, I put on the sunglasses and was doing my thing, and then from my pocket, pulled out my Gallagher style army tour hat...it looked class! You gotta be original you know! That evening we sat as a group at the bar and watched our DVD, so I have that memory on film now which is awesome.

That evening we took the over night boat to Phi Phi. Now this boat was as basic as it gets, not like the cushty sleeper trains in the north, and a long way from the comfort of the Swansea-Cork ferry! Me and Gary got put in the engine room on a bunkbed where something or someone had just died I'm sure. Kind of slept well though, and arrived in Phi Phi about midday. Travelling with Gary and Pat helps save money because you are in a three, instead of me always being alone, so we managed to get a comfortable, air-conditioned room with a TV for about a tenner a night.

Phi Phi is easily the most beautiful of the commercial Thai islands, and the most laid back. I also think it was the hottest, the crickets couldnt even be bothered to sing it was so hot! There is no transport on Phi Phi because its so small, everything is wheeled around on trolleys or the larger resorts accessible only by boat. The next day we had a day trip of island hopping and snorkelling, and it was class. We went all around Phi Phi itself which was stunning, huge lumps of rock and greenery appear in the ocean where you just dont think they should. At the first stop off point to go snorkelling, I was in the water no more than 30 seconds when I saw a dark triangular shape about 3 metres away from me in the water. My first thought was shark- so after some frantic paddling and checking under the water, I realised it wasnt-Thank God. I went over to see what this object was, and found, perfectly intact and floating merrily in the Andaman sea....my wallet. What an absolute idiot- Id forgotten to take it out before plunging in! The boys couldnt believe my luck, my card was still in it, and the cash dried off in about 30 seconds in the heat of the day. What a touch. Poor old Gary wasnt wearing flippers on one of the dives and had a nasty encounter with a sea urchin (he stepped on it, the clown) which left him with plenty of sharp black spikes sticking out of his foot for the next few days! The trip finished watching the sunset from the island on which the film The Beach was filmed, which is proabably the nicest scenery of my trip so far, a slice of paradise.

That night we found a bar called Reggae bar, the centre piece of which is a Thai boxing ring. What we didnt realise though, is that its not only the Thais who fight in this ring, it was also for wannabee hardmen to fight another random wannabee hardman, full contact, the reward being a free bucket of Samsong Whisky which costs about 3 quid! Good fun though, and some of the mis-matches where cringeworthy at times with fellas literally being wiped out.

The next 2 days me and Pat decided to get a bit more brown, and Gary decided he was fine being white as a sheet, apart from the sunburn on his arms and knees form his quadbike exploits on Koh Tao. We had a good craic, but time to move on. The lads have gone north to Chaing Mai, and I have come to Phuket. I wish I hadn't. This is basically Greece, with a slightly nicer coastal view, and even more ST's (sex tourists). There are a few excursions I was thinking of doing, and maybe a dive or two, but after 1 night I am ready to get out of here. After seeing and loving Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, I am hungry for some more culture. I can sit on a beach in Spain and get a tan to be honest. So I have decided to travel through Malaysia for 2 weeks, down to Singapore which is where I fly to Oz from. I actually know nothing about Malaysia, but I am further away than when I started being in Phuket now, so even getting to the border promises to be a challenge. I am ready for some more adventure!

x