Time to pack again...for Phuket! Flying from Chiang Mai, which is the last place we were in.
Good job we booked our flight a couple of days ago because there are no seats left!

John and Gaynor had already said the other day that they could take us down to Chiang Mai and just pay them what the mini-bus company would charge, which is only 200 Baht each (£4). They were already going down anyway to pick up a group of 6 lads who are staying at their place for 10 days. One of them has already been there, a couple of years before.

So today we just chilled out until about 2pm when it was time to set off. John and Gaynor had offered to take some bikes down to Chiang Mai for the lads, from the bike hire place in Pai. They didn't have enough bikes in Chiang Mai - they needed 6. So, Gaynor had to drive the pick-up truck down to Chiang Mai with 3 scooters in the back, and John had to ride one down. Not that he was complaining, he couldn't wait to ride the bike down!
It's such a nice drive down, lots of bends though (762, so they say!). I was wishing I had drove one of the bikes down! Maybe if I'd had a bike for a few days and had a bit if practice back in Pai, I would have done. Missed an opportunity there though I think.

About two thirds of the way there, we had to stop because the bikes had come loose and were rocking side to side. So John had to come back on himself as he'd raced ahead!
The guys at the bike rental place had tied the bikes up on the truck really poorly. They'd tied the rope around really stupid parts like the wing mirrors and it was all really loose. They're not the brightest of people at times aren't the Thais. And John had apparently tried to show them how to do it but they wouldn't listen.
We got sorted anyway and was on the road again.

We stopped off to have some dinner at a place John and Gaynor know. It's an Irish guy who used to live in Pai that they know, and it's his girlfriends place. Well, it's not exactly a restaurant, it's just a little hut that has seating down the side of a little shop similar co-op back home. You wouldn't dream of eating at this place, not that we initially even thought that because we were going with John and Gaynor. Anyway, it was incredibly cheap and the food was absolutely lovely. 25 Baht (50p) per dish! We had a chicken omelette and chicken fried rice. It was so nice - it seemed like a mix of Thai and Chinese style. It's good being with people who know the area because you just wouldn't go to some of these places.

About another 45 minutes from there we made it into Chiang Mai. We parked up at a hotel and 2 of the lads came to pick up the bikes. They're from England and have just been drunk for the last 4 days apparently. Anyway, John and the two lads got ready to set off on the 3 bikes...Gaynor asked if I wanted to take one. I said I better not, then quickly changed my mind and jumped on the last one! We set off straight into the Chiang Mai traffic and then was going down all these back alleys to get to the lads' hotel. I'm really getting into bikes..!! Not that I didn't like bikes before, just usually cars are first. I'm really gutted I didn't get a bike out in Pai now, because it's so quiet and open there, it's the perfect place to learn.
The Islands in Thailand are generally not the best place to hire scooters, so everybody at home, stop worrying!

We had one quick last beer with John and Gaynor, said goodbye to Gaynor and then John took us to the airport. Said our goodbyes to John and to Northern Thailand, and boarded our AirAsia flight to Phuket! Nice planes as well these. It's a very good airline too, seems well organised.

We're really looking forward to the islands, just a bit disappointed that we won't get chance to go to Koh Samui, Koh Phangnan and Koh Tao, but at the same time, we would never have gone to Pai. Think we might go back to Koh Samui etc another time with some mates and go for the Full Moon Party!
Plus we've got a a few extra days in these west coast islands now to see a bit more.

We've been warned by a lot of people now, not to stay in Phuket very long at all. We've booked tonight and tomorrow night for now.
The worst thing is that from this point on, everything is going to be much more expensive. The islands, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand.

We landed at about 11.30pm which was about 20 minutes early. Went to get a taxi, which is always hard work in Asia. Everybody trying to get you to go with their company. I said to one of the guys that he was trying to charge too much and I knew it was cheaper. He was nice actually and just said ok, ok go outside and to the right. Metered taxis which are much better. However the office was closing! Managed to haggle a taxi guy down to 550 baht (£11) which is about right. Could've maybe got it cheaper if it wasn't so late. It's about 30 minutes from the airport, but it's still quite expensive.

We got to our hotel which is really nice actually, but it's costing us about £25 a night - it's the cheapest one we could find that had half decent reviews. We dumped our bags and decided to have a quick drink before bed. It was about 1am so we walked just up the road a little to a little bar. A few "bar girls" and old men in there, but we just wanted a quick drink.
Didn't take long before this old guy started talking to us. Then he decided to sit with us. Told us how he came for two weeks but has been here 8 years, and how he feels so young here even though he's 66. He was alright at times telling us a bit of useful info, but then he'd tell us a few other things...dirty old git. I couldn't be arsed listening to him at all, so I paid the bill and we politely left!
Welcome to Phuket...