13 February 2009

We left Bangkok this morning for the airport for our flight to Phuket. It seems like we've been at the airport every few days for the last couple of weeks! This flight was only an hour though so our shortest one yet. We were met in arrivals at Phuket airport by Nick and Jack and went back to Nick's house in the centre of the island. We were made to feel really welcome as soon as we arrived - we even had our own fridge! And our room was a million times better than our hostel in Bangkok. This evening we went out to a local restaurant called 'farang' meaning foreigner where the theme was Italian fused with Thai. Me and Jess had lasagna (with a bit of a kick!) with chocolate brownie for dessert - one of my favourite meals yet!. We then went for drinks at a cabaret restaurant/bar and saw a show. We're already feeling like we're moved up in the world!

14 February 2009

Today we went to Nick's golf club so we could relax by the pool. After all the sightseeing we've done since we began traveling we felt we deserved some relaxing time! The pool was lovely and quiet and set in picturesque surroundings, and we had a really good day. Jack really enjoyed swimming and jumping in too! We called home this afternoon using skype (we've realized that this is a better option than using our mobiles where its $4 a minute just to receive a call!). It was very nice to speak to George on Valentines Day!

This evening we had a real treat for dinner - bangers and mash! We went to a pub called the Green Man. Jess had said she missed sausage and mash from home so when we saw it on the menu we had to have it! Very nice. The pub was decorated with hearts for Valentines Day and they had a man playing the guitar and singing romantic songs. After here we went down to Chalong harbour to see all the posh boats.

Nick also told us all about the tsunami tonight and the effect it had on Phuket. He told us some really amazing stories and about how he had reunited families who had ended up miles apart. Most of the island has been rebuilt so there aren't many physical signs of the tsunami, but obviously emotional ones as everyone on Phuket was affected. It's been really good hearing about the tsunami and Thailand from a local. We have a different perspective than most backpackers would.

Later we watched Gavin and Stacey (with Thai subtitles!). Definitely feel at home now!

15 February 2009

We all went to Patong this afternoon for some lunch and to see the beach. This isn't a typical Thai beach but more like Blackpool! Very busy and built up. We sunbathed for a couple of hours while Jack was playing on the park.

Later Puys daughter Euang took us to the weekend market. It was the biggest and cheapest market I'd seen and we didn't get round the whole of it. I bought some fake Versace sunglasses for 2 pounds, and Jess bought some tops and had her nails painted at one of the stalls. There were so many nice things that we would have bought it we had the room in our backpacks or were going straight home. Although Nick said we could post a parcel home so we may look into doing that next weekend!

Puy made us a lovely dinner tonight for when we got back - sausage, egg and beans! We will get round to trying Thai food soon but it's so hard to resist English favourites…!

16 February 2009

Me and Jess ventured to Kata beach today - a much quieter beach. We had a nice day sunbathing and swimming in the sea. Probably shouldn't have stayed in the sun so long though as when we got I realized I was bright red.. And I did put lots of suntan lotion on mum…! We got the bus back into Phuket town where Nick picked us up.

We went to a posh restaurant called Watermark on Laguna resort for dinner. We had a table overlooking the boats which was lovely, and had a delicious meal. Not somewhere we would have gone if we were backpacking here so another nice treat. Me Jess and Nick stayed up late watching TV when we got back - quite inappropriate programmes like banged up abroad and a programme about plane crashes!

17 February 2009

We were very lucky today as Euang had arranged a tour for us with an elephant ride, something we had wanted to do since arriving in Thailand. She works in a hotel and gets complimentary trips so she can recommend them to guests. It was my favourite day of the trip so far! The tour started with an elephant ride through the jungle which was amazing. We felt quite sorry for our elephant though as he had 3 people on him instead of 2 like the others! At the end we bought a fruit basket and fed him the fruit. They especially like bananas and eat them whole.

We then saw a baby elephant show - where they played football, the harmonica, painted and did a crazy dance to music at the end! Whilst on the tour we also saw demonstrations in Thai cooking, coconuts and rubber making, and saw a working monkey and buffalo tuk tuk. Some of the people went back to their hotel after this but because Euang had arranged it she had booked the best package - so we were off to have a sunset dinner cruise!

We sailed around the nearby islands for a couple of hours on our boat, and then stopped for sunset to have our dinner - traditional Thai food. We enjoyed it and got a try a few different dishes. There was also lovely fresh fruit and free drinks. It was really nice and again not a typical backpacking activity. We were lucky to have Euang as the tour would have cost us over 60 pounds if we had paid. We even got a free photo of us on the elephant as the guide wanted to impress Euang so she'd recommend the trip. It's definitely who you know!

Tomorrow we are planning to go to Phi Phi. We will be sad to leave here though as we've really settled in and have been made to feel really at home. Not sure how we will cope with backpacker accommodation again....!