They dont even have any pictures of Phuket in the blog library because it is such a dump!!!

Left Ko Tao with very heavy hearts on Monday night to catch the night boat!! A night boat is basically a slow boat with 60 numbered mattresses squashed together on the floor and you are allocated a number and that is where you sleep, with 60 of your closest complete strangers, clutching your belongings for dear life in case there is a theif on board. Gem popped a valium and was out like a light. I had used the old fashioned method of 3 glasses of wine and a glass of vodka and lemonde with dinner, which did the trick.

Arrived in Surrantani at 5am and waited for a couple of hours for our bus! Heard some horror stories about the buses, but ours was fairly decent with air con so we pretty much slept for the whole journey!

As soon as the bus parked up a guy from tourist information tackled us and found us a place to stay for 700 bhat per night (7 pounds each). For that we got a big room, balcony, hot/cold shower (1st in 4 weeks). We had decided not to go to the touristy part which is Patong as we had heard it wasn't that great and thought the city would have more culture (which is what we were led to belive by lonely planet!!). Well it has none. We searched for 4hrs for a temple a wat a pagora...an anything that looked significant but actually all Phuket has to offer is scooter shops and teeth whitening facilities, neither of which we needed/could afford. so we finally stumbled across something that looked a bit special, but i dont know what it was because there was no signs. Im going to say it was "the shrine of light" though, as that is what i wanted to see most. Phuket is basically a poor man's Bangkok.

We then ventured to the shopping mall which is apparently the big sight to see. Managed to barter for a few presents (not something you can do at Trafford Centre unfortunately!).

Went back to the hotel for a shower then went in search of somewhere to eat which was a task as everywhere was closed. Finally stumbled on an ok looking place. I ordered a salmon steak which came with vegetables, salad and fries and Gem orderd thai. Gem's came and went before mine even arrived and then when it did arrive, the salmon was covered in...beef gravy, and the salad in marie rose sauce!! the most bizzare mix ever! Anyway we ate it and came home and went to bed!!

We had already paid for 2 night accomodation so the next day we ventured to Patong to sunbathe if nothing else...what a hell hole. its a bit like Blackpool with Thai people. and aggressive thai people at that who try and drag you into their shop at every opportunity. we sunbathed all day and then found somewhere to have a nice steak. Food was good, wine was not. Mine gave me heartburn and Gem couldn't finish hers. and then it cost us forty pounds. In Ko tao we ate a meal at a gorgeous restaurant for the same price but had a starter and a bottle of really nice wine!!

Luckily we are leaving at 7:45am tomorrow morning for Phi Phi which is where they filmed 'The Beach' and one of the James Bond films. Its also one of the place worst affected by the tsunami and is supposed to have amazing scuba diving!!