My alarm goes off at 6:10am. I have set 3 alarms, but I am up instantly. Staying in Phuket is like being trapped in a room with the Eastenders omnibus playing. The birds are tweeting, possibly Thai, but maybe those too are imported from the west. The taxi arrives early and I quicky throw my bag in the boot. I pass a signpost pointing to "Happy Place". Surely a reference to the airport. Its a 2 hour flight to Chiang Mai and at £45 a bargain. I have done the country by bus and train so this is a luxury timesaver. I book into Deejai's. A sociable hostel with a common area and garden outside with beanbags and a fishpond. I meet 2 of my room mates Chris and Christoff. The later is not a cheery soul. Some guy brought a girl back to the dorm and his bunkbed was shaking most of the night. He tells me about an app called Maps.me that uses GPS to navigate! this could prove useful. Monica heads over and we go to Johns. Nice to see her again. Johns is a popular bar near the moat, with a rooftop terrace. We sit outside watching the rain and get some of the reasonable food here.
I meet a few peeps from the hostel and bump into a Swiss girl (Sarah) I shared a dorm with in Sapa. A small world. I go back to Johns and its pouring with rain. We go for dinner at Sheryle's. I get a kuaytlao lad na. Thai style wide noodles with pork. Fairly tasty but not a patch on Pho Bo. Mo goes for penang curry. We sit in the Havana saloon opposite the yellow bar, which is a kind of beach bar/club. The street is heaving. The police can shut it down at anytime. The reason is a Thai girl was on drugs and killed the police commissioners daughter. We get 2 of the rum buckets before the police arrive later than usual at 2am. 17 years ago I sat in a bar north of the river teaching a guy english till 6am when there was no curfew. He asked me what I wanted in return. I asked for a map where backpackers dont go. I was knackered for the hill trek the next day but the adventure from the map was priceless(LT). Once back at the hostel, I sit out of the rain on beanbags with some other nightowls.