After being told not to visit Phuket, we are now in Phuket! Why we were ever told not to come here we don't know. Yes it's a bit seedy and full of Russians but if you over look that you can have a great time, just like myself and Jazz have been doing for the past few days.

On our first full day here we took a walk down to Karon beach, only five minutes away from our hostel and had a pleasant surprise. It was not as picturesque as others but the tide was right out which made good space for a handstand walk and the waves were huge, so it didn't take long for us to rent a body board and hit the waves!

The next day we rented a scooter and set out early to explore Phuket. First stop was Kata beach. After reading in the lonely planet you could surf there I was eager to give it a go! However by the time we'd found a decent price lesson, the heavens opened. We frantically grabbed all belongings and scrabbled to the surf shack where I had enquired about a lesson. We sat patiently for around an hour watching one of the instructors surf in the storm but the rain did not stop so we made a dash for it, stopping at subway on the way back! (Phuket is full of Subway, KFC and Starbucks!)
After devouring our foot longs we spent the rest of the day chilling while the rain continued to pour!

That evening we made use of our rented scooter and headed to Patong, the main and seediest part of Phuket. We did a bit of shopping and wandered through the streets, passing all the go go bars. One was absolutely huge and even Jazz was impressed! Fortunately it was early so we didn't see too many dirty old men stalking their pray or too many Thai woman looking for a westerner to make her his bride!

Today the weather has been perfect so we kept hold of our scooter and ticked off everything on our list.
First we grabbed some much needed breakfast at our favourite restaurant, 'The Pad Thai Shop' the name says it all and the food is incredible, some of the best we've had in Thailand. For £1 you can't go wrong, especially when the portions are so big it's hard to finish your plate, even for me!
Second, it was across the island to check out 'The Big Budda'. It is as it sounds, you can see in the pics. The view over Phuket from the top did not disappoint and on our way back down we stopped at a quirky little shack for a drink. We had the best seats in the house ( we were the only ones in there) overlooking the island and our waiter left some marker pens so we could leave a message as many had before us.

After a quick stop in Patong to change some shorts that didn't fit (I blame the Thai sizes, they're all small! There's no way I'm a 36!!) we went back to Kata beach so I could do my surf lesson and we ended up spending the rest of the day there.
My surf lesson was good, the waves could have been a little better but I nailed the basics so Bali/Indonesia can't come quick enough!

Tomorrow we leave for Krabi and hope to meet up with Sam and Clare again. X