Time to visit James and Laura and their little doggies in Phuket. James had retired in December and moved to Phuket in January so we were very keen to see how they were getting on and what changes they had made to their villa. As an added bonus Margaret and Kenny would join us in a few days for some serious partying.

The house was even more fabulous than before - the garden has had a complete makeover with the final plants having just gone in on the day that we arrived from Perth. They had hired a landscape gardener to design and implement this makeover and the results are stunning - see for yourself from the pictures. One of the main features is a vertical garden with lots of orchids. There were also orchids hanging from the two frangipani trees which border the entrance. Lots of pebbles, new grasses, ornamental ferns, bamboos and a Japanese garden. Places to sit in the shade and take coffee or gin. Looking forward already to coming back to see how the garden has matured.

As ever we were made very welcome and a programme of events had been planned to keep us busy and entertained. We visited beaches, swam in the Andaman Sea and ate lunch in beach side restaurants. We saw the sun set the sea ablaze at Surin beach as it sank beneath the waves. After a couple of Mojitos I had an altercation with a Russian gentleman on a scooter. Not about the annexation of Crimea but about whether he really wanted to run me over or not. We settled on not and he chose an alternative route. James treated me to a round of golf at the fabulous Blue Canyon course where we played our round immediately in front of the BMW world golf finals. We teed off from the competition tees surrounded by all of the paraphernalia of a big competition. I was in much better form than last year and even managed to impress my caddie.

Margaret and Kenny arrived and the serious partying began. You can tell from the pictures that a great time was had by all and that some even had a racy pulse and found it safer to do without a chair. One of the highlights of our stay was a cruise on a luxury yacht to visit the islands and do a bit of snorkelling. James had organised this as a birthday present. We had a fabulous day for it, the islands are so beautiful, the food was fantastic and the drink flowed all day long. The fish were plentiful, of all different colours, shapes and sizes and turned up right on cue to entertain us. Thanks again James and Laura for your fabulous birthday gift.

We took a taxi to Pataya Beach to watch the holiday makers at play one evening. After a meal in an Irish Pub where we we serenaded to the song Danny Boy by a Thai band. "Oh Danny Boy, I rove you so!" Truly an experience to be avoided.

Fortified with Guinness, and after an abortive visit to the shops - "How can we look at things when you've got faces on like that?!", we hit Bangla Road to check out the pole dancers, lady boys, ladies of the night, laddies of the night, strippers and other nefarious characters. We settled into a charming little establishment to watch the world go by. We were enthusiastically looked after by our hosts who endeavoured to keep us plied with drink, games and other "diversions" while taking every opportunity to relieve us of the national debt of a small African nation. However, they were so nice it didn't actually feel that we were being robbed. Back on the street again to see if the pole dancers had bucked up their ideas a bit - they hadn't. Honestly, how much effort can it take to turn in a half decent pole dancing display. Maybe the good ones came on later and these were just the warm up acts. Anyway, Susan said she could do better and I for one believed her. The lady boys are a class act though and although it is rude to look I still can't see how things get tucked away - doesn't seem possible.

Anyway, all good things come to an end and it was soon time to make our way home. Thanks again to James and Laura and also to Margaret and Kenny for rounding off our trip with such good fun.

As we boarded our plane home we paused to reflect on the fate of 240 fellow travellers, who, 11 days previously, had boarded an identical plane and who have not been seen since. We hope that they are alive and well somewhere but we fear for the worst.