Southern Thailand

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Well.. the last hurrah before heading into a Canadian winter.. and the snow begins.

We had originally decided to spend 6 weeks exploring the South of Thailand, but after already travelling for 3mths and
tired of living out of a backpack we changed our flights and spent several days in Phuket, and then the usual jaunt over to Phi Phi Island.

Phuket is the tourist mecca with a slightly seedy under belly, packed with bars/ restaurants and strip clubs we rested here for 4 days
and then moved onto Phi Phi Island. We had pre booked a hotel in Patong, which sat up on a mountainside and the restaurants below provided
some exceptionally gorgeous sunsets.

We took a ferry across to Phi Phi Island, the rubble had been cleared since the 2004 boxing day Tsunami, the last time Tash A visited. And all
looked to be back in order, hotels rebuilt on the waters edge life had returned back to 'normal'. One couldn't help but wonder if there would ever be a repeat of the tragic events, and were there any systems in place to minimise the damage and loss - 250,000 people was certainly a big human tradgedy!!

We had decided after the fast pace of Phuket to get some R & R over in Long Beach, one bay from the main township. With only 4 resorts in this area, the water was unbelievably clear, and we unpacked for 1 week. We ate fresh fruit in the oceans breeze, swum every day, daily massages, and got all round spoilt.

We took a 30min walk around on the rocks to the main port, to get a few supplies and try out some of the bars and cuisine. Jandals was probably not a great option, wet/ slippery rocks, and Tash found out first hand where not to walk as she came crashing down in a mangled mess of limbs!! A bit of blood, cuts and scrapes we picked her up, washed her off in the ocean and with a little more caution continued.

After a good night out at a beach party, equipped with DJ's, lasers and strobe lights, and vodka/ red bulls poured into buckets we headed home in a long tail boat.

Once our week of relaxation was complete we spent a couple of nights at a hotel with swimming pool in the main township and started our journey towards Canada..

From Phi Phi Island ferry to Phuket - from Phuket plane to Bangkok: Where we spent another 4 days doing the last of our shopping/ sightseeing.

Bangkok plane to Macau: 1 night Macau, interesting wee city. Half chinese/ half portugese it seemed!

From Macau ferry to Hong Kong

Hong Kong plane to Vancouver, Canada.. and our new home. Phew..

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Photos

This is the life..
Patong Beach, Phuket

Tash W Enjoying the View!
Patong Beach, Phuket

Sunset
Patong, Phuket

Almost dark..
Patong, Phuket

Gorgeous Beaches
Long Beach, Phi Phi Island

Tash A Snorkeling!
The snorkeling is fantastic in Southern Thailand! Not to mention the warm waters!