Phuket

The last time we left you we had just got through dancing road in Cambodia. After that traumatic experience we went through the Thai border and we were more than happy to see that our transport through to Bangkok were two huge A-Team style vans!! Talk about travelling in luxury, I (becka) had a whole row of seats to myself so i soon got comfy and went into a pleasant deep sleep until we arrived at our destination, Si on the other hand chose the wrong van to get into and didn't have as comfy journey as me...ha ha.

We were so excited to get to Bangkok that we were actually calling it home which is a bit bizzare seeing as the very first time si and I got to Bangkok we were quite scared and overwhelmed by all the people, noise, smells and hustle bustle of the place, however Bangkok seemed like nothing compared to the other cities we had visited!

The next day we (mainly Becka) did some shopping down Th Khao San Road which has some great bargains and becka got a hair cut for 2 pounds! After a hard day of shopping and drinking cocktails for 70p each we got packed and ready to fly to Phuket.

PHUKET

The first thing you notice when flying over Phuket is how blue the water looks and how green the island and surrounding islands are. Our first 4 weeks of intense travelling was now over so it was time to spend 2 weeks relaxing in Phuket...or so we hoped.

We met Amanda at Phuket airport after her flight straight from London and took a shuttle bus down to Kata Beach where we were staying. On the way down we stopped at a tour office to confirm where we were all staying and Amanda got to witness her first ladyboy.

Si and I were quite horrified at how extortionate the prices were on the island compared to the rest of asia (cocktails were now 2 pounds instead of 70p) however the prices were still extremely cheaper than England. It didn't take long for Amanda to get used to the prices and follow suite by quibbleing over small amounts of money (were talking pennies) with the locals.

A few days in we took a boat trip to Ko Phi Phi Leh or more commonly known as the place where they filmed The Beach. There were a number of choices of different types of boat to take but we opted for a speedboat to give us more time looking round the islands. What they failed to mention in their literature was just how bumpy it would be on a speed boat (this thing had 2 engines and could carry 20 odd people). We were sat at the front of the boat and so were fighting a constant battle trying not to get thrown out into the sea. To say we ached afterwards would be an understatement! Still it was an amazing day and the islands we visited were absolutely stunning. Some we passed had been previously used for some fly by shots in James Bond and as already mentioned, The Beach.

Muay Thai is the national sport of Thailand and we ended up watching a fight in Patong boxing stadium. We've both seen a few Muay Thai fights at home but they tend to be a lot tamer than what we saw here. There were plenty of knockouts (one guy received an elbow straight to his temple) and all the time whilst fights were going on a Thai band plays traditional music in the background. All in all we had a great night!

Generally all we did all holiday was sunbathe (well Si sort of sunbathed in the shade) and drink cocktails which is a great way to relax! We were all having a great time just chilling but we did have one emergency on the holiday when two horrible (we are using a very polite word here for our viewers) men on a motorbike grabbed Amanda's handbag nearly yanking her whole arm off in the process after she and I were out having a wonderful night out in Kata town! We caught a taxi to the police station the next day and reported her mugging which looking back now was strange yet quite funny! Amanda and I had to try and explain the robbing to two police men who harding spoke any english by drawing her bag and it's contents on a piece of paper which they filed as evidence and lets just say our drawings looked quite odd and perhaps that of a five year old! Thank goodness Amanda managed to put the whole traumatic experience behind her and tried to enjoy her last few days of holiday. Amanda and I (becka) celerbrated her last night in style by going to a fancy restaurant and ate and drank the night away!

Well i'm sure you are wondering why Si didn't go to the fancy restuarant so I shall explain. It was actually due to sickness. Amanda was the first to throw up at the beginning of the hols after a dodgy chicken sandwich, becka was the next to get sick after about a weeks into the hols after either a reaction to the meds she got from a chemist for a cold she had (the tablets had no name and came in clear wrapping!?) or from a dodgy prawn, however she spent a whole day puking her guts up. Last but not least Si started to get ill towards the end of the two weeks hence his absence at the restaurant however rather than getting better si got worse and worse each day resulting in us taking a quick trip to the Dr's before catching our flight to Singapore and then onto Oz. The Dr said that he didn't have a temperture so not to worry and gave him some random pills which guess what......yes they had no name and came in clear wrapping! The pills were meant to stop Si chucking his guts up but unfortunately they didn't work so Si had to endure a four hour wait in the airport, visiting the toilet every 10 minutes to throw up!

When we got to the Singapore airport we went straight to the medical centre where Si recieved an injection to temperarily stop him being sick. This did fortunately work so he was able to take the next flight to Oz without being sick although he still felt really ill and dizzy. Next stop Melbourne Hospital...

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