Southwest Thailand

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I arrived at Phuket airport wondering if perhaps if I should have gone to the other side of the country instead because I was torn between heading to Phuket, Koh Phi Phi (P P Island) and Krabi or to the full moon party in Ko Pha Ngan, on the other side of the country. Whilst it's easy to get from one side to the other, I needed to choose what I was going to do and keep heading south towards the border with Malaysia. I can't do everything so have to choose and I want to allow time to stop off in Malaysia on the way to Singapore...

Phuket airport is about 30kms /18 miles from Phuket town, towards the other end of the island. I had planned to simply get the airport bus to the town but met a woman who offered me a lift because my accomodation was near to where she lived. I accepted and her husband came to pick us up. I'm fairly certain that not many people turn up to a hostel dorm in a newish Mercedes E320, a mid range merc :-) so it was a nice way to arrive, rather than a sweaty old bus.

Phuket town itself isn't a very busy place and it proved to be a nice place to catch up with myself for a couple of nights. On the second day, I decided to get the local bus to Chalong Bay to see about diving and go to the bar the couple with the Merc owned. It was a Sunday and by the time I wanted to go home the busses has stopped running! So I walked the 10kms back to Phuket town. It was a good walk but left my map at the hostel and got lost in Phuket. After asking various people I eventually just thought sod it and went to McDonalds!! I Found a map and for some reason there weren't many Tuk Tuks so found a weird motor bike sidecar taxi thing for the last mile or so. I don't know what happened but a dog ran down the road after us barking... embarrasing! (There are stray dogs everywhere.)

After a couple of nights I moved across the island to Patong Beach. The place is buzzing with life. It's a place where package holiday makers from around the world gather, turning a beautiful bay into a sea of deck chairs, fast food joints and over priced resturants. However, the nightlife is excellent. Some of the people in my dorm and me decided to go and see a 'ping pong' show. It transpires that the ping pong balls were just a warm up. She got at least 10 metres of rope out, smoked some cigarettes and I had to hold a balloon while she fired darts at it, trying to burst it. Unfortunately, she missed 5 of 6 times and everyone else had moved out of the way while I sat there holding the balloon! Still, it's something you just have to see :-) The 'main' night life area also has loads of bars, and in particular a superb live music venue. I guess you just haven't seen Bon Jovi until you've seen it Asian style?!? Massively touristy but lively and good fun.

Koh Phi Phi is a limestone island directly between Phuket and Krabi on the mainland, and is about one and a half hours by boat from both. I stayed in a 'bungalow', which is actually a wooded cabin on stilts half way up a hill tucked way in the trees, and the view from the balcony was fantastic. There was no way of knowing that the island was hit by the Tsunami of 2005 apart from some signs highlighting the evacualtion route. Just about every structure on the island was washed away. The climb to the three viewpoints in at least 35 Degree C was tiring but worth it. The second viewpoint was the best, overlooking the twin back to back bays with the rest of the mountainous rocky island in the background. The secluded Rantee Bay at the back of the island was only possible to reach by a tricky hike or a water taxi direct to the main village of Ao Ton Sai but the best way to get to it is by hiking the steep tricky path... The water taxi is cheating :-) After two nights of beach partying and fire shows, I got the ferry to Krabi, back to the mainland...

Krabi is a small town and fitted ideally with my route south, without having to double back on myself to Phuket. It's a quiet town, or at least it is at the moment and a million miles from the touristy Patong Peach, not quite what I expected. In fact, I would say it could just about be a well kempt, polished, modern version of Battembang (Cambodia).

Tomorrow, I will either go to Hat Yai, southern Thailand or straight on to Penang in Malaysia.. Not sure yet...

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