Bangkok - Phuket (Day 24-28)

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Day 24

We relaxed in the hotel and enjoyed our last yummy breakfast there and then later that morning had a mammoth table tennis session. We decided to head to Khao San road mid afternoon as this is where we were getting our bus to Phuket and after spending some time writing our blog and getting an early dinner we arrived at the travel agents to be 'picked up' - there were around ten of us and we had to walk about fifteen minutes to the bus station and a group of Irish travellers lost their friend so there was a bit of a drama! We eventually boarded our bus and as we were called after everybody else we had to sit at the back where the seats hardly reclined and Brett's kept springing forward every time the driver used the breaks! Needless to say, we did not get much sleep!

Day 25

The journey to Phuket took around 16 hours which included a couple of seemingly unnecessary stops which lasted quite a long time- plus the driver kept picking up fruit from little road-side markets on the way! We paid a bit extra to get dropped off at our hotel and arrived at the Amari Coral Beach at lunchtime. The hotel was separated from the rest of Patong Beach by a bridge and it had it's own private beach and jetty. We had a little rest and another much needed shower and then decided to get some lunch but before we left our room we were delighted to receive another complimentary platter of delicious food! After our mini feast we decided to have a stroll down to Patong Beach which took around ten minutes. It's really touristy here - I wont miss hearing 'Tuk Tuk? Where you go?' or 'nice suit sir?'!! Once back at the hotel we decided to go to the jetty where the panoramic views were really lovely!! We decided to have dnner at Kinaree (one of the restuarants at the hotel) and enjoyed a seafood basket which involved lots of de-shelling of various shell fish - we were both a little bit nervous at first but soon got stuck in and it was all really nice!

Day 26

We decided to spend the day chilling out by the pool at the hotel, making the most of the sun for a couple of hours! Brett took a stroll down to the local 7/11 (a supermarket that seems to be everywhere in Asia!) and got us some lunch and a couple of beers so we decided to eat it on the balcony of our room which has a lovely sea view. After relaxing, enjoying the scenery and our lunch it became clear that despite applying factor 30 sun cream, we had both (although Mandy alot more so than Brett!) got a little burnt!! We decided that it was best to try and stay out of the sun so spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the sun loungers in a shaded area looking out onto our private beach, Brett had a nature session as he was amazed by the crabs and different animals he found around the beach.

We later had dinner at the same restaurant as we had the previous night but had a Thai Buffet (we had no less than 6 courses!) and enjoyed the Thai music and dancing that was organised - although Mandy was somewhat distracted by a lady on a nearby table who she was convinced was her Mum's identical twin!! We then headed down to a bar as Mandy really wanted to watch the Liverpool game...we had a drink but were constantly asked by little kids if we wanted to buy a flower etc (yes they are cute but surely its wrong having eight year old kids begging drunk westerners for money?!)

Day 27

A little more sunburnt than orginally thought...... we didn't do much at all today. Did have a walk down to Patong Beach, had a yummy trio of ice cream, had dinner at a local restaurant and organised a tour for the following day and our transport to Phi Phi so not a complete waste of a day!!

Day 28

We spend the day on a tour called 'Sea Canoe 4 U' where we were taken to several local islands around Phang Nga Bay by boat (and canoe), one of which was called James Bond Island which is famous due to the Bond film "The Man with the Golden Gun" being filmed here. We were taken by canoe around the caves on Hong Island which were pretty spectacular and also did some canoeing ourselves around a private beach on an island and Mandy found that she no longer needed 'stabilisers' and did a pretty good job - photos to follow! We enjoyed a Thai buffet on the boat for lunch and afterwards went to Mangrove Cave where we were taken by canoe into a pitch black cave which was very low so we had to lay down and the guy paddlng had to wear a torch on his head! We travelled through the cave and came out the otherside into a beautiful lagoon. We both really enjoyed today and would highly recommend it! We arrived back at the hotel late afternoon and decided to go for dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant called 'Pizza on the Beach' which was really lovely and a great way to spend our final day in Phuket!

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Comments

[Lyndy Lou]

Day 28 - sea canoe 4 u!
I haven't been on board your blog since Hong Kong! But reading this this morning was like being back in Thailand! And guess what? It's exactly two years today since we arrived. We also did that trip - it was A M A Z I N G! Speak soon, friends! Love Lynda xx