KL to BKK

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So much done in so little time... Luxury travel from KL to Hat Yai, as ever Hat Yai excelled in being the dump town we first experienced and the bus to Phuket involved plastic seats, no air con and people having to stand for the whole trip... life of luxury.

Spent from 3am to 6am in Phuket "bus station", should be a bus shack, however the molded plastic seats provided a comfortable nap spot for an hour when all the power went out and reading was no longer an option.

Time on Phuket was spent avoiding the scary naked man on the beach... nudists over 50 should please seek secluded spots for tanning and avoid beach strolls. Avoiding the 6 foot waves which seemed to stalk us up the beach no matter how far we tried to move from the tide. Also time was spent hiding under our parasol from the rain... all the characteristics of Blackpool but without the donkeys.

Phi Phi was just beautiful, no roads= no "tuk tuk" calls, avoiding cyclists was the main issue. Laying out on beautiful white sand. Gave Koh Phangan a run for its money on beach party terms and kept up the cleanliness and charm that Phangan lacks. So many tourists in such a small place, but endless fun!

The set of the Beach may have been an awkward swim, fish bite, salt water swallowing afternoon but well worth it. Just ironic that the set of a film about travellers living away from it all is so busy and probably one of the most visited beaches in Thailand now...

Bus to Bangkok... as ever the dream, wasting time on Khao San at 5am with fellow bus travellers, a drunken waiter and slowly sipping fruit shakes, before staring endlessly at the Guesthouse options, faffing for a bit then just going for the walk and pick from Lonely Planet option. 1 messy sleep deprived night and we needed to head out to Kanachanaburi for a break.... waterfalls and WW2 bridges in the rain were the call of our 1 day there.

Death ride with the worst driver ever back to Bangkok leaves me slightly fearing for my life on the way to Laos, but seeing as there will be no front seat option in a coach I can sink back into night bus naivety and watch films and sit with my eyes shut for hours not sleeping just anticipating.

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