Phuket

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After chatting to the staff on the ferry, we decided to stay at Kata Beach on Phuket, which is in the south west of Phuket. After hunting for cheap accomodation, and finding none, we checked in to an air con hotel that had en suite and a mini bar, absoulte luxury compared to some of the places we'd stayed. We then had dinner overlooking the beach, a really pleasant evening before an early night, prepared for the big game fishing the next day.

Big game (Sailfish, Marlin etc.) fishing is something I've been looking forward to the whole trip, and apparently Phuket is the place to do it. We opted for the whole day fishing, starting at 7am, and finishing at 5pm. Basically we caught bugger all, apart from 2 small Tuna, that we caught on the way to where the sailfish were 'abundant'. Because our guide couldn't speak much English, and none of us had done this type of fishing before, we didn't even know we were actually fishing at the time! It was an American couple, also on our boat, who reeled the fish in. We then ate them for lunch, which was probably the best thing about the day. I had no idea what trolling fishing was about, and if we had caught even one big fish my attitude might be different, but it requires unbelievable patience, and there was no beer on board! There were 6 of us fishing, and there were 4 rods trolling behind the boat. For about 8 hours we all just sat and stared at the 4 rods dragging in the water (not my idea of fun). The joke was that you got about 600 Baht off if you didn't fish, well I didn't do much bloody fishing! That said, we might see if we can do a half day deep sea bottom fishing with designated rods on the islands off the east coast of Thailand in a few weeks. I've done that before with my Dad off the coast of Devon, and that was much more fun.

Back at the hotel, and feeling a bit hard done by, we ate at the same restaurant as the night before, and then headed over to Patong, a 20 min Tuk-Tuk ride away to meet Natalie. This was our first experience in a tuk-tuk, and they would only get worse by the time we reached Bangkok. No doors and no seatbelts hurtling round hairpins seems to be the standard tuk-tuk ride in Phuket.

It was really cool to see Natalie, and she took us to some cool bars in Patong, a very strange and very commercial town in Phuket. One of the bars had a log outside which we partook in a game where you had to hit a nail into the log with a sharp hammer, taking it in turns to hit the nail. Not very easy after a few Changs! After a few more bars and the purchase of a cowboy hat, it was off to a club, and then back to the hotel in the early hours.

The next day we caught a plane to Bangkok, for about 20 quid, thus avoiding a 12 hour journey on a bus to the country's capital. Sadly we didn't have time to take Natalie up on her invitation of a day by her pool at her villa, but will hopefully see her again if she manages to make it down to the full moon party at the end of the month.

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