Phuket

The bus was a little scary with a tendency to roll from side to side even when going in straight lines. We were a little cramped in but the air-con worked well and I was able to get a few hours sleep before we stopped at midnight to change bus drivers and get a bite to eat. It was quite funny to see all the bus travelers struggling to stay awake sat in this little cafe (no idea where it was!). Suffice to say there was very little conversation.

We then had a six hour run down to Surat Thani - a small town on the east of the Thai/Malay peninsula where we were unloaded and divided into final destinations. Most of us were going to Phuket but a few were going to Ko Phi Phi, Ko Samui or Ko Pha Nga. We must have waited about an hour for our connecting bus and again there wasn't much conversation as we all sat there.

The bus trip to Phuket took about four hours, mainly because we must have stopped a thousand times to let people on and off. As is always the case, when we arrived in Phuket we were pounced on by various cab drivers and tuk-tuk drivers. We managed to find some other people heading to Patong Beach (who made Dave and I feel old as one - from Bristol bizarrely enough - looked barely 18).

Our accommodation was just off the main beach street in a quite little corner and had a small pool. It was about midday by this point and we'd been traveling for about 18 hours all told so we had a swim in the pool and a shower to freshen up and found clothes that weren't capable of walking around by themselves and then headed for a bit of an explore.

Patong is a bay with a long beach (filled with deckchairs and parasols - yours for the day for 100 baht), with a street running along the beach filled with bars, restaurants, hotels, McDonald's and a million and one street vendors selling suits, t-shirts, DVDs, and souvenirs. There are lots of little streets and alleys that connect the beach to the other main street which has lots of bars, hotels, restaurants... well you get the idea.

We grabbed a bit of lunch and had a wander (and got lost). The return to the hotel was a little hairy - what we called by the end 'running the gauntlet'. In this case it was lots of masseuses who would shout "wanna massage?" in annoyingly high-pitched voices and try to cut us off by standing in front of us or grabbing our arms.

We spent the next day out on the beach improving our tan and having a swim in the sea so not much to report there. We did find the Aussie bar showing Brisbane Lions v Fremantle so watched that over a beer.