Break Point Hotel Patong

Picked up at 8.15am for the Northern Trail Bike Ride with BikeTours Thailand. Was 2800 baht for the day ( $86 Aus). Only me & another couple from Singapore, Joseph & Stella. When we picked them up they were fully decked out in all the bike riding gear & I was feeling a bit intimidated that I wouldn't be able to keep up ( with my very little bike ...

My dreams of becoming the World Muay Thai Champion in just 4 weeks have been shattered, twice over. First, last Tuesday I woke up and found that I could barely walk due to a foot injury. Considering that I am at a martial arts camp, I feel as though there should be some dramatic fight story behind the injury. The sad reality, however, is that I threw one too many kicks with my foot flexed rather than pointed. Just as my foot ...

... place is much quieter, so we made the most of it and spent more time playing on the internet and sorting out or watching dvd movies. Packing was a leisurely affair, with our stuff seeming to have multiplied as usual. We posted a parcel and a box back to Spain which helps, but we still have more than 60kg of stuff between us, as well as probably 20kg in hand luggage. Hope it is not a helicopter trip to work as they usually like you to ...

... down buckets. I thought if the others would look away for a few minutes I could stab him with my fork. At least the meat pie was good. We took the bus through the mountains and Jungle to Chumphon. Chumphon pronounced Chumphon is on the east coast better weather hardly any rain. Stayed in a nice place for two days rented a motorbike drove down the coast. Took the overnight train to Bangkok. O yes Bangkok: In order to avoid being called a flirt, Bangkok always yielded easily.

Caught the fever yesterday. Had to wear jeans and a hoodie on a 28c+ day. Wrapped myself in blankets, had lots of soup and gatorade, took antibotics and worse sleep ever. Must have caught it from overtaxing the body and climate change. Today it's about 32c degrees and SUNNY for first time all week. Couldn't go out and enjoy it and missed out training. Feel much better than yesterday, I'm back ...

... for the rest of our stay. Our first trip was to Phang Nga ( James Bond Island) - here we visited monkey temple and buddha, there were tonnes of monkeys and bats hiding in the cave above - we got a longtail boat to explore phang nga bay where there are lots of beautiful islands - we visited a traditional fishing village and fish farm set in what looks like quick sand- would have been good except for the tourist stalls - James Bond Island is tiny, we ...

... sensational and was my 1st choice of accommodation). Back at the Patong Merlin's main entrance. Round up the troops and catch a taxi from the Hotel and head to Marina Phuket Resort in Karon for lunch. Mainly because I have rendezvous-ed with Elaine, Gwung and some friends. We're to wave into the Resort's webcam at 2pm and hopefully people logged on at 5pm in Sydney will see us waving! The taxi driver is attached to the Hotel and is a nice man called ...

... before buying. I just converted to Aus dollars and it came up cheap so I bought them. Garry then pointed out that I'd paid about 10 times more than I should. Oh well... At least I'm supporting some family for 6 months. One of the highlights of this time was seeing a muy thai (thai kick boxing) event at Bangla stadium. We drunk some beers and watched about eight fights. Of the eight fights three had westerners fighting, a ...

... had a couple of hours free time to spend on the long stretch of golden sands by the line of hotels encompassing the beach. We can see why it got hit so badly by the tsunami as the main Island consists of two large rock formations linked by a slither of golden sand with several hotels neatly perched on top. Either side the clear waters within the coves stretch out into the open ocean, making it the perfect trap to 'bottle neck' a tidal wave with no escape. We cruised ...

... the 186 meters worth of steps to the view point on the West cliffs of the island. It was amazing and it had such good view you were able to see the sunrise and sunset. We then visited the Tsunami Memorial Garden and wondered down the beach before splashing out on an expensive meal (at Matts Joint) it was an all you can eat BBQ and was definately my favourite meal of the trip. The next day Charlie dragged me out of bed at 6am ready for our days diving ...