Leelawadee Boutique Hotel Phuket Patong

... unusual rock shapes & white coral sand. The beach is covered in pairs of deck chairs & umbrellas which we were told we could use for 150 B $5.50 AUS !!!!!) I sat in one & along came someone to collect my money & I offered 75 B as I was only going to use 1 chair & not 2 . He refused to do that so I had to leave my chair!! Had another swim & snorkel ( not good snorkeling here), walked around ...

... are not that friendly. "The Beach" at Maya bay is beautiful but there were far too many boats and people so it doesn't quite look as nice as when it is discovered in the movie. We had a swim and sat on the beach admiring the view. Lunch at another island was in a lovely setting and a tempting area to look at staying a while. The prices for the resort there are exorbitant, as would be expected. Last stop was ...

... me like a ten tonne truck it's also totally buggered my plans and progress. For the past three weeks I've been in training doing an international teaching qualification (TEFL), at least I was until I wound up in hospital and shafted my chances of getting through the course. More luck. As it stands now I have to return on Jan 5th to finish my final two weeks, get assessed, take an exam, teach four more classes of students, submit ...

... with a metal frame around three sides. There was no frame or seat belt in front of us to keep up from sliding down the elephant's front side. Believe me, we were holding on for dear life. I was gripping the bars so tight my fingers turned a brick color from the rust. Please keep in mind this was not your ordinary walk along a road in a zoo. No, it was along a muddy, narrow trail, deep within the jungle. There was nothing but ...

... colourful and mixed. Quite a variety. And of course Huntington Beach Mike was eager to continue the debauchery even after we all fizzled out at 1am. I suppose he wants to party off his last few days before he heads back home next week. It was also interesting in the fact I felt out of my game, like something was misplaced or just simply wrong, and I wouldn't understand why until the next day...

... We spend 10 minutes pacing here and there and then we spot him spotting us, to which he turns away and keeps walking away from us. We race to catch up to him. He hasn't a clue where he is or where he is going. The kids are whingeing about sore feet and boredom. I plot to escort Dad and the kids back to the entrance and put them on a tuk-tuk back to the Hotel. Dad however, needs a pair of cossies because he came to Phuket with no swimming attire ...

After our sightseeing and cultural travels through the previous countries we decided to have a few days relaxing in Thailand. We stayed in a resort with a lovely pool and only minutes from the white sand and blue ocean. One of the main reasons for being here was for Chris to do his PADI Open water diving course. We went and did some research and found Dive Asia where the staff were helpful, knowledgeble and not at all pushy! Chris ...

... an inlet with a welcome rock pool. Had to lie flat on my back though and splash myself like a wallowing walrus as it was so shallow. The trouble with the sea was that I couldn't get in it as the rocks had too steep a dropoff. Every drop of my 500ml water bottle was precious by this stage. Checked out the interior but the vegetation proved vicious, with lots of cactus type plants in the jungle (and I was only in my swimmers ) so retreated ...

... ll be allowed to go back and rebuild (which everyone seems keen to do). Joy told me Maya Bay, Phi Phi Le some of the horrific things she saw when they were there to try and collect some of their things and assess the damage - it's so awful I can't even repeat it right now. Maybe later. Onto happier topics. On Phi Phi Le, the main beach where "The Beach" was filmed is in Maya Bay and was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful... Before heading to the Bay, we dropped anchor for a few hours ...

... Phi Phi, hit the Full Moon party there. It was going to take way to much work to get to Koh Phangan, and a more laid back party seems more inviting then 10,000+ ravers. Well basically kicking it here for a few days, relaxing on the beach, watching movies, and going out to dinner with everyone. I'll try and get some pics up in a day or so Cia Jason