Patong Paragon

Picked up at 8am by a mini van to do the boat trip to Phang Nga Islands. Travelled for about an hour to the north of the island where our boat left for A Por Pier. Battled car sickness in the car & glad I had some snacks in my bag to fight it off. There was about 20 people on board including 2 muslim couples on their honeymoon from Egypt & Kuwait. Kept wondering if they ...

... relaxing way of starting each day. The places we visited included various locations used for a number of famous films, (James Bond and 'The Beach'). The fabulous, sandy beaches lived up to all of the images that we have seen in various posters although the large number of tourists made it a bit crowded at times. All in all we had an incredible four weeks away. It's now time to get back to normal - whatever that may be!!

15 - 18 January A series of days in which we didn't do too much more than go to the beach in the afternoons. The beach boys run up to us as arrive there and immediately find a couple of deckchairs and set up the umbrella. Throughout the afternoon they move the umbrella to make sure we have lots of shade, and constantly ask us if we want a drink or some food. Two Tigers was quickly the order of the day, and the beach stall made quite good filled rolls ...

After another tremendous night of connect 4 and beers in Tom's bar we wrestled ourselves out of bed and into the taxi boat that would take us to the larger boat heading to Phi Phi island. Graham told me that it was a lovely scenic journey and one I mentally noted to look out for on Part 3 of round the islands. I had wanted to visit Phi Phi for years and was actually booked to come with another friend Dave before the place was wiped out in the tragedy of the Tsunami ...

... to the other night. Then it hits like a ton of bricks - we're hungry! But no! There is only one restaurant in this dive - surely it can't be good! So, we plan our escape and head for the parking lot. There we discover what our prior hubris had brought us. Every cab in the lot was chartered and had clients waiting to come back. It started to look like we were going to be stranded. We waited for 45 minutes trying in vain to flag ...

... 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 ...

... as we'd have at home), 2nd, comfy arm chairs and 1st class, a private screen with snacks and drinks included both before and during the film brought to you by a weighter (but had limited show times) so we went to second class... a two seater reclining sofa and enjoyed 'What happened in Vegas' :-) In the evening we booked ourselves onto a trip to see 'Simon Caberet', a ladyboy show. This was quite amuzing, especially the Tina Turner and Chinese ...

Phuket- Sin City by the Sea. Nice for a day or two, but that's about it. Unless you're a big fat European guy looking for a little Thai girl to take home as a souvnier, then it's paradise. We stayed for 2 days, rented a motorbike, found a nice beach and relaxed... finally!!! We booked a ticket to Railay, which is a 2 hour boat ride away for tomorrow. From here we're just going to island hop, by ferry down to Malaysia.

... however enjoy our day trip to Kata Beach. It was a beautiful beach with nice sand and crystal clear greenish-blue water. Unfortunately it was packed and we would have rather been back at Nai Yang. So we called Indigo Pearl Hotel and they were booked! So disappointing. SHE SAID: How can Nai Yang and Patong even be on the same island yet alone only a few minutes drive apart because they are worlds different. Patong is one of the seediest places I ...

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone Well tomorrow will be Thanksgiving and I am heading to Koh Phi Phi with Penny, Carrie and Dana are then meeting us on Friday afternoon. I'm really looking forward to it, cause Koh Phi Phi has some of the clearest water and most pristine beaches in the world. It's going to be fun times, cause it coincides with the full moon party, and we are planning on doing some snorkeling, diving ...