Sugar Palm Grand, Hillside Phuket

... we woke up in the morning we got ready to depart for our morning hike. We woke up around 8 and got ready to trek up into the mountain just down the road. When we got there they handed us all Bamboo sticks. Not thinking anything of it we soon realized why these sticks were necessary. The first 1/5th of the mountain was straight uphill rock climbing it felt like. With a bamboo stick in one hand and a water bottle in the other practically going vertical was difficult. After we ...

... should I bump into than the same man still with his suitcase which, again struck me as strange right by the beach. I stopped to talk to him & he told me that he was having no success in finding a quiet affordable hotel close to the beach. We chatted for a while & then we parted ways with me wishing him luck. I wandered around the small town for a while & then got another songthaew to go back. After a few stops who should ...

... of photos of the prettiness! On the way back to Phi Phi we stopped off at an island called Bamboo Island, which had the best snorkelling I have ever done, even better than some of the dives. We jumped in off the boat and were immediately surrounded by thousands of silver and yellow fish, and shoals of black ones, and on the sea floor were crazy coloured corals with crazier-coloured fish swimming in them. We saw one that was about 40cm ...

... Freude verflog schnell, als wir nicht wie abgesprochen am Pier abgeholt wurden und unsere schweren Rucksaecke bei gefuehlten 40 Grad selber den Berg hinauf zum Harmony House schleppen durften. Vorbei an unzaehligen Bars und Restaurants, Tauchshops und Massagesalons bahnten wir uns unseren Weg. Schweissgebadet standen wir dann vor der Inhaberin des Guesthouses und ernteten auf die Nachfrage, wo denn die Sackkarre fuer unsere Rucksaecke war (auf ...

... calm waters, white sand, and only a few deck chairs. see pictures.<br><br>We missed out on visiting the small Islands off Phuket which are meant to be lovely. BUT little me decided I wanted to squish in a visit to Borneo to see the Orangutans so now we are on a time scale. I also LOVED Kho Pangnan, Phuket just didnt hit that spot. p.s. I also much preferrred the Islands off ...

... br><br><br><br>Here comes Ethan and Michelle.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><b r>All 6 ready for self-paddling.<br><br><br><br><br><br> <br><br ...

... seats. Milli says: So we got up early, scrabbled for the breakfast and then left to organise a boat to our next stop. The only way to get there is by boat and we thought that a little isolated beach would be just dandy. And yes, the boat ride was beautiful, sunny, blue skies, passing little rocky islands shooting out of the water, and one massive resort that was leaning into a private cove - no one got off there. Coming into our bay it was definitely ...

... to it. I was resenting those in Ton Sai, hated the fact that it was busy, full of white people getting ****** up, acting like yobs. I only felt right once we were back at Long Beach. Too much of a good thing can be bad for you. One day we took a long boat trip from Long Beach to Phi Phi Leh. We had to go and see it for ourselves. It took about an hour when it should have only taken 30 minutes as we nearly didn't make it. Half way there the engine ...

... was quite a change from what we had been listening to so far. I asked him "You like country?" And he said he did. I asked if he knew Dierks Bentley and he did, so then we *really* bonded. He was a really chatty guy too, and made the hour go by quite quickly. I told him he had to check out Keith Urban, whom he had never heard before. Once at the airport I said good-bye to my new friend. I checked in for my flight and waited forever to board. This airline is so budget ...