Nov 2004

Today was our last day in Phuket. Got up for a late brekkie then headed off to the beach. Sunbaked till mid-afternoon then went to McDonald's for lunch (Same as anywhere else in the world). Went back to the beach - swam a bit and did more sunbaking - I am building up quite a nice tan.

Brenda's local boys kept on trying to sell us stuff and marry us all day. We eventually gave in - to the selling not to marriage - and got henna tattoos to commerate our time in Patong.

We eventualy went back to the hotel and were heading out to dinner when another storm hit and we were forced to eat at this dingy restaurant next door to the hotel - somehow they managed to even make water taste flat! We went and tried local ice-cream (Taro flavour)before heading back to the hotel and heading to sleep as we have an early flight tomorrow.

Today we hired a Tuk-Tuk and drove down to Karon Beach. We went shopping at Karon Plaza then ate lunch at a Scandanavian Restuarant - odd choice but great food.

We spent the afternoon at the beach sunbaking and swimming - the water was a lot clearer than at Patong Beach but when we were there there seemed to be a jellyfish problem!

We returned back to Patong Beach for dinner at an Aussie Pub to have Italian food - turning into quite a multi-cultural day! We walked back to the hotel with the intention to go out later that night but unfortunately we were hit by a storm that night which started at 9pm and was still raining well past midnight. So we didn't go out. Instead we turned in for another well earned sleep.

Today was again a long day. We went shopping in the morning - still haven't really bought anything. We then spent the afternoon by the beach, where Brenda was chatted up by some local boys. The sun is still really hot everyday so i am getting a bit of a tan.

We went out for dinner and watched a live band perform - they were pretty good even if they couldn't pronounce all the English words correctly.

Tonight we went to Banana Disco again - so much fun here, i really enjoyed myself. Our neighbours from the hotel - who are french - met us there but we didn't spend too much time with them. We stayed until closing again - but the girls got a tired a lot longer before me. We got home and stayed up a little longer before eventually going to sleep at around 3am.

Today we hired a driver and went to some of Phuket's attractions. Tong, our driver, took us to the Phuket Zoo. We saw three different shows. First there was the monkey show - it was quite cute and really funny but at the same time was still sad to see animals in those conditions. Between the shows i fed a baby elephant bananas - it was so cute. Then we saw a crocodile wrestling show - the trainers worked the crocodiles into a frenzy then wreslte them - it actually seemed quite dangerous. Then we saw an elephant show - they were so well trained - they could even play soccer. After the show ended we visited the aquarium and avaiary but there was nothing really to write home about.

Our driver then took us to a 'really cheap' place for lunch - which of course was expensive and not very good. He then took us to a gem factory - nice but still wasn't going to buy any. Then we were taken to a local shopping mall which was cheap and quite fun.

We got back to the hotel and went out for dinner - mine was terible - a bad day for food. Later that night we went to Banana Disco - a local nightclub. It was so much fun - lots of dancing and an eclectic mix of dancers - stayed until closing time (2am) and then went back to the hotel for some well earned rest and relaxation.

Today we had a very busy day. After a quick breakfast we travlled around to all the tour companies and booked ourselves seats at a cabaret for tonight. We had lunch and spent the afternoon exploring by ourselves. I went shopping but held off on buying anything.

After a delicious dinner of Thai fried noodles and gravy we headed of in a bus to the famous Simon Cabaret. Simon Cabaret is a drag show but it is so much more than that. We had VIP seats and were so close to the stage. The show was a fantastic spectacle and parts of it made me burst out laughing. Some of the drag queens were completely feminine - couldn't tell them apart from real women, however some were still quite masculine. The show was great and i'm sure will prove to be a highlight of the trip.

When we got back from the show the festival was still going so we stayed out for a while longer. We were offered a chance to see a 'ping-pong' show but we had to decline! Finally we made our way back to the hotel for a well needed rest.