We have decided to stay in Phuket until we are due to be back in Bangkok so we are now here til wednesday 12 April.  we had been thinking of going to koh Samui but we were having trouble getting transport and it was going to cost us a packet for now more than two or three days there.  when taking everything into account (including the fact that we have both started to relax) we made the call to stay in Phuket.  No regrets with that decision!  Accommodation is half the price here than what it would be if we went to koh Samui and everything is now paid for until we get to London (except for play money).

We have done two awesome tours since being here.  One was a canoeing tour (photo on previous website). On that tour we got to go through caves (some so low we had to lie down to get through parts of it!) and some of the caves had bats!  we saw monkeys too!  The scenary was quite spectacular and Jules and I both agree that the photos don't even come close to doing it justice so I have only put one or two on the website to give you and idea.  I also got to eat rock oysters!! There were loads of them, everywhere.  i happened to notice them and asked what they were.  The guide told us they were oysters - I immediately began asking whether we could eat them and if so how you got into them.  we tried but couldn't find any rocks big enough to break the shell.  The next time we went canoeing (at the next bay) the guide brought his knife so we could crack into them.  Gosh they were nice!!  Tasted just like the bluff ones, only they were smaller.  this tour also took us to James Bond Island which is where 'The man with the golden gun' was filmed.

The other tour we did was to Phi Phi islands (Phi Phi Lei and Phi Phi Don).  'The beach' was filmed at Phi Phi.  This was fantastic cos we went snorkelling with the tropical fishies and we got to feed the monkeys this time!!! we also had the opportunity to Kayak (jules and I swam instead, we think we will find some kayaks to hire for the day another time) and at the last beach we could see sea snakes (i passed on the swimming there and lay on the beach instead!!).

other than that, Jules and I have been doing as much to relax as possible!

We went into town the other night.  that is one of the funniest nights out I have had!  every place we went to had girls dancing on the bars trying to attract the punters.  Every non-asian looking guy was treated like royalty and smothered by several girls as soon as he entered the bar area.  we saw several guys looking like the cat that just got the cream as a result of that!!  Jules and I got much enertainment out of watching that!!!

Oh, muay thai?!!  we went to that too and it was awesome!  I learned that the rounds are 2 minutes as opposed to 3 minutes (which they are in boxing).  there are 5 rounds and we watched guys of several ages fight.  there was prcatically no blood (we had thought there might be) and I would describe muay thai as a disciplined sport that is amazing to watch.  the first guys to fight were quite young, we reckon they were about 9-12 years old.  it was interesting watching them cos they were very focussed on the technique and the hits weren't very hard so we got to learn a bit about what they were trying to do before watching the oldre ones who had the technique mastered and accordinlgy they hit hard!! One thing that amazed me was how well cut the guys were.  even the youngest guys had abs and chest of pure muscle.  i have never seen anything like it!

Anyway, that really all for now.  The only thing that I wish I could change is that I would love all of you to be here with us seeing what we are seeing and experiencing what we are experiencing cos it has been simply amazing.  other than that, I wouldn't change a thing!

Love to you all,

A

xx