Phuket Fri 16 Jan 09

Phuket Fri 16 Jan 09

Weather still perfect, very little cloud except one day with 50%. Beach superb, sea full of jellyfish but have to go in around them to cool down. Is this heaven on earth?

Had a haircut by mai, a very nice lady, (4 pounds) incl. free trimming of eye brows, nose and hairs sprouting out of ears.

Watched man mending electricity cables strung across poles by sitting on adjoining bunches of cables. Good job it wasn't raining.

Went to 'Export Fair', an annual event here, 12 - 21 January, lots of stalls, some with lovely smells, I don't normally eat from stalls but may not be able to resist next time.

Wednesday, went on day trip with An to Phang Nga Bay, another area full of beautiful islands. The main activity on this trip though was climbing from the main boat into small canoes, just me and An and the 'driver San?' then paddled literally into the cliff face of one of the islands, into very low, long, narrow cave. The rock is limestone with very jagged stuff from the sea attached to it so it was best to adhere to advice and not touch. Beautiful shapes and contours in the roof and sides of the cave. Maybe 50 metres in, we come out into a fantastic lagoon with maqngroves growing in the middle and steep, tree-lined sides going up 100/200 metres to the top of the island and blue sky above. It is called mangrove cave and is just beautiful. Got some great pictures but they will not convey the real atmosphere and beauty of this place. Noticed that the tide was coming in, this obviously was lowering the height of the tunnel/cave, I think we got out just in time, one of the last canoes to emerge back into the open sea.

Next we see James Bond Island, used in one of the 1970s movies. Then lunch on the boat and it was superb. This thai food is consistantly so good I think I am getting hooked on it.

Next to another island, Hong Island, and ,more canoeing, this time into another, larger lagoon with more towering scenery all around. Fantastic place.

Next to Lawa Island for some time on the beach and a bit of do it yourself canoeing then home. A wonderful day.

That evening, 5 of us went to Patong again, after a meal in the hilltop restaurant. Me, An, Andy, an incredibly powerful looking but very friendly (fortunately) german policeman, Alex a chef and friend of Andy, and Sa, a friend of An and Andy. We had a drink in one of the music bars with scantily clad girls dancing on the bar tops all around us, I was glad we had the girls with us for protection. Then to the same disco An and I had visited a few days ago, great music but not much variation. I think we got back at about 2.30am , not too bad.

Take care everyone, All the Best, John