Phuket, Thailand

We got away on time from KL and took a taxi to KL Sentral and then an airport shuttle bus. Our AirAsia flight was on time, and when we arrived in Phuket we managed to figure out a local SIM card, ATM and minivan transfer to our accommodation in Kata Beach without any real dramas...great that a few things are going smoothly now!We are very happy with the hotel which was quite cheap and doesn't have any beach view but is clean, modern, the staff are friendly and there is a cheap restauarant, laundry service, free wi-fi and a rooftop spa! We had an early dinner since we missed lunch, then headed down to catch a beautiful sunset at Kata Beach before stopping for some live music and a few drinks on the way back to the hotel. The band was quite good really, except when they came back after a short break they were joined by a Thai Elvis impersonator which was pretty cheesy but still funny. When he roved the audience with a mic I managed to get one beer assisted chorus in of "Can't Help Falling In Love" which got a pretty good reception with the crowd (or so I believed at the time). Had a nightcap at the hotel roof garden and then to bed.

Ok I admit that the evidence does indicate that I had a few too many beers last night...but I think it was worth it. Accordingly I had a pretty quiet day and missed breakfast, before a Thai lunch at our hotel, an afternoon siesta before going down to the beach and for a quiet dinner. Was a nice day to enjoy the great weather and relaxed atmosphere.

Had a nice breakfast at our hotel and then headed down to Kata Beach for a quick swim in the heat of the day then back to the hotel where we enjoyed the rooftop spa and garden, played some skip-bo and updated our travel blogs and emails etc. Ended up quite sunburnt even though we weren't in the sun very long...perhaps the roof garden shade is not as UV protected as we had assumed? After dinner we had a quiet night in rather than heading to Patong as we had earlier planned.

Finally looks like I've caught up to the present day with this travel blog! Now at last I can email it around to my friends and family. This morning we lined up accommodation in Phi Phi at White 1 which is apparently a 'flashpacker' option, i.e. upper end backpacker style. Today is our last day at Aloha Hotel in Kata and tomrrow we will move to Phuket Town closer to the ferry departure point for Phi Phi. We have also made some progress on our rough itinirary for the rest of south-east asia and might book our flight to Cape Town from Bangkok for late March all going well.In the evening when the heat had slightly subsided we headed to the roof and played some cads and had a few drinks so we could relax ahead of our impending haircuts...Sandra and I were due to get our heads shaved today as Sandra has reached her $500 fundraising target for the World's Greatest shave and I said I would do it too for moral support. We found a nice local place where the hairdresser eventually agreed to go through with it even though she seemed quite upset about Sandra losing her "beautful hair". It was a dramatic change but overall I think she still looks good which is a relief! My change was not so dramatic but still looked pretty strange as far as I'm concerned. PS. We're holding back the photos for now for those who have sponsored us, so if you haven't already please do at http://my.leukaemiafoundation.org.au/duncg?SID=150234&Lang=en-CA

Today we relocated from the Kata Beach area over to Phuket Town on the east coast at a slightly cheaper place which is also much closer to the ferry terminal for our earlier morning ferry ride to Phi Phi in the morning. Our taxi driver told us that our hotel in Phuket Town (The Pearl Hotel) is in fact the first hotel in Phuket (?) built over 30 years ago. When we arrived it certainly seemed like he was probably correct and that nothing had been updated since the day it opened! But it was still perferctly fine for us for one night and the pool was well maintained and really nice. I did get a hell of a fright from a dead scopion which I didn't at first realise was dead! We booked our tickets for the ferry and had a bit of a walk around and also lined up our accommodation for Ko Phanagn where we are plannng to head after Phi Phi. Tomorrow Phi Phi which we have heard is spectactular so looking forward to that.