Phuket

After a 24 hour journey from Bangkok by train and bus we finally arrived in Phuket town. We decide to catch the local bus from Phuket town, and what a great journey that was, an open bus costing us ฿ 25 (50p), well worth it. The bus filled with school children and locals all full of character a great journey to experience. The bus took us to Patong Bay a very busy, what we can only call a seaside resort. Full of bars, clubs, massage parlours, street sellers and restaurants. We booked in to our very nice guesthouse just off the main street and about 500 metres from the beach. Bryan of course had to experience a Phuket oil massage (it must be said that it was the worst massage so far) but yet an experience not to forget. They always ask you if you want a ‘special’ massage and now I can see why that might be the case. No Bryan did not have a special massage...! Bryan went off diving for the day on a boat in search of manta rays. But only came back with photos of fish and a ship wreck. We booked a day trip to ‘James Bond Island’ - the one from ‘The Man With The Golden Gun’. In all it took us to 5 islands and we had a really lovely day. We headed off in a speedboat to the first island. We couldn’t get off onto this one, it was for pictures only but we got up close to the huge cliffs that are being eroded away at the bottom and quite beautiful. Next came James Bond Island. It does have a proper name but nobody knows what that is anymore - it’s been called James Bond Island for so long. We arrived at a tiny beach at the bottom of the cliffs and saw the steps to the side - the ones that Scaramanga came down when James Bond was there! We hopped over the steps and were treated to a beautiful view of the tall solitary rock that stands up out of the water (the one the lazer gun was hidden inside in the film) it is stunning to see. A bit further around & over some more rocks is the beach and another view of the beautiful rock again. and the beach..... covered with traders and stalls of course - this is Thailand! You certainly didn’t see those in the film though!! Then we headed off to lunch and a muslim community that live on a floating village. There were about 10 people on our table and the food brought to us all looked beautiful - but nearly all meat and fish. Jody had booked a vegetarian meal with our day trip tickets so we made ourselves known as ‘the vegetarian’. Well they didn’t disappoint. So much delicious vegetarian food was brought out that the whole table couldn’t eat it all! Next stop was brilliant. We stopped between two great cliffs and were met by canoes. We hopped into one and the chap took us around the island and through caves. It was beautiful again although he took great delight in getting us soaked! Final island was a lovely island where we could get off the boat and relax on the beautiful beach. It was so hot though we found a cool place under a palm tree before going for a dip in the sea. The water was so warm but we don’t rate it amongst the best we have seen so far. We had such a brilliant day but full of fresh air and activity that we got back to our room about 7pm and zonked out until the next morning....bliss! Next stop... Phi Phi - where they filmed ‘The Beach’ Bodega Guesthouse Room rating: 7/10 - lovely comfy bed Location: 10/10 - The city is all over the place, but this is about the best location to be in as its a bit quieter here Staff: 9/10 - Very welcoming and friendly Value for Money: 8/10 Other comments: Stay again? Yes if we returned to Phuket this is definitely where we would stay. Overall experience: 8/10 Patong Bay, Puket is great if you want that sort of thing but we had hoped for quiet sandy beaches. Apparently they are a bit further along the coast.