Phuket

Phuket is much more expensive than everywhere else we have visited in Thailand so far. Normally we have taken tuk tuks and taxis to get around, but you can hire a bike for a whole day at the same price as a short trip in a tuk tuk. Now we have a bike we can get to the quieter beaches and can do some sight seeing. So we've hired a Honda scooter again for 200 baht (£4) per day.

We've spent most of our days chilling on Kata Noi Beach, which is just further south from Kata's main beach, and only really easy to get to with a bike (or a long walk). The weather is spot on what we needed after the freezing north of Vietnam, we've had solid 30°C everyday. The road that leads to the beach is a dead end with only a couple of hotels so it is a lot quieter then Phuket's other beaches. On Saturday evening we rode the bike a few miles away to the viewpoint, where you can see Kata Noi, Kata and Karon beach.

Back to Thailand... Phuket

Sorry for taking so long to post! There is a distinct lack of wi-fi in Phuket, especially at our guesthouse.

We got up around 5am on Thursday to get to the airport in time for our 9am flight from Hanoi to Bangkok, from there we caught a connecting flight to Phuket. I can't believe that two places so close together have such different temperatures, but it is so nice to be back somewhere hot! Phuket is not quite what we were expecting, it's a bit like Costa Del Sol with its hundreds of loud bars, live music and lots of white (or sometimes pink) tourists on the crammed beaches. When we were looking online for a hotel we wanted to try and avoid Patong which is the most heavily popluated area in the high season, so we booked a place in Karon. It's still quite busy, but nothing on Patong, and we only have a 2 minute walk to the beach.

Phuket is quite pricey too... when we stayed in Chiang Mai we had a pool and that hotel was about 600Baht per night (£12ish), most places in Phuket are double the price for less of the quality. I think we're going to stay here for a few days to enjoy some sun, sea and sand then move on to some of the islands.