Dear all........ Hello from possibly the nicest internet cafe....ever......air conned, comfy chair, webcam, microphone, earphones, private booths and friendly staff! Anyway.......im digressing.........i'm back in Phuket after leaving Pi Pi.....and spent my first four days in nearly three months on my own! Bit of a shock to the system as i had really fallen on my feet from day one by meeting Stephen and the guys, but actually the time went quite quickly....if a little lonely at times! I got the ferry back to Hat Karon, on the West coast, where Stephen, Elisa and I had stayed previously, and as we loved our little guest house so so so much, i went back!!! They welcomed me with open arms.....literally......and the little girl that made my room up every day put mints on my pillow and was constantly chatting about what my plans for the day were, good places to eat and where i was off to next.....such a friendly little family! My arrival day gave me little time for much, so just went for dinner........'Caesar salad and a pineapple juice for one please! :-( ' ha ha......was a nice restaurant though, with a fantastically awful cabaret singer.......was unsure of her sex....looked like a Thai woman...sounded like a Thai man....confused to say the least!! Next day, early start.......dont know why as there is no rush to do anything here, as everything can wait, but i wanted to hire a bicycle to travel a bit more of the west coast.........not quite up for full motorised ride yet.....so i get myself a pink bike, and head along the coast to Hat Kata and a little further South.......rode as far as i could before hitting a huge hill...........im talking HUGE........im talking a car would struggle to get up this beast of a mountain.......i am prone to exaggeration but trust me on this one guys.....would have had calves of steel after that ride....so i swiftly did a U turn and headed back the way i had come. Was a beautiful scenic route and gave me the chance to see the beaches and mountainous surroundings from a different angle......after a little retail therapy, and possibly the best sun set of the trip, i headed back to my room, and read the best book i have ever purchased. Is called Forget You Had A Daughter In The Bangkok Hilton.........true story of a British woman who smuggled heroin out of Thailand....and got caught. Amazing read, and was finished by the morning..........one to remember guys! After one more day of enjoying Karon, i arranged to meet Rob, my brothers friend from home who moved out to Phuket in December, and currently lives in Patong. So........i got a local bus.........yes a LOCAL bus...for local people......not western girls, with large backpacks, and a habit for taking photographs at the worst moments!!! ha ha. This was an experience in itself.......i literally stood on a road i knew the bus went down....and waited........and waited......and then it came.....a rickety, old, blue and white thing........i clambered a board with every other Thai heading for Phuket town where i would then change for a bus to Patong! I could have got a taxi....a tuk tuk.....anything....but the local bus had a certain air of class about it......i was roughing it with the rest of them for a mere 20 baht (35p)...and was one of the highlights so far. In Thailand, everything is on a plate for us westerners....every travel arrangement, every leisure activity, every shopping trip is organised and planned for you by local culture...Thailand as a whole is marketed towards the wealthy tourists to increase their countries income, so to take a public mode of transport or walk somewhere instead of taking a tuk tuk is a novelty that you barely experience.............. Eventually arrive in Patong........wow.....mini Bangkok......mini Soho.......neon light central.....western people galore.......Rob is currently in Burma and will be there until the evening, so i decide to make my way to his on foot and be there for when he got back..........bad idea!!!! Ha ha, i had just a road name for him, and did not know Patong at all......so first call....a town map...which a friendly tour guide gave me if i promised to come back and book a bungee jump with her.....ha ha ha...yeah right.......i convinced her.... "Yes Miss Thai tour lady, i would just love to do a bungee jump from your tower, on a rope that looks like it has seen better days, and with the safety precautions from hell!!!"....ha ha ha.....unsuprisingly i took her map and conviently forget to return to do her death jump!!! Anyway...im digressing again......the map now gave me the chance to see how FAR AWAY i was from Rob.......so i started walking........and walking......and six hours later......with a Subway sandwich stop in between......and miles under my belt i arrived at Robs apartment, and him and his girlfriend the lovely Wan sorted me out with a lovely clean apartment for the forseeable future. From then on.....Rob and Wan have played terrific tour guides and shown me the sights and beautiful beaches of Ao Naithon and Hat Kamala which was hot quite bad by the Tsunami and traditional Thai markets in Hat Kalim and perfect mountain views overlooking the three bays in a row Kata, Karon and Patong and much more of Phuket! Last night Wan cooked me a traditional Thai Yellow Curry with Shrimp..........oh my goodness...was the best curry since being in Thailand........and Robs friends from his English Teaching school, Andy and Nick joined us on the tour of the nice beaches and scenic views. The thai market that we went to yesterday had puppys...only days old...for sale in little boxes.......was so so so tempted to buy one....could have left just a pair of socks behind and still fit it in my rucksack........... Oh i forgot to mention....i am an official moped rider!!! Ha ha, i have myself a beautiful canary yellow roadster to replace my Smart Beast. The roads here are manic, but so long as your careful, there is no danger, and it has given me the chance to see so much more than i would have done by foot....plus i dont have to argue with tuk tuk drivers every day on a price!!! So...today Stephen arrived back here from Krabi, and Rob is playing tour guide again tomorrow to show us somewhere a little further north...i think....i feel like im on a genuine tour, and each day we arrive at a new destination for me to take pictures at......i will be loading more onto the website in a few days before heading up to Vietnam...... Think that is all for now.......sorry this has been a little unorganised in its writing, i am rushed for time, plus today is the national elections in Thailand, and all the bars and shops have been unable to sell alcohol since yesterday, as they dont want drunk Thais voting....good idea i think! So i want to go and find out the result! Hope you are all well, and i look forward to hearing your updates soon. Lots of love, me xxxxx