Hello once again fellow blog readers. It's been so nice to hear that so many of you have been reading these and enjoying them as much as I have been doing them. So much has happend in the short amount of time since the last blog so you will have to forgive me as this might be a long one.

Where to start really? Well first things first, we needed to become more mobile around the area as it's not really within walking distance to much. So we headed to a local shop where we bought some new kit for training and also rented the blue beast....well it's a 125cc scooter, but it's a beast I can assure you. I am the rider and James is my co-pilot. 6 eyes are better than 4 hey! You need to be pretty awake around these parts so it makes more sense that I concentrate on the road and James look's for sign posts etc. So we are safe for all those who care :) The best thing about the scooter is that it costs £2 to fill up and that has lasted us nearly a week so far, and we have covered some miles. Also another thing that amused me is the fact that down all the side streets and even the main roads is little stalls that look like they sell wine or olive oil in a bottle but it is infact petrol. So you don't want to be confused one night and buy one of them to go with your dinner as i'm sure it ain't no vino in that bottle.

So after we were mobile there was something I needed to get of my chest. The day before I had my head touched by a he/she so I needed to do what I thought was right, go and get my hair shaved off by a real man. We asked our new best friend Tony (Tiny Tony) where a good place was and we headed down there. Again the language barrier was there straight away but the MAN understood what I meant when I said "2 all over please". It was brilliant as it only cost me £1.20p to have it done. It's the neatest job of any hairdressers I have been to. So now I feel human again and not violated anymore. So we popped back to Tiny Tony the 4ft wonder and thanked him and got a bottle of petrol of him as we where empty. We then said goodbye and the words that are so common to resturant owners (or any shop owners actually) came out of his mouth "see you tomorrow". We are getting very use to that phrase now from different owners making sure we return and use them.

So the afternoon came and it was time to start training, the main reason we are here. It was arond 32c and humid as a sauna, whilst in a suit, jogging on the spot, eating curry....it was hot is what I'm getting at. You feel zapped straight away and feel like you are breathing in hot air which is not nice when you want a big gasp of breath and you can't get it. The main teacher in the begginers class had a bandana on and held a big stick (you where right Greg) and if you did anything wrong, he smacked you with it, luckily James and I where good students and didn't get a Thai stick beating. We got singled out to go into the ring and have a bit of private time with one of the other trainers. After about 2 hours of tough training I was wet right through and felt very tired, then the nasty man with the stick said "cool down" so I was instantly relieved of course, oh how wrong we where. Over here ther cool down consists of more cardio and drills followed by 200 front kicks on a bag, 200 elbows, 200 knees and then 300 situps and 100 more pressups. So to say I felt like falling over was an understatement. I wanted to hit the trainer with his stick. But we both felt great that our first session went well and the trainers acknowleged we trained hard and both had previous experience and told us we could go up to the intermediate lesson after a week.

After showering we went up to the 7/11 and bought snacks and Gatorades to rehydrate as I felt I had lost my body weight in sweat. The 7/11's here are very common and in James's words "are the s*** man". Very handy little stores and the air con is awesome, might be my new hang out on hot days whilst reading some Asian magazine and eating some mystery meat that they have turning behind the counter. Not nice, I've tried and my body denied! That's all I will say about that matter. Mystery meat is every where here. On the back of a home made BBQ on a motorbike, on a stall at the side of a road. Even in shops like 7/11. Mystery meat is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your gonna get!

The weekend had arrived and it was open mat day at the camp so I went for a roll around. Just started rolling with 1 chap and found out his instructor was the guy who gave Eddie Bravo (not the cartoon character) his black belt. That was very cool to know. Eddie Bravo has gone on to do huge things in the jui jitsu world and is noticed as one of the best instructors around in America. After my roll around we hopped on the bad boy machine and headed to a beach. We headed for Kata beach. It was gorgeous and the sand was perfect and the sea was so clear. We caught some waves and admired the view. James caught some rays and I hid in the trees like a vampire, often popping out for 1 minute at a time to try and turn my soft virgins skin into more durable sun agreeing skin. We walked around and Jim grabbed him self a banana pancake covered in nutella. Very nice indeed. Surrounded by mystery meat carts we decided not to eat and head for home.

Returning to camp we where reminded by the most chilled guy in the world, Will, that we where the ash cloud survivors. I've been called worse I know that much. As we where sore a bit from the training we decided to try a local Thai massage. As it was only £6 for an hour we thought why not. So me and James are led into a room and asked to lay on beds next to each other (a safe distance apart) and 2 Thai ladies came in and did there thing. At one point whilst led there in the silent along came this huge crack and pop followed by laughter from the Thai ladies. It was james's knee. We went on for an hour being rubbed, stretched and popped and as we got up Jim decided to do his dizzy dance as he found his feet.

Sunday morning we where treated to a free live viewing of the mayweather fight. All the big boxing ppv's are on free tv over here so we thought we would watch that. We then got sun lotioned right up and headed out for the day. Our first stop was the Wat Chalong Temple. It was an amazing place and you can really tell they are big on the Buddhism here. We got a coconut cut for us and drank the milk as we chilled whilst listening to the sound of fire crackers. We got to walk around the main temple and right up to the top. Was an amazing view and looking up to the Big Buddha up on the mountain. We went to walk on the marble floor on top of the temple but it was so hot that you had to run across it. I bet the monks looked at us and thought "stupid tourists" but then forgave us and said sorry to Buddha for even thinking that. The pictures will show how beautiful the temples where. We hopped back on the love machine and headed for Big Buddha. It's the largest statue of Buddha in Thailand at 45 metres high. It's an amazing sight and what a view he has got up there. Overlooking all the islands and the rest of Phuket. Buddha has got it easy up there I tell you. We went into the building where the monks pray and bless people and James and I thought it would be good if we got blessed too, and for our efforts we got a nice wrist band. Thanks Mr Monk Man, your a cool dude. So again we hop on the blue beast and head back down the mountain and stopped off for some Thai grub at viewpoint, again with amazing views of the beach and jungle land. As we get further down the bottom of the mountain we see a group of elephants, so naturally we stop and do the tourist thing. We got to feed 1 lucky fella a whole load of banana's. At one point he raised his trunk and opened his mouth and waited till you put the banana on his tongue. At one point I thought he was gonna spark James out with his snout. He even said thank you after, but I got a feeling he was speaking in Thai as I didn't understand him very well. Was the first time I have touched an elephant so I was very happy. We finished the evening off by going to watch Iron Man 2 at the cinema, also only £2.40. The odd thing was before the film starts you have to stand and pay respect to there king and watch a short video of him. Very different indeed.

So Monday arrived, bodies still sore and blisters still fresh, we decided to hit the gym and go and see the man they call "Thai Hulk". He came 3rd in Mr Thailand a few months back. We did what he told us to do including this one thing that either me nore James could do. He said 4 sets of 15 and no joke, it was hard enough doing 1! He sat there just smiling at us whilst we gave it our all and gave excuses about how hard it was, but he did not give a damn, he just smiled at us and kept saying "4 sets...15.....don't stop" then smiling again. We battled on like the troopers we are and he was happy. We asked what to move onto next and he said until we pass that, then we can't do no more, just go cycle for 20 mins. So we did without argument. After this I thought it would be nice to go get some morning sun in the pool. This is also where my typical British stuburness comes into play. For some reason my brain tells me I'm stronger than the sun, my body soon tells me different as I'm now burnt very well. James will tell you how bad it is. Not cool. Stu's body 0-1 Sun. I gritted my teeth and we hit the western boxing session in the evening. I hated wearing a tshirt so bad. Was a great lesson though. Again it lasts 2.5 hours and you sweat a lot. The head trainer had fought manny pacio (spelling is wrong) a few years ago when they where both younger. Also the 2 other coaches where ex boxing champions. Again cool down was running for 10 mins followed by 300 situps and 100 press ups. Straight after I needed food so we headed up to a place right opposite Tony's place and as soon we pulled in Tony saw us and I waved. Straight away I felt like a traitor and didn't want to start a gang war amongst business's. It's ok though as Tony has forgiven us already. Soon as I got home I put loads of aftersun on and sat under the fan like some little hermit.

Well sorry I have rammbled on this time, you wouldn't believe the problems I've had writting this one, over 3 hours and typing it twice in some places. But I hope you have enjoyed it non the less. Hope your all well and ok back home. Stu