Saturday 11^th December

Today we had a very bumpy and wet trip to Phi Phi Don.

The plan was to drop off at a couple of very small islands on route to do a dive, but this plan was abandoned as the sea conditions were too rough.

We arrived late afternoon, avoiding most of the day tripper boats weaving fast through the anchorage, and took the dinghy ashore to have a wander around the island. The main street is a walkway running adjacent to the beach crowded with shops, restaurants and dive centres, very busy and bustling with a great atmosphere.

Our first Thai curry – delicious !

Sunday 12^th December

Another wet trip to Ao Chalong Bay in Phuket.

We arrived in the bay to see a mass of anchored yachts, day boats, motor boats and various moorings.

After motoring around to find a space we tried to anchor (twice) but we kept dragging so we picked up a mooring buoy and hoped that it didn’t belong to a huge ferry returning later in the day.

We checked in ashore, filling in numerous forms in very small print and paying a fee for Sunday overtime, and then we had a walk through the town.

How different from Malaysia, the road was lined with massage parlours and bars full of Thai girls waiting to entertain the Western tourists !

The local supermarket was crammed full of western delights including Branston Pickle, Colmans mustard, pastries and bread and every kind of lettuce that you could imagine !

We stocked up with some luxuries and bought a local sim card for the phone and then we stopped off for a Thai massage.

The massage was very good – but I had forgotten how painful a Thai massage can be, like a severe sports massage with every joint cracked and loosened.

In the evening we bumped into Hans and Monica who whisked us off in their hire car to Kata beach for a lovely Thai meal.