We headed down to Phuket and stayed in a hostel which was more like a hotel - huge rooms with air conditioning, a balcony, towels, etc but following an encounter with a particularly hardened traveller, who would undoubtably have been played by Steven Seagal in a film of his life, we were beginning to feel like we weren’t slumming it enough so we promised ourselves that the next one wouldn’t be as nice. The hostel is 2 minutes away from Karon Beach which is long, white and quiet, with big green waves; being by the sea was really welcome after so much time in hot dusty cities. It finally felt like proper Thailand.

The nightlife was laid back and we spent a couple of evenings playing pool with prostitutes and pretending we were pilling. We were more interested in Koh Phi Phi which was a short ferry ride away and to get near the ferry port we moved to Patong Beach for a night. Patong is a horrific collection of English pubs, McDonalds, loud bars and ladyboys - we got straight out of there on some rented mopeds and drove up the coast to a small town called Kalim (funny for those that know…) where locals barbeque meat and fresh seafood. I had a squid on a stick for 20p among other things which was the best food find so far. We carried on our little journey and ended up on a secluded beach called Kamala Beach. We immediately wished we had been a bit more adventurous in our search for accomodation. On the way home we stopped for more food in Kalim (beef soup, bbq banana, pancakes…) and had a romantic swim as the sun set. Who needs prostitutes anyway?