Oh Phuket, let's go away for the weekend

Well, I hear you wonder, what about all those amusing anecdotes from Phuket?

Wonder no longer, here's the whole weekend in snippets.

We met Grant and his two mates John and Darren in the resort. They all happen to be working in Bangkok at present so we took the opportunity for some schmoozing. You never know when you'll need another job..

Lyn telling dirty jokes to John, Grant and Darren.

Actually we'd done no planning at all for the weekend, and arrived at Bangkok airport with no flights reserved and no hotel booked. We'd been assured this was a good idea, and sure enough we were able to get on the next flight without bribing anyone.

Having secured our flight, I called ahead to book the hotel. My choice was 13000 baht for deluxe room or 8000 for a superior room. No prizes for guessing what we went for. However, when we arrived at the Hotel we'd been upgraded anyway, so on this occasion being a tightarse worked out quite well.

The Amari Coral Beach Resort was our choice, and will be again if we go back. It's really good, and the pictures I took don't do it justice at all. Two pools, choice of restaurants on site, cocktail bars dotted around, lovely clean rooms, next to the beach, the list goes on. I can't really think of anything I disliked about the place, and as Lyn will agree that's rare for an old curmudgoen like me.

View From Reception

We arrived at about 10.30 pm, but managed a few snifters with our new mates in the bar before bedtime. We were squiffy enough to attempt a night swim at the beach but that turned out to be a mistake as the beach is quite rocky. Nice idea though.

Next morning we headed for the pool for some serious rest and relaxation. However the sound of a powerful engine turned all heads, and we looked out to see a lovely wet-bike zipping along the shoreline. As soon as the rider saw us, he made a beeline for our position, informing us that he hired the bike out at reasonable rates, and his mates would do the same. We hired three bikes and headed out for some fun on the high seas. Unfotunately the seas turned out to be too high for Lyn, as after ten mnutes she was turning green. The waves were getting on for two metres tall, which is not great on a wet-bike. If you build up any real speed you tend to take flight off the crests and land heavily in the troughs, risking trouser-related disaster at every turn. Therefore we were reduced to gently climbing and falling, which started to make even me feel sick. Lyn was duly dropped off at the beach and I rejoined John and Darren for twenty minutes of barely-in-control, forearm-pumping fun.

Grant had already decided to stay by the pool, despite the bike guy shouting "What abut man in Led shorts?" when we were arranging the bikes. Much hilarity ensued.

"Man in Led shorts" in full flight.

The guy's a human dynamo.

Lyn slept off her seasickness in the room, reappearing two hours later, a little shaky and disappointed she hadn't been able to enjoy the wet bike fully. I think she's a bit of a speed freak at heart but the sickness thing ruins it for her.

We spent the rest of the day enjoying the thoroughly decent pool facilities, swimming a little whenever the sun got too hot. The weather for the whole weekend was excellent, which is a bonus in wet season.

It was during one of my swimming escapades that I discovered a small bonus of my oft-mentioned negative buoyancy - I can actually walk along the floor of the pool almost asif I am on land. Great fun until you need to breathe.

Crap Picture of the Pool by Night

That evening we all went to one of the hotel restaurants. I had a lovely steak with a glass of red wine - a rare treat for a guy who lives with a veggy. It was scrumptious.

There was much discussion about what to do on Sunday, including the possibility of a boat trip and some snorkeling, but in the end we all decided staying in the resort was perfectly acceptable. Thailand is a cheap place to learn to scuba dive but personally I'd have a hard time giving up a whole holiday to it. Maybe next year.

So Sunday passed in blissful peace and quiet by the pool, and before we knew it we were packing and heading home.

We even had time for a couple in the cocktail bar while we waited for our taxi back to the airport. Sunset was lovely, and the pictures I took are a pale shadow of the real thing.

As I said, we'll definitely return to Phuket, and probably to the Amari Coral. The town looked a little busy but I'd like to hire mopeds and ride around for a bit.

All in all an excellent weekend was had.

Coming soon - our trip to Soi Cowboy, one of the more seedy corners of Bangkok.