Nov 10, 19:00, Phuket Town

Hi friends! Dan and I just arrived in Phuket Town this afternoon. We were hanging out in Kamala Beach the last few days. As planned, Kelly and her dad, Tim, picked us and Keith up from the bus station in Phuket Town and we headed to Kamala Beach (an hour away). Kelly's family was staying in this AMAZING condo resorts called THE PLANTATION there. Keith, Dan and I found a guesthouse about 5 minutes away. Of course Dan and I got our own room, for $10 Canadian/night.

The first night, Tim and Kelly took us to Patong Beach (1/2 hour away from Kamala) and there, we experienced the interesting nightlife. There's lots of shopping and entertainment (reminded me a lot like Vegas or Porto Vallarta). Lots of pushy vendors getting in your face and trying to get you to either buy things or go see "go go" shows. They seem to harass the male tourists more than females. Imagine a strip of bars along the street and tables filled with people in the middle of the street, so that bars are on both sides. Very busy!

We ended up going to this popular and famous bar that featured "beautiful" lady-boys. I can't remember the Thai term for them right now. But I couldn't believe that some of these "ladies" were actually boys!!! They had SUPER feminine features (well most of them did) and they were skinny as hell. Holy crap! But some of them looked like they were made of plastic. One "girl" actually had a Barbie doll figure - her hips were so oddly far apart and low on her body. Ew. These lady-boys would all dance on a table, flashing T&A, while everyone watched them. People paid to get pictures with them and usually, people were there to take one home for the night (of course for a price!) It certainly is a different lifestyle.

The next day, Kelly and I went to Central Mall to go shopping. I found awesome shoes for $6 Canadian!!! Kelly knows where all the gems are!

On the 3rd day, Kelly's family took us on a day trip to go to various islands by speedboat. The first island we visited was where the movie, THE BEACH, was filmed. OMG, Maya Island was amazingly unreal. The water was so perfect, so blue, so clear, you could see the bottom, even though it was was well over 18m deep. We went snorkeling and saw so many amazing and beautiful things. We stopped at Ko Phi Phi Island, where the tsunami hit it hard. It use to be a skanty town, but now is used as a tourist site. We had a thai buffet luncheon there. MMMM!!

At night we did more shopping, and I found shoes for $6. This morning, Dan and I woke up and went for a nice run around Kamala Beach. We met up with Kelly and her family for breakfast at this restaurant called Rockfish for a 99baht ($3) breakfast. The service was terrible that day (not usually is it like that)- but we waited over an hour for our food. Kelly's brother, Tory, blamed it on the fact that the manager, who looks like a Hong Kong princess, wasn't working and so the place wasn't "efficient".

Shortly after, we split our separate ways (Kelly has to go home soon), and Keith, Dan and I took a bus to Phuket Town. It's ok here, I don't think it's my favorite place. We found a room for $200 baht ($8) a night, and it's the sketchiest looking place ever. It looks like a good setting for drug deals to take place - the floor is cement - dirty and old...and the only thing that's decent is the clean white bedsheets and pillows. Eek. We are only staying here for one night and then Dan and I are going on our own to Krabi Island, where there are alot of adventures to be had- scuba diving, rock climbing, hiking...can't wait!!!