Phuket

I arrived in Phuket two days ago and I am only slightly in love with the beach! Pat and I got into town a little after noon on the 11th and caught a cab down to Kata Beach, where we had booked a hostel. Ends up, the hostel is very elusive and no one was able to tell us where it is--they kept saying that the road it is on didn't exist. After what seemed like an eternity we decided to cut our losses; we were so hot and sweaty and hungry and tired that we just checked into a resort two beaches up from Kata: Patong. This is the fun part of town, anyway, although it is overrun by tourists. But then again, what part of Phuket isn't?!
So for the last two nights we've been living in the lap of luxury. We went out on our first night to the main strip of bars and clubs and encountered everything from an Irish Pub to massive clubs to dive bars. Oh, and you are bombarded while walking down the street by all kinds of people. Some are the infamous Thai lady-boys who take photos with you and then ask for a tip, some are just trying to get you to come into their bar, some ask you to come into their club for a "ping pong show" (which, if you know what it is, is pretty revolting!), and twice I came across people who would put massive iguanas on your arm or your head or whatever part of your body was within reach. We hopped around for a while until settling on a bar in the very back of this "soi" (small side street) which was made up entirely of very small bars with very bright lights. We ended up hanging out with a group of 11 Aussie guys from Brisbane! It made me so incredibly homesick for Brissy, but I had a total blast.
Yesterday Pat was hurting pretty badly. We grabbed lunch at a place which is literally on the beach. Pretty great spot, with really good food. We basically laid on the beach all day. Oh, and we hired jet skis for a bit which was heaps of fun, except that my elbow got pretty bruised and battered by the waterproof camera which was hanging off of my wrist! But I was able to get a little bit of colour, and I got my beach fix! We went to dinner at an amazing seafood restaurant in town which had proudly displayed at the front a whole group of fresh seafood... including a shark! It was so weird to be able to touch a real baby great white shark... it was obviously no longer alive, but had clearly been caught that day, as it was still bleeding.
Today I was meant to take a tour of Ko Phi Phi, where the movie "The Beach" was filmed but I got to the dock and felt so terrible that I decided to postpone the tour until tomorrow. I could have gone through with it today but I knew that I would enjoy it much more if I were to go tomorrow instead. So I came back and slept instead. I'm a little bummed that I wasted a day, but I feel heaps better now, so I reckon I made the right move. And tomorrow's tour will be so much fun! Clouds are starting to settle in, though, so I'm hoping that the weather will hold up and stay nice through tomorrow afternoon!
I'm not entirely sure where I'll be headed off to next. I may go to Ko Samui on the east coast of Thailand's peninsula where I'll be meeting up with a friend who went to Langley, or I'll be headed to Cambodia to meet up with a friend who went to AU with me for a bit. I'm really liking the flexibility of this trip--I've never travelled without a set plan like this, but I definately intend on doing it more often now!
Update: So after typing up this post, Pat and I went to a rediculously tacky tourist attraction/show; something that came straight out of Disneyland. But, of course, we loved it... music, dancing, outrageous costumes. We laughed it up the whole time... there was also a creepy circus bit but, being that it was creepy, we didn't laugh at that part. Anyway, so when we were walking to our seats from the front gate we had to pass by all these people in costumes who you could pay to take a photo with. I didn't want that one bit, especially because some of them were dressed up as really, honestly terrifying monsters (I walked by one young kid who was screaming like a banchee!). So I just walked on through. Then I passed by some baby elephants but since I had gotten a photo on an elephant ride earlier in the week I bypassed those too. THEN I came across what may possibly be the most exciting thing I've seen so far: a photo op with a baby tiger. Needless to say, for all of you who know me real well, that was like a dream come true. So, obvi, we stopped to grab a photo with it (*see below*). I don't think I've ever been so elated to have my photo taken...... Highlight of my LIFE, right there.