In Perpignan in Southern France today. Feels like I'm permanently on holiday! The weather is great which is very unlike the UK at the moment.

I'm now in Bangkok airport waiting for my flight back to London. I should be boarding in just over an hour.

My trip to Thailand has been an excellent experience this trip. I've met so many travelers who are doing amazing trips around the world. Thailand is more expensive than it used to be. I do sometimes get the feeling that the people think of foreigners as walking ATMs. And there are many who try to rip you off. For example, a Taxi from the hotel to a night market in Bangkok cost 350 Baht (£5). When I got a taxi back, I asked another taxi driver "How much?", he said 100 Baht (£1.42).

Phuket

Phuket was much busier than I expected! It is currently off peak season but you would never believe it! There are so many people of all around the world, mostly made up of "holiday makers". Phuket was fun but staying any longer than I did would have become boring. I stayed for 2 nights and then 1 night at the end for my trip to Bangkok. Using Phuket as a spring board is a good idea because of the easy access to the airport. I would have liked to have gone to the Similan islands, but those trips are not running until November.

Phuket is a great place if you like thousands of bars and a load of drunk people. For me, I can do this at home, I'm looking for a more rewarding experience than that. So going to Phi Phi as soon as possible was a good idea. But Phuket does have a few attractions that are worth considering. There are some island trips that are okay. I went to the Khai islands (which are nearby) and that was quite good. Although I don't think it will be a good idea in peak season. Then the Similan islands are worth going to, but because they are quite far away, its best to consider a "live aboard" trip (and this can be done from Phi Phi also). Some friends that I met, Layla recommends the elephant trekking in Pang Na (http://www.elephant-hills.com/). Other Phi Phi and Krabi are both accessible from Phuket.

From a personal security perspective, you feel quite safe in Phuket which means its easy to explore the surroundings.

Phi Phi

I am missing Phi Phi. Although many things have changed, there is something about the island I like. It is a little more commercialized unfortunately, but it is still a nice place. Again, I was surprised how many people were on the island and I just wonder what the island will be like in peak season. Based on the building work being done, I think Phi Phi is gearing up for busy peak season periods. I hope that the island keeps some of its special appeal, but if Phuket is anything to go by, this may change drastically future.

Phi Phi is more expensive to make your own trips and travel around the surrounding islands, but if your budget stretches far enough, it is worth doing. There are many diving places which Phi Phi has always had. I spoke with the general manager of the PP Princess Diving Center and he told me that compared to places like Egypt, the diving in Phi Phi is in shallower water which means that divers can be under for longer (about an hour) and that the colors under water are much better and that Phi Phi has 3 times as many species as the eastern Thailand coast. He further said that the Similan islands are very different depending on where you dive. It is a flushing haven for a lot of sea life. I can confirm that the snorkeling is still the best I've had.

Going to Phi Phi Ley is also a must and if possible, Bamboo island as well. There are not too many bars in Phi Phi, but they are good. I will go back to Phi Phi at sometime point, probably when the Loh Dulam bay has been restored.

From a personal security perspective, you feel very safe in Phi Phi but obviously use sensible precautions as you would do anywhere.

Bangkok

This is like any other big city! Staying in Bangkok only serves to use it as a spring board to other places. I don't think that there's that much to see. I went to Kanchanaburi which was a great decision! There are some other places that might be worth it, for example, I found a small island Koh Talu which is about 2 hours drive south of Bangkok that might be worth going to? Maybe on another trip. My advice, plan where you want to go in the surrounding areas of Bangkok and limit your time in the city. When making to visit places outside of Bangkok, use a "hire driver" which are cheaper and you direct them where you want to go. Hotels have lists of them and they will organise one for you.

You generally don't feel very safe in Bangkok, although safe enough to feel comfortable in organizing where you want to go. Check with the hotel about approximate prices and how long the journey may take. Helps you keep a perspective on things when using taxi drivers etc...

There are not as many Tuk Tuk's as there used be and they are mostly replaced with cars. The traffic is very busy which adds to the journey time.

Video of me at the Bridge over the River Kwae:

Video of me at the Tiger Temple:

Phi Phi destruction Part 1:

Phi Phi destruction Part 2:

Phi Phi Ley snorkeling:

Phi Phi View Point (lower):

Arrived in Bangkok yesterday and to be honest, I don't see that there is that much to do here. But I did take some advice from some friends and hired a driver for the day to take me to Kanchanaburi. Its a town about 2 hours drive northwest of Bangkok.

The first stop was to a war memorial in the town. I'm not usually one for going to these sorts of places, but I'm glad I did. It was a very moving moment to realize the sacrifice others have made. I think more people should go to these memorial sites to see the people's names who served to make peace amongst the world. Here are a couple of the grave stones:

The next stop was the Bridge over the river Kwae. This was an educational experience for me as I did not really understand what happened here. I've got some reading to do before I can really comment on it, and I'm sure when I understand, I'll appreciate what I've seen. Basically, the Japanese forced prisoners of war to build railways so the Japanese army could move military equipment faster and easier, but the cost was that thousands of people died doing so...

The next stop (also recommended by friends) was the Tiger Temple. This was quite an experience as these creatures are beautiful!!! Their paws are so big! You can touch them, walk with them and get a photo! The cubs were extremely playful!!

Today is when I go back to Phuket. I could have done with another day or two in Phi Phi and I must admit, that I do feel like I'm on a good break and I'm quite chilled out! After having problems publishing blog entries yesterday, I managed to get that out of the way and go to View Point. When I was here in 2004, there was just one view point, now there is a lower one and the upper one. It is quite a trek, but I decided to go to the lower one because of time limitations.

Here are the stairs that greet you before you climb:

As you start to climb, you see this view:

When you get to the lower view point, you see the following views:

And going back down I took this:

Here's me having a quick massage before leaving the island:

On the boat at the marina waiting to leave:

On our way out of Tonsai bay:

Some more photos of the redevelopment:

 I'm now in Phuket and will take things easy tonight as I have to be up at 6am tomorrow...

Today I took a good wonder around the island of Phi Phi Don and the tsunami did cause a lot of damage. The Charlie Beach Resort where we would have stayed in December 2004 was completely destroyed. When standing on one beach (Tonsai), you can see right across the land to the other beach (Lon Dalum). I haven't got all my photos from 2004, but here are a few examples:

Before an Tonsai village. Notice the trees etc...

After at almost the same location. No resorts down this stretch. There are some huts in the distance which are now used for workers on the rebuilding effort. There is also a sand barrier which is shown in the bottom right corner of the photo.

Before at Lon Dalum bay was our favourite bar.

After this bar has been rebuilt and amazingly almost looks identical:

And me having a beer for old times sake:

Before on the tonsai beach:

After at the same location:

Before at PP Pavilion:

After tsunami (although some rebuilding is happening):

Before at the Cabana hotel was the "Yes Sir" bar:

After its just crap:

Here are some photos of the mess that some parts are in:

Notice the tree tops are cut off...

 And some other nicer photos:

Yesterday I took a good walk around the island, started with Loh Dalum bay and to be honest, it is a mess! Nearly all the hotels along that side of the island don't exist anymore. There is nothing apart from building equipment and empty space. Such a shame! In general, there is a lot of vegetation that has gone. There appears to be little attempt to regrow trees and shrubs. The island kinda looks empty without them. A lot of the island's beauty is lost because of this. I moved across to Tonsai bay and walk ways have a familiarity to them, but a lot has changed (as expected I guess).

When I wondered up to where the there was a big resort (Tonsai village I seem to remember), it has completely gone. Not even a resemblance that anything existed there previously. I was very surprised about this as I thought it was untouched and that Loh Dalum bay was the most badly effected. I headed back through the main part of the island and nearly everything is new.

What was nice about Phi Phi is that many locals lived there before tourism hit the island. Back in 2004, Phi Phi was an island frequented by travelers mainly and the combination of both local people and travelers was fantastic! Travelers like new experiences and adventure and being with the local people was a part of that. Now, the only local people are those that work on the island. Gone are the characteristic local homes and are replaced with new concrete buildings.

The ambience of the island has changed a lot also. While I've been traveling alone, you are not really alone because you meet so many interesting people. I've noticed that travelers can spot each other a mile off! With the new Phi Phi brings holiday makers from Phuket (mainly) and its starting to get big business. Gone are the very cheap back packer places which is pricing out the island for many travelers. Holiday makers usually come in groups and are not particularly interested in meeting other people and sharing news of places to visit and their experiences. There are still a few travelers coming to the island, but I think the future is grim for this kind of audience.

The travelers I've spoken to and immediately got along with are:

Dave - a great guy who can't wait for the experience of learning Thai Boxing for 6 weeks with the professionals.

Layla and Alan - a great newly wed couple who I think will do a lot of traveling in time. Although Thailand is their first real experience abroad, they're doing a good trip covering elephant riding in Pang Na and moving on to Krabi before going home.

Australian Navy folk - a good bunch and when they're allowed off ship, they try and do as much as possible.

3 Irish lads - They've been traveling for 6 weeks and have 2 weeks left. From Phi Phi, they are going to Krabi and then 5 hours across the country to the other side to get on another boat to Ko Samui and then on to Ko Pang Nang.

Sarah - an American girl I met at a beach bar in Loh Dalum bay who is teaching in China for a year and is doing as much traveling as she can. Its a Chinese holiday this week, so she was able to come out.

Clare and her boyfriend - met them at Carlitoes and they've been traveling to Thailand since the tsunami.

DJ at Jordan's Irish Bar - A very good Thai DJ and spent from 2am to 4am last night chatting about everything. A very nice man.

Big Thai Boxing champ - I can't remember his name (because I was tried and drunk), but he travels around the world participating in world class martial arts fights. From a single Thai Boxing fight, he earns around $7,000 US.

Tom and his girl friend from Hertfordshire - They've been traveling for a month in Thailand and their most memorable experience so far was staying with a local family near Chang Mai in Northern Thailand. Communication with the Thai family was hard sometimes, but they by with gestures to communicate with each other.

Edward - A great chap! He's in his final year of studying Law in London and he's just arrived from Vietnam where he was for a month. He highly recommends Vietnam. His opinion of Phi Phi (and in general Thailand) was very similar to mine and he said that he would not be coming back anytime soon.

So today, I woke up with a hang over and made it to my snorkeling trip. I decided to try the PP Sunset trip which is a big boat and with loads of people on board. Not my thing. I'd rather get my own boat and go where ever I want and create my own plan. I'm not really into paying money for somebody else's plan. But, hiring your boat in Phi Phi is now much too expensive. The trip was very much Simon Says. But it was nice and the snorkeling in Phi Phi is still the best I've experienced. Unfortunately, I took my snap-snap camera but forgot the memory card. So I only had my video camera to take still photos which are not great in terms of quality. Some pics below:

 And this pic was a funny chap working at the Apache Bar: 

Getting to Phi Phi was not easy for some! It all started when I forgot my bag at the hotel after the mini bus came to pick me up! Fortunately, the driver understood after I used sign language and we went back to get my bag... whew! The Mini Bus trip took about 40 minutes to get to the marina. During that time I chatted to a friendly lady who was Chinese but was brought up in Canada and now lives in China. She had traveled all over the world including South Africa.

At the marina, I get myself onto the boat (a fairly large boat) and to my amazement, I meet up with the 3 Irish lads whom I met in Phuket and are traveling everywhere. From Phi Phi they are going to Krabi and then a 5 hour journey across land and then by boat to Ko Samui. Here's us on the front of the boat:

After we set sail, it started to rain and soon after that, the sea started to get quite choppy, so we went inside in the boat. The journey was going to take 2 hours because of the rough seas and after an hour, people were running to the toilets and the back of the boat, vomiting from the sea sickness. Here's a video I uploaded showing the seas and the guy with his head bopping up and down is throwing up overboard!

Although you might not be able to see it in the photos, the sea swells were about 8-12 feet:

Shortly after the the above video and photo was taken, some people started to put on life jackets (which I thought was quite funny because the situation wasn't that bad). But me.... I was fine man! I was not sea sick and certainly not scared like some. Hard as rocks me! ;-)

As we got closer to Phi Phi, we could see some of the island:

Unfortunately, my snap-snap camera is a casualty and has some moisture inside the lens. I hope it clears up soon otherwise I might need to buy another camera. My video camera is fine.

I haven't yet seen much of Phi Phi, but so far, I'm amazed at how much I recognise and how much has not changed. In fact, I'm amazed at the volume of people on the island! I did wonder if the island would be quite, but the fact is, its the exact opposite. Although its still early times, but it appears that the type of people that come here now are "Holiday makers" as opposed to "Travelers" and it seems to put a different vibe on the whole island. For the worse unfortunately. I see how things go over the next couple of days.

At the moment, its a nice day and its not raining yet.

Finally, some video off my video camera:

Finally some time to write... some general impressions so far is that Phuket is definitely not for me! If you like everything handed to you on a plate, be told what to do in a "Simon Says" fashion and have access to 10,000 bars in one street, then Phuket is for you... But me... I don't want to be told what I should do down to the minute. The tours are a little like that and in some way, are similar to tours I've done in the past (with a package holiday to Malta) where everything is scripted (pretty much) and there's no adventure left in the experience.

In Phuket, I've been staying at the same hotel I did back in 2004 and I was sure I recognised the receptionist. So I asked if she was working at the hotel back in 2004, she told me that she remembered me and where was my friend, Nick (who had been with me back then)! I was amazed at her memory, and especially remembering us by name. Nick and I were only at the hotel for 2 nights.

The other thing that makes me laugh is the names that businesses have... Like "Friendship Leather", "FBI Bar" or "PP Funny Tours". There are so many funny names that I can't think of then all right now. But it brings a smile to my face every time I see a new name (at just about every street or corner).

So, what did I do yesterday... well, it was a good day! I decided the day before to do a trip around some other islands close by to Phuket. Unknowingly, the islands I picked were islands I took photos of from the air in March 2004. Below is a photo of Khai Nok I took back then:

 The day had started off by waking up at around 10:30am (only because I organised a wake up call) and getting ready for the van to pick me up with my snorkeling gear. Off we go and we get to the tour center some 40 minutes drive away. I introduced myself to everyone else and I get a good feeling that this is going to be a good day!!! There was a nice newly wed couple from York, England and 3 guys and 1 girl who were in the Australian Navy. We all jumped in to another vehicle and we get to the speed boat. Across the beach and on to the boat we go... The sea is a little choppy and the weather is not that great, very overcast. Once we arrive at Khai Nok, we jump out and east some fruit and some previously prepared meals. Our little group is great and we all get along. The Australian Navy folk were quite funny and one of the guys was dead keen on catching a shark (joking of course). The idea originated from the film, The Beach.

When on the speedboat, one of the Navy folks explained to me how captain was controlling the boat, something I never would have thought to ask. There were 2 x 115Hp engines, the captain keeps one going at a steady speed for forward movement and the other engine is rev'd up and down and is used to control direction of the boat.

Here's a photo of me and the Navy folks (who were on HMS Adelaide):

Here are some photos of Khai Nok:

Here's a photo of the newly wed couple:

When we first got to Khai Nok, it was pretty much just our group (and a few others) and it was quite nice. But about an 30 minutes later, the beach looked like this with the whole big group that had just arrived (doing "Simon Says"):

One really cool thing on Khai Nok was the Pena Colada. Quite frankly, it was the best I've had in a long time! Served in a freshly opened Coconut as pictured below:

I got into the sea in Khai Nui for some snorkeling and saw some fish!!! The snorkeling was okay, not brilliant, but still very worth while.

When we got back from our trip, I decided that a day's full of activities meant another foot massage, so back off to the same place for another excellent massage. The one thing I've learnt is that a foot massage sends me off to sleep in about 2 seconds flat! After that was over, I decided that all that hard swimming meant I needed of good back rub and had a proper Thai Massage with my limbs being pulled apart, stretched and bent (in very unusual ways).

Now its time for food and then I decide to go to see some real Thai Boxing at the boxing staduim (recommended by Dave). I had heard that Thai Boxing is pretty much a full contact sport before, but this was something else. There was an Australian guy who really looked the part, take out this Thai guy in about 30 seconds flat! The poor Thai chap was knocked out cold and need some of that sensing smell stuff to wake him and he could hardly walk afterwards. Much more full contact than I expected. Some pics below:

Finally came back to the hotel and had a very good night's sleep and here's a photo of me trying to update my blog this morning (at the hotel):

I'm now in Phi Phi (came a day earlier) and there's more to write about the trip here, so I'll do that tomorrow morning. But so far, I feel completely at home here in Phi Phi...