The Werners in Asia: Monday 23rd - Phi Phi back to Phulet and an almost teary goodbye

Michele, Sarah and Steve had their early morning coffee and doughnuts at our little place in the laneway at Phi Phi. James again slept until almost 10 (what is it with these teenagers!), but we all managed breakfast as soon as he rose. Most places in Asia have an 'egg man' who cooks your scrambled or fried eggs or an omelette. At Banyon, this was by the beach and very pleasant indeed.

We were due to catch the ferry back to Phuket at 2:30, so had time for a swim, a sit by the beach (James went Kayaking again and even Michele had a go), a bit of last minute shopping and packing our ever increasing loot into our suitcases. We walked our lot to the ferry at about 2:00 and were on board in no time. This ferry was a little more modern than the previous one, and the mob assembled on the bow for a couple of hours of sunbaking (except of course for Steve who found some shade in the cabin and tried to catch up on the blog, which was now almost a week behind). It takes about an hour to upload 10 photos or a 15 second video, so it continued to be a challenge!!

The weather was fine all the way back to Phuket and Steve's predictions of 5 future lobsters later turned out to be partly true.

Sarah & co were due to fly back to KL to complete an assignment due on the Wednesday at 9:30 , so went straight to Patong Beach on landing to catch up on supplies. Michele Steve and James had booked a two bedroom apartment at Karon Beach and were to check in and meet the S F & J in Patong at 6 PM for tea and goodbyes. Unfortunately, the van to Karon took an eternity and after reviewing our rather speccie apartment for 90 seconds and waiting for Michele to have a lightning shower, took at tuk tuk into Patong, arriving at about 6:20.

The 3 travellers had already ordered dinner, so Michele Steve & James joined them for a drink only, but 10 minutes later it was time for goodbyes. Michele held herself together reasonably well, but was silent for a couple of hours after, even though we knew we would see Sarah in 6 weeks time. We had hugs all round and a quick photo and they were gone.

We caught another tuk tuk back to Karon and wandered around the apartment in awe. This was more like Gold Coast accommodation than Thailand, but the place, despite being beautiful, was strangely silent (we could only see one other group of guests) We missed a swim, but headed into Karon township for a look and some dinner. Found a nice place, ordered dinner and the usual rounds and wandered through the local stalls. Karon is much smaller than Patong, more family oriented and no dancing girls. It also had significantly less shopping opportunities, so we were home by about 10:30, watched a movie and turned in. It seems Steve had a bit of a snoring problem, but he swears he didn't hear a thing - so it must be a myth.