We found a fantastic deal from Thompsons Tours for 10 nights, bed & breakfast, including flights from JHB to Phuket for R6900. That very same deal is still available from Computicket Travel for R7299pp.

10 nights, 10 mates, Baht, beer and beaches!

Phuket and the surrounding islands of Thailand are amazing. There is so much to do and see and it really does cater for everyone. From the couple of honeymoon who just want to chill and enjoy the sun and sand to the groups of friends who want to party!

I made notes every day on my iPhone  just to document the holiday. Makes for some good memories when I come back to read it! These daily notes might not make sense to all of you, but they do to all of us that where there!

Day 1:
Flying sucks! Hotel room not ready as we arrived early so dumped our bags and jumped in the pool! Hit the town once our rooms were ready and we had unpacked. After checking out the scenes in Patong, went back to hotel and took a nap. Went to Savoy for dinner which on the one side of the road has one menu and when we said we wanted a table, took us across to the road to sit on the beach and handed us a ‘tourists’ menu! Food was pretty good with Pieter hitting the Thai red curry hard. Walked around after dinner and headed home to get some sleep to cure the dreaded jetlag.

Day 2:
Woke up late and booked an island hopping tour. Hit the beach for a while and got a little burnt. Saw whales having sex in the sea. (To clarify that, whales = 2 ugly tourists!) Back to hotel to shower and clean up. Hit town for supper at a Greek inspired Thai restaurant.  Way better food than Savoy! Went down to Bang la road and hit the main area where all the lady boys hang out. It’s unbelievable how gorgeous some of the lady boys are. Messes with your head. 20 years of experience with girls working against you! Got to bed by 1am.

On a sidenote, the prepaid simcard here charges per minute for data, so with an iPhone I’ve been royally screwed.

Day 3:
Woke up early to catch our ride to do some island hopping! Roughy 35 of us on a big speedboat. Saw bamboo island first. Some amazing snorkeling! Then to Phi Phi island. Stopped off for buffet lunch then went to see Monkey island, swam at Maya bay and off to the last island which is where we all drank piña coladas and watched the Chinese tourists make the most ridiculous camera poses. One of the coves we stopped to take pics of is where they collect swallow nests made out of their saliva. The saliva nests are sold to the Chinese to make soup and is worth R200 000 p/kg.

You get really tired being out in the sun the whole day! Seeing the islands and rock structures was amazing. Also the different colours of the water! Greens, blues and shades of turquoise.

Walked down to town that evening and met this crazy Aussie chick! Ate dinner at a really cheap and local Thai restaurant called No.9 which played Queen on repeat! Walked home instead of taking a Tuk Tuk and got to sleep at about 1am.

Day 4:
Hired scooters for the day and I managed to crash mine into a car within 15 meters! Damages are going to be around 14000 Baht. :( I got away with some minor scratches and a sore neck. The lady’s car I hit was very nice about the whole incident. After that, I quickly got the hang of the scooter and we headed down the coast. Hiring scooters is probably the best way to explore Phuket! Got back to resort around 5pm. Caught a swim and then had sundowners and supper down the road. Sat at the pool bar, drank and played board games until one by one everyone headed to bed.

Day 5:
Gerhard’s birthday!
Took the scooters for a cruise past Patong beach to see some of the other beaches. I lost the group coming back as they headed off to the big Buddha. (I had no idea where they were heading after I lost them, so didn’t have a clue which direction to head to catch up) Went shopping, drowned my sorrows for losing the group by chowing Burger King and had a nap at the hotel until everyone was back. We had our free dinner at the hotel and then hit the Irish pub in Patong to watch the delayed SA vs NZ game as well as the Chelsea game. Met a bunch of British okes that are massive Southampton supporters. Hit Bang la road for drinks and to party. We had to leave at 4am as the bars started closing. So we headed to Burger King for “breakfast” and as we about to leave, we find Danie passed out in the back of BK! Had to carry him and throw him into the back of a tuk tuk and then with the help of security at the hotel, carry him to his room. Eventually got to bed around 6am. Slept till lunch.

Day 6:
With everyone nursing hangovers, chilled at the pool. Francois and I went for a roadtrip that afternoon on our scooters down the South Coast to check out more beaches and whatever else we could find. Visited the southern tip of Phuket and saw some amazing views. Went further round the coast and at some random pier met Werner who had earlier in the day gone out on his own island scooter trip! Can’t believe how we met in a random part of Phuket at some random little pier. Awesome.

I was designated restuarant finder for the night and found the most local place we had eaten at so far of the trip. Half the menu didn’t make sense! “Pork with crap” on the menu! On the way back into town, got pulled over by the cops. Flashed them my SA drivers licence and they were fine with it. :) Other tourists and Pieter earlier on in the day without any form of a licence weren’t so lucky. 300 Baht fine which you have to take alternative transport (Tuk Tuk) to police station to pay before they let you drive your scooter again. More a money making scheme than anything else!

Did a little shopping at the markets before heading back to Irish pub to watch United take on Fulham. Met the English okes again! Really dig chatting to them. Eventually convinced them to hire scooters and explore the place. All they do is have a piss up each day. Haha!

Chowed a spicy McChicken burger and cheesy fries at 1am before heading back to the hotel to bed. Guilt trip of note when I woke up the next morning from that late night meal!

Day 7:
Big plans to hit the South coast at 9am for a massive beach day, but the weather was really horrible. Torrential downpours for most of the morning. So handed back our scooters and booked an open-ended ticket to Phi Phi island with the plan of staying over the night.

Ferry to Phi Phi took 90 minutes! We struggled to find accommodation that everyone was happy with, so 6 of us stayed at a bungalow resort, while the rest stayed in dormitory style rooms. Had dinner at some random restaurant and across the road (walkway really) drank the infamous Thai buckets at an Irish pub! Thai buckets are like jam jars we get at home, but way more potent! They come in plastic buckets that kids usually play with on the beach and everyone carries them from bar to bar. 2 of those and you well on your way. We then headed to the beach bars, Slinky and Apache beach bar (biggest party bars with pretty decent house DJ’s) where we partied till 1am. The music stops at 1am, so we headed to one of the numerous other beach bars where you can lie on the beach and chill out. Amazing end to one tiring yet fun day. Took some amazing long exposure shots at 4am from my balcony overlooking the island.

Day 8:
Woke up and Walda and had a buffet breakfast at another hotel (for 180 baht, cheap cheap!) and then went to lie in the sun on the same beach where we had partied the night before. Francois and I took a kayak and snorkel gear and headed to Monkey island. Did a spot of snorkeling and tried our hand at some serious sea/river rafting in between the mountains and rocks. Headed back to the beach, ate the most amazing chicken & cheese balls (better than anything from KFC) and spring rolls. Changed our accommodation to where the others were staying as it was closer to the centre of town. Had supper at Pirates restaurant, tried some skipping on the dancefloor at Apache beach bar and went to watch the Thai fighting at Reggae bar. Saw 2 volunteer fights (anyone can fight and gets a free bucket) and 1 pro fight. The pro fight was awesome! The okes smashed each other around, even out the ring! The volunteer fights were rubbish. The guys didn’t try very hard to hit each other.

Crashed into bed at 12.

Day 9:
6 of us woke up early to catch the morning ferry home. The rest were either hanging from the night before or wanted to live the island life some more. For me, staying on Phi Phi island for more than 24 hours is overrated.
Minibus driver from port to our hotel was one crazy mofo! “Animan Beach Resort, Clip Animan… there is no Animan!” Haha!

Jumped into the pool the minute we got back and chowed the legendary club sandwich from the hotel. Took a nap and then we decided to book a tour of the Hongs and James bond island for the next day! Had dinner at a Thai place we spotted a few days ago in Bang la road, did a little bit of shopping at Shopping Paradise and headed home around 12.

Day 10:
Early morning as the bus for our tour picked us up at 8:30. We saw Hong island, James Bond island, had lunch at a Muslim fishing village that literally floats on the sea! We then went kayaking where a guide took us under some amazing rock formations! Stopped at one last island to swim and relax before heading home.

Decided to head to the Irish pub for our last evening supper and we should have eaten there more often! The food was really good.

After supper we headed back to our favourite night spot where all the lady boys hang out. It’s by far the most entertaining area of Bang la road and not only for trying to work out how the hell the girls we looking are are boys, but by watching the interaction of the old men picking up the girls/boys. Crazy stuff. Headed back to our hotel at around 1am.

Day 11:
The last day of our holiday. Packed, checked out of our room and headed to town to do a bit of shopping and spend the last of our Baht. Chilled at the pool while a few of us had a massage, showered and waited for our transport to the airport. Once again, flying sucks.

So there you have it! My Phuket holiday. I had the most amazing time with my mates and would do it again in a heartbeat! If any of you are planning on going to Phuket, drop me a comment with any of your questions. I’ll be glad to help out.

Check out more of my pics from Phuket on Flickr here!

We also stopping off in Bangkok for some shopping as well as Singapore for some sight seeing. I’m planning on buying a couple of Apple Magic Mice (for myself and friends), a new lens for my camera, XBox games as well as clothes! I’ve heard electronics and clothing is dirt cheap in Bangkok, so going to burn a small hole in my credit card. I’m sure my wife is going to help me with that too. :)

There is free wifi at my hotel in Manilla, so I’ll post some pics and a short blog post or 2 if I have time.

So have a fantastic New Years party for those of you spending it with your friends and family. We will be in Manila with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law and are sure to have a blast!

We did however visit China Town in London which was very cool – Chinese everything, everywhere! Had dinner in China Town and I couldn’t walk afterwards I was so full from it. So, Fulham Broadway and China Town I’ll come back for. :)

Dubai

Dubai is just insane. As my cousin who we visited, says, “in Dubai they go big, go home or go bankrupt”. We stayed at the Holiday Inn right next to the Mall of Emirates which houses an indoor ski slope. Yeah, a ski slope in the dessert. The hotel was roughly the same price as London and Paris, but 10 times better. We took taxi’s everywhere, and at R3/km, its really affordable. One thing I was really disappointed about was not seeing any Ferrari’s! I saw tons of Porsche’s, Audi Q7′s, Range Rovers and BMW’s, but no Ferrari’s. We weren’t staying in the area where all the rich Arabs stay I was told.

The 2nd day we relaxed at the Wild Wadi Water Park right across from the Burj al Arab (7 star hotel). Tons of water slides which I went on over and over again while Karina decided rather to tan. One thing I noticed is Dubai loves to show off water – from the water park to every mall and hotel have water features. Where they get all the water from?

Our last day of holiday we spent shopping at the largest mall in the world, which is situated next to the tallest building in the world. Dubai Mall is the size of 50 football pitches, while the Burj Dubai is 818m tall. With electronics being so cheap, I bought Karina a Blackberry and treated myself to an XBox 360. We had to buy an extra bag to carry all the stuff we had bought back to SA! I took some really amazing pictures of the Burj Dubai and surrounding areas. Dubai really is breath-taking.

The last evening we spent with my cousin at his home braaing. A really fitting end to the most amazing holiday. I’ll definitely be back to Dubai and Paris, with London only seeing me for my beloved Chelsea.

Photos will be up soon. I promise.

We spotted a couple of the players arriving in their flashy cars – most notably, Petr Cech in an Aston Martin DB9, Michael Essien in a matte-black CLS Mercedes, Michael Ballack in a white Audi S3 and Peter Kenyon (CEO) in a black Range Rover. We saw 2 Ferrari’s arrive too, but their windows are tinted black, so no one could see who they were!

We must of been the first 20 people allowed into the stadium (after officials etc) as there wasn’t a soul in the ground when we sat down. We really enjoyed just standing inside the stadium with these goofy smiles on our faces.

Taking on Blackburn, I was hoping ‘ol Benni Mcarthy would play some part of the game for them, but he never got an opportunity. He can be glad, because Chelsea gave them a footballing lesson and won 5 – 0. I was chatting to my dad before the game and I told him that Lampard would end his Premier League goal drought and score – he did that. Twice!

It really was one of the most amazing experiences watching Chelsea live. I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend too, as all our main rivals dropped points!

Stamford Bridge stadium tour

The day after the Chelsea game, we took a tour of the stadium as well as PAID a visit to the Chelsea megastore. We took a walk through the stadium, saw where the away fans sit, sat in the press room, visited both dressing rooms and went pitch side to where the players sit during the game.

The Chelsea megastore is just evil. Karina and I spent over R3000 buying shirts, merchandise and presents there.

I’m still going to upload all the pics, so hang tight for that! There are so many to go through and need to select a decent snapshot of the holiday. :)

Breakfast at our hotel is utter rubbish. Just croissants, disgusting boiled eggs and a coffee machine. Nothing is fresh, its all processed food, from the tinned fruit salad to the cheese and jams. These hoteliers should really come and visit SA to see how breakfast should be served to customers. It’s not as if we chose the cheapest hotel either. Other than that, the room is clean with modern finishes and clean bedding. So no complaints there.

We visited the Arc de Triumph, Eiffel tower, Louvre museum as well as walked up and down the Champs Elysee. With rent as high as $1.5m for 100sqm on the Champs Elysee, you can understand why things are so expensive there. I was surprised to see car manufacturers Peugeot, Citroen, Mercedes Benz and Toyota had showrooms – not for their current cars, but for their concept cars, racing cars and memorabilia you can purchase.

We had lunch at one of the cafe’s lining the Champs Elysee. A small margarita pizza starter and a choice of either grilled chicken and “french” fries or a pasta medley. The wife had the pasta, I had the chicken. I should of rather had the pasta – it was really good! Washed it down with an espresso each and the bill came to 26 Euros. For the amount of food and location, it was well priced.

We then visited the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa. Anything else worth seeing there? Other than that the Louvre is massive. Its like the size of Canal walk x 12 and then doubling that next to it.

We never went up the Eiffel tower – the queue was way too long and the view from the Arc de Triumph is said to be way better than the Eiffel tower. At 8pm there was a lightshow with music on the tower. That was really amazing to see. Oh, and the richest man in Paris isn’t some banker, oil trader or some businessman. It’s the guy that owns the little take-away joint across the road from the Eiffel tower. It’s a completely stand-alone shop with not another one in sight. We each had a chocolate crepe with ice-cream from this goldmine for supper. 7.50 euro’s, but who’s counting? At least the coke was of average price at 3.50 Euro’s. :)

Have I mentioned Paris has some really beautiful women? They must have the highest ratio of pretty girls per square metre in the world.

That’s it for Paris. I would love to come back to Paris for more, just next time stay a little longer and take it more chilled. Summer must be amazing here, especially with all the lovely women around. :)

• The architecture is amazing – old buildings
• Its a filthy city. Litter everywhere, guy even urinating in the subway.
• Ladies in Paris are seriously good looking.
• You don’t see any fat people in Paris – only gorgeous women. Oh and guys. Must be a combination of all the walking you do and the expensive Paris food.
• The Moulin Rouge area was quite an experience. The streets are lined with strip clubs and sex shops. All the sex shops sell really cheesy lingerie as well as porn magazines and DVD’s, with the strip clubs offering almost everything under the sun.
• The Metro can look very confusing on paper, but once you have taken one train, you become a seasoned pro. Although dirty, like most of Paris, its a great experience changing 3/4 train lines trying to get to your destination.
• When I mean dirty, its more litter and graffiti everywhere. The seats and surfaces on the trains and stations are relatively clean.
• iPhones are popular as are proper headphones. Earbuds are for us tourists.
• Did I mention that the women are gorgeous is Paris?
• Wifi at our hotel is expensive. 8 Euros for 60 minutes.
• I did find something that is cheap in Paris – Evian water! 1 litre bottle is 3 Euros. Its like R200 in SA I think?!
• Bottle of coke ranges from 3 – 4.50 Euros depending on where you buy it.
• Panini with roast beef, cheese and tomatoes with a bottle of water: 5.50 Euros.

Thats it for our first evening – we were completely smashed from all the traveling, so needed some proper sleep!

Flying

Emirates Airlines is a cut above SAA and BA when flying overseas. The in-flight entertainment is like having over 600 DVD, CD’s and games for you to watch and play. You can start and stop any movie or TV series when you want to, catch up with the latest BBC news, check how long it is to your destination and go back to carry on watching your movie.

The food is also really good – they bring you a menu with the meals you’ll receive on the flight.

Flying on the Airbus A380 was a great experience – one of the smoothest flights I’ve been on in a long time. I think the main difference between this double-decker plane and others is the cabin room. The A380 gives you a greater feeling of space, so you don’t feel like cattle when traveling economy. I wasn’t allowed up to the main deck, so couldn’t see the rich and famous travelling in utter luxury with their private bar area and closed-off suites.

So with 27 hours, 2 plane flights, 3 countries and 5 trains later we finally arrived in Paris!

Check out a few vids I took with my iPhone on my Youtube channel.

These are some of the highlights my wife and I are looking forward to:

• Flying from Dubai to London in the massive Airbus A380
• Climbing the Eiffel tower
• Watching Chelsea take on Blackburn Rovers at Stamford Bridge – our seats are 5 rows from the pitch
• Stamford Bridge Stadium tour
• Stopping at the Burj Dubai to take pics (tallest building in the world)
• Possibly having drinks at the Skybar at the Burj al Arab (7 star hotel)

I’ll be taking tons of pics and posting a few of them here on my blog as well as to my Flickr account. Any pics I take with my iPhone I’ll upload those to my Posterous blog at www.jasonbagley.me.

Just an apology in advance – expect all my tweets, blog posts and pics over the next few days to be from my holiday, but I promise to tone down on the exclamation marks. So no “I’m in Paris!!!!!!!” tweets, I promise.