More Phuket and a Liveaboard to the Similans

We arrived back in Phuket with Tracey on 27 February for more beach and more partying, with plenty Thai food and lots of massages.On 13 March, we headed up to Khao Lak to join Rena and Menon on the MV Parawa for a 5 day dive trip.It was our first liveaboard experience and we loved it. Our cabin was small but airconditioned but the lounges and decks on the boat were great, so we had no need to spend any time in our room and the days just flew by.Our routine was as follows: 630am Wake up and coffee. 730am Dive 1. 900am Breakfast. 11am Dive 2. 1pm Lunch. 2pm Dive 3. 4pm Snack. 530pm Dive 4. 730pm Dinner. You were lucky if you found any time to nap in between. The dive leaders were very experienced and knew the dive sites well. My favourite site was Richelieu Rock and our highlights were the Mantas at Koh Tachai. On some dives we had to contend with quite strong currents. We saw so much coral and so many types of fish.Clive also showed us Yellow Frog Fish,Leaf Fish,Tigertail Seahorses,Tomato Anenomes and Harlequin Shrimps.I couldn't possibly list all the fish we saw but the list includes 4 different types of moray eels,octopus, lion fish and scorpion fish and many different trigger fish. Then it was back to crazy Phuket for 1 more week.We met up with Nikki and showed her all the Patong and Phuket highlights in 4 days, including a day of sailing with Andries to Koh Rang Yai.Time really does fly by when your'e having fun. We do love Phuket and this year was the first time we had the feeling that there is just to much construction and development going on at the moment.Beware Thailand before paradise is spoiled forever!

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Bali and Gili Trawangan

We flew from Singapore to Bali on Valentines Day. We spent a day in Legian, which was somewhat of a disappointment;even Seminjak failed to inspire us. The beaches are not a patch on Thailand and the traffic is a nightmare. Even the Jalan Double Six area looked run down, with so much construction and mess everywhere.The next day we transferred to the Gilis, via minivan and speedboat and what a difference. There are no cars on Gili Trawangan, only bicycles and horse drawn carts. The sand is a powdery white and the sea is gorgeous and clear. All the guesthouses and restaurants run along the sandy beach road, each with a small beach front area or bar.We stayed at Dream Divers and it was really great to have the dive facility right on the beach, with the dive boat waiting right there.Of course,conditions are near perfect with no waves, 26 degree + water and great visability. On a few of the dives there were mild currents but drifting with the current along slopes and walls is just how I like to dive; my air just lasts forever!The fish life and corals were amazing and we also saw turtles, a manta and plenty of small things like Nudibranchs, colourful miniture Prawns and Pygmy Seahorses.We loved the juvenile Sweet Lips, which look like a totally different species to the adult. Trawangan is largely a backpackers' destination with thankfully, no big, fancy resorts and low key nightlife; just a few beach bars. We enjoyed eating out in the fish market every night, where fresh fish, including great tuna is braaied by stall holders wood fires. We returned to Legian for 2 more nights to meet Tracey who flew in from SA before heading up to Ubud, my favourite place in all of Bali. We found quite a lot of new and rather more upmarket places to eat at or shop in. This is no doubt due to demand by the stream of single and/or middle aged American women on the Julia Roberts trail since the movie "Eat, Pray, Love" popularised Ubud. "That damn book" is how locals refer to it! Let's go and find inner peace,a meaningful life and a hot local lover but not unless there's a Starbucks on every corner! We did find an awesome restaurant called Bollero, with the best Cashew Chicken and the best Crispy Duck in all of South East Asia.We also had our daily dose of cocktails at Havana Cafe, along with a quick Salsa dance lesson. The Passion Fruit Margarhita is highly recommended. Our chill out spot every night was the XL Shisha Lounge with comfy cushions to sit on and a really good acoustic band. Tracey did find the hot local man playing guitar here, but her reluctance to try the local weed and his very limited English meant they didn't really get past the introductory phase. We hired a car and drove to the north of the Island and spent 2 nights in Lovina. The resort was wonderful, with an excellent pool, but once again the beaches were not that great. We really enjoyed exploring the temples, towns and rice paddies en route. Central Bali is just beautiful, especially if you are off the beaten track and getting a bit lost is half the fun.Coming back to Ubud our car began overheating and on a very steep and winding uphill behind a big truck,the radiator pipe burst. We had to free wheel back down to the nearest civilisation, about 10 kilometres of narrow twists and turns through the jungle; sailing downwards with only the brakes to slow our descent. We decided to take a taxi back to Ubud rather than wait 3 or 4 hours for the owner of our car to come and fetch us. We stayed in Nick's Pension surrounded by rice paddies and lush gardens.Naomi and Eric joined us for the weekend and we celebrated Naomi's birthday at the fabulous Bridges Restaurant.We indulged in massages and spa treatments every day.Ubud is a wonderful place for slowing down and easing into a laid back routine, so you always feel like you are leaving too soon.