Phuket - Phi Phi and James Bond
- A side trip to Phuket, flying to and from Bangkok sandwiched between Myanmar and Cambodia.
- My taxi doesn't turn up, so I find myself undertaking a manic 45 minute tuk tuk ride, all the way out to Bangkok Airport, my suitcase lashed to the front: 'English football velly velly good'.
- I manage a snorkelling trip on a speed boat into the Andaman Sea to see the fabled limestone scenery, of Phi Phi, Maya, where The Beach was filmed, the lagoons, stilt villages and and another longtail boat journey round James Bond Island. It’s all gorgeous. We feed the fish bananas.
Pole Dancing in Patong
- Otherwise, the weather is poor and it’s raining. There's flooding in Patong and the punters in the many bars are sitting on stools a foot underwater. The signs say 'Happy New Year -1996'. There’s nothing to do except hang about and talk to the working girls. They teach me how to pole dance, one or two disappearing quietly into the back every so often 'for dinner', taking along the odd customer who apprehensively wanders into the gloom.
