It's getting warmer back home - the morning I left for Thailand was crowned by a blizzard and piles of snow taller than me. Now, the snow is almost gone. I think Kate lost her sim card, which is sad, but if that's the worst that had happened during the trip - I'll take it. I downloaded a few apps from the Thai App Store - different countries have different restrictions, so I took the chance, while I could. There is a pile of souvenirs, clothes, powders and pastes, and jams, and flakes - for cooking. And two crazy cats are running through the pile knocking everything off. There were looked after, but they missed us, at least Luna - the black one- did. I finished the last exam for my half-a-year retraining program, can't wait for the results and, eventually, the diploma. Everything's settling down and I won't write every day in the future, but it was fun to capture Phuket as I saw it for the first time

In the morning I tried the new hotel's breakfast and was satisfied. That was also the first time I ate chicken bacon. At 11:45am I got a call via the hotel room's internal telephone - we needed to move out by 12. Our plane was supposed to leave at, like 1am, so there was a full day ahead, but somebody needed to watch the baggage, so we just took turns. The day was hot and we made the 7-eleven around the corner filthy rich. When the day grew older I went to Bungla road and ordered a special mojito iykwim. By 17:50 the world seemed sluggish. At 21:30 2 busses came to pick us up and bring us to the airport. At the last minute I decided to spend the some of the leftover bahts in the duty-free shop and bought some curry powders. Looking back, I should have spent more on snacks - I still have like 2k bahts and there is no use for them here, other than to keep them as souvenirs. Passport control was slow, but we boarded the plane and got some food and drinks before I dozed off reading Wuthering Heights - the novel is fine, I guess I was just tired. I got lucky my sunburnt feet felt more or less OK - 8 and a half hours flight was a test for them

We left the hotel by noon and at 13:30 we were at the new hotel that the travel agent provided for us because the flight got delayed. The hotel was, I would say, more expensive than our original one, but less tropical-paradise. This new hotel was just 3 min away from Bungla road, which is the place to go for nightlife, cafes, bars and things that in my native country are illegal. In the evening we went to the 7 eleven around the corner, got some curry paste to bring back home and some drinks. Later I went to Bungla road, but generally saw nothing special other that a tone of weed bars/shops, and some girls were pole-dancing in the bars. Later in the evening I passed all the tests for my retraining program, other than the final exam, which is not available yet.

We went shopping for snacks to the nearby 7 eleven and for souvenirs. In the evening, while dining we got the news that the flight back home will be delayed by a day, which we had expected. Tomorrow we will move to another hotel. Pretty much everything is ready

Hey, it’s Pi day! Today at 16:20 we sat into a mini van, which picked up people from two other hotels, and brought us to a meeting point where we all got into a coach. By 17:50 we were at the Siam Niramit complex. First, we went to eat there - all the rooms were beautifully furnished and decorated, and the food ranged from the usual European dishes to the traditional Thai ones. I finished my plate first and went to the space between the food court and the 100-year village. There there were some areas with different crafts, like cutting paper ornaments, weaving fish out of what seemed like palm leaves and something like henna drawings on the skin. I didn’t come to the latter, but I did make an ornament and a fish. I went to the recreation of the traditional village - there were wooden houses in different regional styles and with different purposes. The houses were separated by a river full of fish, and connected by wooden roads and bridges. In some houses people were doing crafts and cooking. I tasted two things - an egg cooked in banana leaves, and some crispy rice treat with creamy coconut sauce - both in one-bite portions. There were souvenirs and an old man offered boat rides along this river to couples. There were beautiful lanterns along the safety rails and in the trees. After all that in the central square there was a pre-show about, as I took it, a cat catching a fish, and some female deity/princess with a horned animal. To finish it off, there was a parade that culminated in what I think was a rain calling ceremony, and the fountain behind the scene activated. Everything was beautiful and already felt like a proper show, although it was short. But it was just to give us a taste of what was going to happen later. I will not describe the synopsis of the actual Siam Niramit show, but I will express my emotions about some aspects of it. The organisation level is very high, all logistics are easy and comfortable for a foreigner. There are subtitles and an English voiceover in between scenes, so you always know what you are going to be looking at. The acting is impressive to say the least. The structure of the show is well thought through. And, of course, the special effects are magical! By 23:00 we were home. Cannot recommend Siam Niramit highly enough, it - is - a - must if you are visiting Thailand and have the means to attend the show. Also, a lot of things seemed straight out of Avatar the Last Airbender's episode with the Fire Nation theatre, e.g. the last photo (but also the theatrical effects) P.S. the date and time on my Nokia “camera” had reset for some reason, so it is wrong on the pre-show and village photos

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Mostly chill, we watched some TBBT during the day and went to dine out and for souvenir shopping after nightfall. The former was accomplished with the services from the Dino Restaurant that we loved from the crab experience before, however this time I took their recommendations on the T-Rex burger and the Pangaea cocktail. I highly recommend the burger, the cocktail was decent but nothing special. The latter of the two activities was highlighted by a very welcomed rain. We went shopping for souvenirs to bring to our relatives and friends. Local dresses, tees with Thailand-themed prints and figurines of elephants and the Buddha - were our prizes. Locals in these small stalls like to bargain, so it feels like you’re getting a discount

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The day was a relaxation day, we mostly stayed in, leaving the hotel to eat out. I mostly tried to avoid the sun, making some progress on the retraining program, which ends soon

We woke up early and went to the marina by bus. We visited the Krabi island first, had a photo session. A little later we took some photos on the ship’s bow. We sailed by the monkey island and took some photos of them too. By 11 we arrived to Phi Phi. The lunch was hot - Tom Yum here is heavily peppered with chilli oil. I also had some pasta with a sweet semi-hot sauce, a bowl of rice and a couple of crispy chicken legs. There was also an island that looked like a chicken’s head (see photos). Then we went to the Mai Phai island, which is like paradise on earth. I even snorkelled a bit. We also visited one of the Phang Nga islands - Poda. Our guide was cool and gave us some rum on the way back. Kate wore her hat like a tricorne (there is a wire in the brim to shape it as you please). The only downside was my sunburn from before, which created a little discomfort - so always use a lot of sunscreen with high SPF, don’t be like me =P

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This was a chill day also. Had breakfast - Kate seems to be enjoying the fruit. She got worried about sunburns and got me a white cotton outfit and some aloe gel, which was really nice of her. We managed to exchange some of our national currency into bats via telegram - turns out it’s quite easy and the fee is reasonable, so even if your cards don’t work, you’ll still be able to withdraw the money in Thailand. Also, today was the first time I tried Taco Bell - it doesn’t exist back home. We got 3 crispy chicken tacos, a quesadilla and some nachos. Tacos are on the smaller side, but everything was really tasty. We’ll go out in the evening as well, when the sun is not beating down on us as much

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This was a chill day, I spent some time on the sun by the pool and got a little sunburn. In the evening we went to the shop for drinks and got some local ramen for friends back home

I had the same breakfast, only it was dragonfruit instead of papaya. At 10:30 we went to some pharmacy, listened to a 30min-long lecture about Thai medicine and ended up buying some inhalers and a toothpaste. Next, we went to see the Big Buddha statue, and let me tell you, he biiig. I really enjoyed the place, and the view from the top of the mountain is amazing. At about 1pm we went to a snake farm, where we learnt a little about the snakes of Phuket. We watched a man kiss a cobra, which was fun. The guide lady there gave us some snake gallbladder-infuded rum and told us about the snake products they sell on the farm. There were also snakes in formaldehyde there. I took some pics with a python as well. We were home by about 3:30 and went to the pool. Later in the evening we went to Dino Bar, which is a dinosaur-themed restaurant, where we got Tom Yun, curry crabs, onion rings and some drinks

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This morning I got potatoes, sausages, some papaya, watermelon slices and pineapple juice. While having breakfast, I met Misha, a compat, who comes here mainly for diving. He gave me some advice on where to go. We went to the beach - the sand is nice, but I need better footwear. I bought 2 mangoes and an opened coconut with a straw. Then, there was a meeting with our guide, who gave us some info about excursions, and we picked a couple. After the meeting I went swimming in the hotel pool. and later we headed down to the "Red Chopsticks" restaurant, I had pad thai and Kate had fried tofu and a margarita. We saw a yellow-beaked bird - I don't know what kind -, who was trying to ask customers for food by singing its song next to the occupied tables. Later in the evening, we went to the Kata night market and bought some fruit and also got snacks and drinks at the nearby 7-eleven

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at 5:55am: We've passed all the controls and got our departure stamps. I got Kate a bottle of diet coke at the duty free shop for a euro. I've downloaded a couple of videos by LJR from the Halo series to watch on the plane - 8-9 hours is a long flight at 8:54pm: We've landed in the rain, It's already quite dark. Before getting the luggage, where I left out QR codes, we needed to get through passport control, which needed the QR codes. Luckily, I had exchanged half of our money into bahts and got us local sim cards with unlimited internet access (not with the whole half of our money ofc). We were able to fill all the forms even though my phone died. We went through and got the luggage. The nice ladies at the info boot helped us find out transfer and we arrived at the hotel at about 22:50 local time. We took a shower and went to the shops and got some snacks

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