onwards to phuket

I've spent the last couple of days reading the 'The Restaurant at the End of the Universe,' the second book of Douglas Adams's 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' trilogy, and I haven't laughed so much for a long time. Poor old Arthur Dent doesn't seem to have much luck, but his misfortunes are always hilarious.

Last night was my last night on Ko Samui and I spent a pleasant evening in a restaurant with a Frenchman called Eric. He couldn't speak English very well so I had to resurrect the French I learnt at school. I was pleased to find that I did seem to be able to communicate with him on an at least basic level. I told him that I liked French films and that I had recently watched 'L'Boucher' and 'L'Homme Du Train' and thought both were excellent. This went down well.

At the beginning of the evening he told me that he was in Thailand on holiday because: 'my wife die.' I tried to express sympathy and attempted to smile comfortingly. 'Je suis desolee,' I said.

He referred to his late wife in the present tense several times as the evening went on, which I took as an indicator of him struggling to come to terms with the situation. 'He's having a tough time coping,' I thought.

It was only at about quarter past eleven that it dawned on me that four hours earlier what he'd actually said was: 'I in Thailand because my wife Thai.'

Merde.

I took a massive gulp of my beer, wondering what he must of thought of my commiserating over his wife's nationality. 'You bloody fool,' I reflected, also thinking 'best let sleeping dogs lie now.'

Imagine it...

Eric: I in Thailand because my wife is Thai.

Charlie: Ow....I'm so sorry. Are you ok? (Postive tone) This holiday will do you good.

I got up just after 5am this morning, and left on the bus just after 6am for the mainland, and my destination on the opposing coastline: Phuket. I was told the journey would take eight hours in total, and would involve getting a bus, a boat, and then a second bus. In fact, for reasons still unknown to me, it's taken eleven hours, and involved getting a bus, another bus, a boat, another bus, another bus, and then - just for good measure - another bus. It's been a long day, not made easier by lack of leg room. Still, I'm here now.

When we arrived I determined that I would walk to my hotel from the bus station, but a passing motorcyclist pulled up and offered to give me a lift. The price was right, and he whisked me straight down to my hotel: The On On Hotel.

And here I am. The On On Hotel is set back from the beach resorts of Phuket, in an area called Phuket Town. It caught my eye because it is reputedly (according to Lonely Planet) the hotel where opening scenes of 'The Beach' with Robert Carlyle and Leonardo DiCaprio were filmed - the very scenes I was joking about in this blog a couple of weeks ago, and now I'm actually in the hotel!

It's the most interesting place I've stayed since I've been here, but it is pretty squalid. The whole place has the musty smell of a stately home, and my room resembles one of the crew cabins on the Cutty Sark. But I'm very excited to be here, it's got real character, as has the surrounding area, which I'll explore more tomorrow. My room costs two pounds a night. I'll have to get some pictures of the building's 20s architecture.

OK. 8.30pm. It's been a long day. I'm tired and I'm going to retire up the stairs to Bedfordshire (after a quick Beer Chang over the road).

ps There was some speculation before I went away as to whether I would lose more weight out here. Well, weighed myself this morning, and I've lost one pound since 28 June so all is well on that front.