Thailand: The sun, the sand, the sea and shitload of FUN!

Now that I'm in Phuket, I realized how badly I wanted & needed to have fun. I also discovered that I'm a closet Adrenalin junkie (and that side is now clearly out of the closet) :D

I can get used to this kind of itinary - get up to a nice sunny day, have a leisurely shower (this Patong Beach Hotel is great - fabulous bathrooms - you can watch the widescreen right from your bathtub!) Then indulge in a relaxing and lavish spread for breakfast, pick up my motorbike and go about things I want to do - just the way a holiday should be! These bikes are easy to ride, great speed, and cheap to hire - cruising in them feels awesome with the breeze in your face and sea by your side :)

Day before yesterday, tried Bungee Jumping (50m high, for which I got a bravery certificate - for what its worth). The worst part is when the crane makes creaking sound and gets you to the top of Phuket - you can see the whole island. And then the guy calmly asks you to hop-skip (bcoz your legs are tied to the bungee cord dummy!) towards the end of the platform. It takes shitload of nerves to spread your arms and jump - your bloody legs are like lead and your mind goes into overdrive screaming "This is insane! Are you nuts!! Don't do it!!!". And if you manage to slap all your defence mechanisms into silence, I challenge you to do or remember anything other than "oh my gaaaaaaawdddd" for those 10 seconds of free-fall when your face is rushing towards the water underneath  - fu*king scary and therefore maxx fun! Not recommended for sissies.

Then I went for Go-karting - its the most Adrenalin pumping, heart racing, g-force-heavy thing I've ever done. Its just for 10 mins and I banged into the sidelines within 1 minute - full force. The kart slammed so hard that despite of the cushion of tires, it went into the tree and threw me completely off into the ditch - still have the burises to show for it :) Next 9 mins were accident free and at full speed again - no bloody puny kart isn't gonna intimidate me into submission! Indeed, the best way to learn is to fall :) I don't know how to drive so picking it up in 1 minute and doing some respectable laps felt good.

Then went to the shooting range - 9mm Glock - real gun, real bullets. Only two bullets out of whole round were outside the inner black circle - all the rest in the innermost three circles - the guy managing the shop didn't believe I've never touched a gun in my life - my score: 85%. The force feedback of the gun is quite solid - have taken the target sheet and an empty shell casing as souvenir - good & very loud fun. Went back to hotel and had a nice shower and sleep. Then took out my bike and went to Kamala beach - much quieter than Patong. Had a nice massage while sea-gazing with a chilled Breezer - thats what I call relaxing :) The ride to Kamala (and most of Phuket) is through hill roads which go up and down quite steeply (I haven't been on roads this steep before) - you can enjoy the challenge as long as you're careful.

Yesterday was even more fun - did Jet skiing - pretty powerful Yamaha engine - every time it slams into the waves - Bamm! This thing works your biceps and forearms better than any damn machine any gym can offer and its LOADS of fun! Drove it a max speed - my fingers still hurt from the constant hard grip I had to maintain for 30 mins - otherwise it'll throw you into the sea like a wild horse (which is even more risky since I can't swim) :) Took it quite far into the sea - again - simply awesome!

Wrapped up the crazy day with a nice dinner at the luxurious Ban Rim Paa - lovely view of night Phuket from the wooden platform - dimly lit candles, live Piano music, soothing sea breeze and hear the waves softly lapping while you sip the long & exotic Mai Thai - ahh. The steamed fish turned out to be great too. All in all a lovely experience.

Every penny I've spent here is an infinitesimal fraction of the fun I'm having - viva la Thailand!!!