A Regular Dr Doolittle...

... that's me!

Day three in Phuket saw me being collected by my old chum Pete Harris and taken on a wonderful tour around the island.

Its so easy to see why he loves living here, the endless sunshine, the natural and unnatural beauty, and the people. It also seems to be the place people move to when they die!

We drove to three different temples including Wat Chalong, all of which were stunning, and sadly much busier than they were last time I was here. I suppose its a good thing that tourists are coming but makes it kinda hard to get a bit of peace you know?

On the way we stopped off to feed some bananas to some monkeys as you do, and having Pete means I got photos of me with them! They were angry looking buggers, but the one who was not only taking every banana I had but was also storing them in a plastic bag he'd found was kinda cool with me. I forgot Pete was there and went into my usual nutty thing of chatting away to the monkey like he could understand me! I think he could!


We also went to the Big Buddha, which is already awesome and will be even moreso when its completed. This wasn't even begun last time I was here and its the vision of one man, who's creating something rather amazing.

On the way down from the Big Buddha, we stopped off by a couple of working elephants and their keepers. This wasn't a tourist thing, they were on their tea break - the elephant union is very good - and Pete got some more photos. I even got an elephant kiss which was just the most joyful thing ever!

We stopped for lunch at Friendship Beach, at this gorgeous resort which I have completely forgotten the name of. Sat gazing out at the blue sea, the ceiling fans gently turning and catching up on 10 years' worth of life with a good pal, life really doesn't get any better does it?