Won't you take me to, Phuket Town?

Sorry once again for being out of touch for better than a week, but we were busy lounging on Hat Sai Ree beach on Ko Tao (yes, that is Colin's knee in the photo, and that was our view). It's a scuba diving mecca (unfortunately, neither of us dives and were both waaayyy too busy reading under our favorite tree on the beach to bother getting certified) in the Gulf of Thailand. The water is a clear teal color- so clear that we could see the tan lines on our feet when standing in five feet of water. Our bungalow was about 75 feet from the water's edge with a nice "veranda," upon which we sat and watched the birds and the boats while eating our breakfast from the 7-11 (they are ubiquitous in Thailand and have cheap cereal and yogurt, which is of great value when staying in a bungalow on the beach- you HAVE to be able prioritize, you know..). When we felt the need, we took walks around the island, to the southern end and the east coast (which was UP and over the mountainous middle of the island- boy, am I out of shape...). In our original itinerary, our time in the islands was supposed to be spent figuring out what to do next, and we actually did some thinking (until our brains overheated and it got too difficult, then we got back in the water to cool our heads). It is really hard to make decisions about our futures when we have virtually no obligations! We may now have a plan for the next year or two (stay tuned for further developments, since our plans change more than the weather) that involves being out of the US when "Pol Pot" Palin is nominated as the presidential candidate representing the Teabaggers. (How can you NOT see the similarities when she and her ilk seem to think all educated city-dwellers are elitist and evil?!?!?!).
Yesterday we took the bus to Phuket (get your minds out of the gutter, it's pronounced poo-get) to see what islands on the west coast in the Andaman Sea look like. It's a big, affluent island province with lots of rubber and palm plantations and big, fancy resorts (we are not staying in one of those, though). We will be renting a motorbike for a couple of days to explore the island's beaches and do some snorkelling. Hopefully we'll also be able to locate our friend Bernie from George Town while we're here; he emailed me with the location of the beach near the police station where he likes to sit between specific hours of the afternoon (he's a character). We may still be here when our bowling partner Alan and his wife, Maggie arrive as well. Who knows, it may just turn into a big, happy reunion!