Ko Pha Ngan, Ko Samui and Chiang Mai

After leaving the oppressive heat of Bangkok I headed south to the fabled islands in the southern Gulf of Thailand - Ko Pha Ngan, home of the legendary monthly full moon party; and Ko Samui, the bigger and more touristy island further south.

After a taxing 20-hour journey from the capital to Ko Pha Ngan with new Canadian travel buddy Jason, I arrived at Bottle Beach, a secluded bay on the northern coast of the island. It was everything you imagine a beach should be - clear, still water, fine sand, tier upon tier of coconut trees, and baking heat. I have never been one for a beach holiday, but even I got into the swing of things on Bottle. There are a number of bungalows, bars and restaurants along the usually deserted quarter-mile stretch of beach, and we stayed at Smile Bungalows at the very end, with friendly and helpful staff Nin, Goi, Sam and Yo (or Money Man, as he was known by one and all for his relentless entrepreneurial nose) who as well as serving great food and keeping the drinks flowing, were more interested in pretending they were on holiday with the rest of us. There was a great crowd of us at Bottle too - I spent the whole time with Lee, Vicky and Punit from Chelmsford who were all on a short holiday together. I discovered after a couple of days that Punit is good friends with my best mate Raj, prompting much "isn't it a small world" wonderment (Also discovered that Kate, my oldest friend, who is too lazy to ever read this blog, was on the next beach for two days while I was there, but we missed each other). Life on Bottle was simple stuff: the beach and the sea in the day, punctuated by two-minute trips into Smile to get some refreshments, then a DVD at night followed by a few drinks. Some people stay on Bottle for a week, some for a LOT longer. It is easy to see why. We narrowly missed the previous week's leaving party of a fortysomething English guy who had been on Bottle for five years.

The only time I left the beach was to go to the full moon party at Haat Rin, a much busier and built-up corner of Ko Pha Ngan. It was like a tropical Glastonbury - 10,000 people covered in facepaint dancing to countless sound systems the length of the beach until well gone 12pm the following day.

After a week on Ko Pha Ngan I went to Ko Samui to the south for a couple of nights with Lee, Punit, Vicky, Debbie and Suzie. It was nowhere near as chilled as Bottle Beach; full of English-themed pubs, girly bars and grizzled 60-year-old English blokes with disgustingly young Thai hookers on their arms. Had a fun night out on Chaweng beach though with loads of people we had met on Bottle, and got to hold a gibbon that was brought around - see photo! We also went to a infamous ladyboy show. It really is shocking how stunning and authentic some of the ladyboys look. Some of them have giveaway voices and Adam's apples, and some of them have hands like Neville Southall. But a few of them you would never, ever be able to tell. Lee - a self-confessed "ladies man" - was concerned. "No good can come of this," he said ominously, as we watched the charmingly chaotic burlesque extravaganza unfold before us. One ladyboy in particular took quite a shine to Lee, who tried his hardest not to stare back at him/her. "I'm not scared of them, I'm scared of me," he whispered. And then, after some grim contemplation he later announced: "There is a very good chance that my future wife won't be anywhere near as hot as him".

Lee survived the night with dignity intact and he and Vicky headed home the following day, with the rest of the Bottle gang all going their separate ways. I flew up to Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand, a pretty city circled by an old wall and a moat with countless amazing bookshops. Headed off on a jungle trek to the north for three days, which was a fairly taxing walk in the savage heat. Got to ride an elephant, floated down a muddy river on a bamboo raft, and visited some interesting hill tribes. The women of the Karen tribe, all refugees from nearby Burma, wore metal rings around their necks. Although it looked very uncomfortable, especially in the heat, they managed to look pretty elegant. Not sure why they wore them - but I was told they acquired new ones with each birthday. Also did a spot of white-water rafting on a fairly innocuous river. There were many highlights. At the elephant sanctuary, a caged monkey stole an unlit cigarette right out of my mouth with lightning reflexes, and then proceeded to tear it apart and eat the filter. On the first night I met a couple of guys from Madrid and I found my Spanish was still thriving! We spent each night in tiny villages in bamboo houses on stilts, managing to sleep despite the constant babble of pigs and chickens underneath the floor, and the frenzied buzz of insects all around us. The cicadas in the area sounded unnervingly like somebody approaching you at a rate with a revving chainsaw. It was one of the best treks I've been on so far.

Now back in Chiang Mai for the weekend before I'll head off to Pai, a small town to the north towards the Burmese border. After that I'll be off to Laos for a few weeks - visa is sorted - then I'll making my way south before reaching Cambodia.

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