The east coast - Koh Tao and Koh Phangan

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Scooched ourselves over to Koh Tao to rendez vu with Liz and Alex who we met in Laos and have been meeting up with on the way! left Phi Phi at 1:30 pm, travelled by boat and mini van to Surat Thani and then boarded the night ferry to Koh Tao, which was a basically a massive sleep over on a boat, loads matresses and pillows on the floor, all the thais on one side, all the tourists on the other side!

Got to Koh Tao at 7am, breakfasted it up, wandered along and found a cheap hut and then hit the beach! Koh Tao was goregous, loved it as soon as we got there. To beging with we thought we´d only have 2 days so we crammed loads in on the first day, did a boat trip to the nearby isladn (the name is lost on me now!) which was 3 headlands with joining strips of beaches where the sea was lapping in on either side! gorgeous! We climbed up the view point and enjoyed the views, then lunched on the only restaturant on the island and then chilled out on the beach! The next day we had oursleves booked on a diving trip, me and laura were buddys and hit the dive sights. the visabilty wasnt great and the coral i saw in Vietnam was prettier but we saw some great marine life...white eyed moray eels, rays, a giant grouper (actually is huge!), loads of huge angel fish, a trigger fish and crocodile needle fish (i think thats the name!??) and of course...NEMO! the only one on the reef and they had a nice little stone circle round its anemone (cant spell that either!) so that they werent disturbed! lol!

We then decided to stay on Koh Tao longer cos we loved it so much and we then had a few more days chilling on the beaches and some good nights out! Met up with the girls, and also bumped into Mike from tubing too and he introduced us to his friend, who became our friends, as you do, and then we were all partying again! One of them played guitar in local aussie bar twice a week so we would go support him and take advantage of the happy hour offers! All good fun!

Next was over to Koh phangan where we met up with the Halong bay crew from Vietnam, and another few days of partying! it was coming up to the full moon party where everyone is getting into the swing of it! Went to a Cross dressing pool party?! and yes there were lady boys galore and lots of jumping in the pool and getting soaked through! Again met liz and Alex there so had a good bunch of us there! was completely wiped and just about recovered before the full moon party which was suprisingly good! Had heard so many conflicting stories about it and we were worried about theft but it was really good, all had a great laugh and it wasnt too busy due to the bangkok airport stuff again! Had loads of fun again, partied until 10am next day and was dancing in the sea by the time i was due to go home! Once again i´ve done Koh Phangan before so havent got too much to comment on it and didnt really go there for anything other than the full moon party. It had become a lot more built up in the last few years, but still hedl a nice vibe about it though. We did stay away from the main town in the day time, which probably helped me keep a nice image of it though, becasue Had Rin town isnt particualry a pretty place to be in daylight! where we stayed though near the north of the island was lovely, just a shame the taxi fres cost so much!

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Photos

Koh Tao
the little island off the north of Koh Tao

had rin beach - full moon gone!
the sun began to rsie so i took to the sea!