Island Life

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Having been templed out in Angkor Wat with the heat consistently in the 30's it was time to head south and get some beach action. Where better then the south of Thailand, our 16 hour journey from Bangkok took us to the island of Samui in the gulf of Thailand. Meeting Reg's brother James at the pier, we were soon taken to Lamai, a quieter beach resort with golden sands, turquoise waters with palm trees dotting the beachfront. The perfect opportunity to relax and explore the island and sample some of the nightlife including some Muay Thai kick boxing. From here we went the short journey across water to Koh Phangan just in time for the 'full moon' party, staying in some luxury bungalows with infinity pool looking out over the sea, as we geared ourselves up for the biggest party of the month and it didn't let us down. To cure our hangovers we took a scooter out to the north of the island as we got ever closer to the perfect beach destination..white sands, walk in snorkelling and a beachside restaurant serving perfect seafood as we watched the sun set over the gulf.

Our next island on this side of the country was Koh Tao, our favourite island, offering some of the best diving in Asia. With Vicky completing her Open Water course, we experienced perfect visibility diving down to 20 metres. Unfortunately no whale sharks, but large schools of Barracuda, groupers, moray eels and rays could be seen amongst the corals.

From here we crossed country to the Indian Ocean and Ao Nang, taking in boat trips to Rai Leh and the Hong Islands offering breathtaking limestone cliff faces, crystal waters for snorkelling and some paradise beaches. Fortunately for us the tourist numbers had dwindled so we could take advantage of these sort after islands as we took once again to the sea to discover Phi Phi islands, with the most dramatic scenery yet. Having recovered from the Tsunami Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Leh offered some amazing scenery out to the ocean as we explored some of the uninhabited islands finally finding our piece of paradise on Bamboo Island. Our last day on Phi Phi was completed by snorkelling with sharks spotting 4 black tipped sharks and hundreds of exotic tropical fish amongst the colourful coral reefs. It was sad to leave this place and this leg of our journey as we travelled back to Bangkok with riots in full swing awaiting our flight to Singapore.

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