Unfortunately the only accommodation that had been available was in a tent but the agent assured us that if we booked it, once we were on the island if a room or bungalow became available we would be able to upgrade. Well that just didn’t happen, the island was very busy and no rooms were available for a couple of nights so reluctantly we settled for a tent for two nights with the promise of a bungalow after that. The tent had a full sized mattress in so wouldn’t have been so bad but for 3 girls who came home drunk at 3.15 am and giggled at the top of their voices for best part of an hour! The beach was very pretty and not busy considering all the bungalow operations were full. We spent 3 ... read more

Although we hadn’t come here to rock climb we found ourselves rock scrambling anyway. As you walk along the path to the beach there is a steep path leading up to a lagoon, this intrigued me wondering how a lagoon could be up there. Bright and early one morning, before it got too hot, we set off in search of the lagoon. The path was a steep rock scramble but there was a thick rope to guide you and help you get up if need be. It proved to be not too difficult and after about 15 minutes of climbing we were at the top. The path branched of in two directions, we took the right turn and soon found ourselves at the view point. A place you could look out see the narrow strip with ... read more

After a good night’s sleep in our clean comfortable bed we were well rested and ready to explore the local area. It’s well known for the spectacular limestone-karts, some in the sea others inland in Sa Nang Manora national park with numerous waterfalls and pools. We chose to visit the Manora Park first thing and were almost the only people there. We set off along the distinct jungle pathway which wound it’s way around waterfalls, climbing over broken bridges and crossing the stream on fallen down trees. After a while the path became indistinct and we were forced to turn back but we’d been walking for best part of an hour which was quite enough in the tropical heat. From here we went to the mangroves along the coastline where there were views of the picturesque ... read more

We flew to Ranong stayed one night then took a bus south to Kuaburi, the small town that's closest to the ferry port where you can get a boat to Ko Surin Islands from. We had no idea where we would stay or how we would get to the islands. We arrived in Kuraburi the bus was greeted by a tour operator who arranged trips to Surin. In no time at all we had the trip booked and were in one of their bungalows for the night awaiting the boat ride at 9am next day. Thailand is so easy to travel sometimes! Luckily for us there was a Watermelon Festival going on which meant there was a night market on selling good cheap food a brilliant atmosphere and lots of entertainment. Kuraburi isn’t really on the ... read more

We’ve been away from internet access for a while so I have some back tracking to do. Monday 13th January We arrived back in Bangkok – right as a huge protest is just beginning! Before leaving here a week ago to go to Ko Samet we reserved and paid for a room in our favourite area so we wouldn’t have to trek around looking with our big backpacks. A few days after being on Ko Samet we began to hear rumours that there was a huge protest planned for Monday Jan 13th – the day we’d planned to be back. The aim was to ‘shut the city down!’ We considered leaving Samet a day early and emailed Lamphu House to see if we could have our room a day early but they were fully booked. The ... read more