Koh Samui

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We've been very lucky this week to be able to stay in a lovely beach resort on the north east coast of Koh Samui, the south west of Thailand. We're staying at the Imperial Boathouse, courtesy of Mjs mum and dad - Penny and Chris, who came out to meet us on the 1st April. They'd spent three days in Bangkok before getting a flight down to meet us in Koh Samui for a week. They came with treats for us from home - salt and vinegar crisps, proper Cadburys chocolate and marmite!!!! I was so happy! We've had lots of relaxation time at Cheong Mon beach and the resort's two pools, one of which is fashioned as a large Thai long tail boat! It was lovely to stay in a hotel and actually get unpacked for once! We spent lots of evenings playing cards and scattegories which was fun. They also had a snooker table which I was extremely excited about, so we had a few games after dinner on a few nights. On Friday we ventured out into Ang Thong Marine national park for some snorkelling and sea kayaking. I absolutely loved it and saw so many amazing fish and coral. We stopped off at Ao Ka Bay for a walk up to the view point where you could see amazing views out to sea and the other islands that made up the national park. It was so hot though, I had to jump straight in the water once we'd got down!! We also went to Koh Tao on Monday for some more snorkelling, this time from the boat and also from a beach!! The coral came right up to the beach, so you could see so many fish from the surface! I snorkelled over an old anchor and safe which looked so eery!! Although I had such a brilliant day, I manage to get quite sunburnt again!!! I've treated myself to two massages and a kindle book already with my birthday money, and hope to buy some snorkelling gear with it too. Me and Mj went out for a few drinks on Saturday night and found an ice bar which was fun - at -7° it was a welcome break from the heat! We took plenty of photos in the big woolly pull over and fluffy white hat they gave us! We brought Penny and Chris back to show them on Monday night! They left yesterday morning and we've got until tomorrow here on Koh Samui before we leave for Koh Phangan, which is the island just north of here. I'm currently writing from a little wooden bungalow on the north side of Koh Sumui, in a place called Bo Phut, near to where we'll be getting the ferry to Koh Phangan tomorrow. It's small but cosy! We got a motorbike today to explore the rest of the island and had a nice afternoon on Lamai beach just south of Chaweng beach - the most popular beach on the island, about a 15 min drive from Cheong Mon and a half an hour drive away from Bo Phut. Need to sleep now, have another headache coming on... grrr! I'll update more regularly now I promise!!! Will update next week!

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