Island hop- party-hop- repeat

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So after Tom and Andrea left us, we were back on a boat again in no time heading back to Koh Tao. This time round there was no time for beach hopping, it was strictly PADI! The first night we had homework to do, before even putting our feet in the water. The next few days we spent in and out of the water and in the classroom qualifying for our open water PADI! Our group consisted of six girls, four of us were physio's (poor jo!), and Maria the crazy Italian! We nicknamed ourselves 'Alex's angels' as a tribute to our instructor. On the last night we had all agreed to meet up on the bar crawl in town. So as the older ladies we went back for a nap and then a quick shower before heading out. Turns out we were the only ones who actually made it out! Not to shy away from a good party, we threw ourselves into the spirit of it. Whilst sitting at the bar though, through the crowd, everyone wearing the same top, Jo managed to spot some people we met in BRAZIL!!! After numerous 'oh my god's' it was confirmed it was them!! Such a small world!
Later that night about three bars in we also saw crazy Maria having a tattoo done- so we dragged her along for the rest of the bar crawl!!!
The next morning our heads still fuzzy, we were back on a boat again- this time destined for Koh Phangan because...... it's full moon tomorrow night!!!! Part time! After nearly decking a taxi man for trying to rip us of, and then trying to make us get onto the back of a moped with our huge back packs, you will be pleased to hear we ended up in a nice mini bus for half the price. We arrived at our lovely beach side bungalow away from the main action, to be welcomed by the beautiful beach. The next two days were spent chilling out on the beach and mentally/ physically preparing for full moon partying! The evening finally came around, decorated in more neon paint than you can shake a stick at, we headed into the centre of town to meet some people we made friends with at the bar crawl. The door opened to a very familiar face- a girl we went to school with back in the U.K.! I genuinely didn't recognise her at first but at second glance there was no denying it!!! A few drinks later and we were into the thick of it. For those of you who don't know what the full moon party is, it's a huge party on the beach with loads of music, drinking and dancing. Oh and a healthy dose of neon paint for good measure. We partied well into the small hours and awoke the next morning minus the paint, in the bungalow in one piece! And so commenced project 'get over this hangover'. This was all helped by the presence of a tiny baby owl that the owner of the hotel had rescued! Such a cutie and I have never seen one up so close before!
So onto another day and another boat! This time over to the other side of Thailand to Koh Phi Phi. Well it was a boat, a bus and then another boat to be precise. We arrived in Koh Phi Phi as the heavens opened, so dumped our stuff and headed straight out. When we got back from dinner we slowly started to realise what a hole we were in. We have fondly nick named this place the prison cell. With no windows, dirt/animal poop in the bathroom and damp on the ceiling and the smell of damp filling the air, it's not had to imagine why! So we spent as little time here as possible in the day and how did we fill our day?.....with a boat trip of course! For the bargain price of £15 we were out for the whole day. Travel in Thailand is mainly via long boat- a wooden boat with a car engine strapped to the back with an added propeller come steering wheel!! The views were absolutely breathtaking and all the gorgeous floating islands made it seem like we were on a movie set, they were so stunning! We stopped off at a few swimming spots, did some snorkelling etc, all the while eagerly anticipating the main attraction- MAYA BEACH. This is where they filmed Leo Dicaprio in the film 'The beach'. The boat stops about 50m out in front of this wall of rocks with a cargo net going up it. The driver proudly in his best English tells us we're here, we just have to swim out to the net, climb over and we're in!! This wouldn't have been to bad, had it not been for the rocks covered in coral, shell and seaweed between us and the net, oh and the sea/waves. All 50m of it. After some discussion we decided to go for it- as we were told there was no other way in and this is what we had really wanted to see. Luckily me and Jo were smart and could swim, so the battering against the rocks was minimal- but still we came away with quite a few scrapes and scratches. A short walk through the forest and wow we were there!! It was stunningly beautiful and just like the films.......except there were boats pulling up into the bay!! Something some of us were less than impressed about after we returned again to our boat, after a further battering against the rocks! All this battering meant we had worked up a thirst for a beer. With the trip not finished until after sunset, we made our driver go and find us some! We ended up plundering a pirate ship for beer! Didn't see that coming! Sat on the boat, watching the sun go down, sipping on beers was bliss. As the sun went down and it was dark we were able to see the bioluminescent plankton- the view was even better in the sea snorkelling amongst it. As Jo put it, it was like swimming with the stars!!! Another successful day. We're bound for Koh Lanta in the morning- yes another boat!! Still sailing through life with a smile, no longer I love bus- it's now I love boat! Lauren and Jo.

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