Thailand - Islands

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Koh Samui
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Waiting at little siem reap airport I mocked the planes going past that were powered by propellers. It then dawned on me that we too would probably be on one of these planes, and I was right. My grandad would have had a heart attack just looking at this thing! Thank god it was only an hour but was probably the worst plane journey I've ever had. A short stop over in Bangkok and we were on the next one to Koh Samui, a normal jet this time. As we arrived quite late it was straight to bed before exploring the area the following day. We stayed in Lamai, which is the second most popular area on the island but is said to have a nicer beach. We opted for a beachside bungalow which was basic but very charming. I personally liked watching the little geckos run across our ceiling every morning, I don't think Dean was much of a fan.. After a little look around and some new sunglasses for Dean after he left his in Cambodia (silly) we headed down to Lamai beach which was opposite our little bungalows for some sun sea and sand. This is what the next few days consisted of amongst a lot of eating and drinking of course! One day we decided to do our own thing so I trekked a few km down the coast to see the hin tai and hin ya rocks while Dean lazed on the beach all day. And you all say I'm the lazy one! The rocks are famous as they resemble the human reproductive parts.. Please see the pictures for clarification.. The next day we went into Chaweng which is the main town on Koh Samui where all the parties take place. We spent the day at a beach club lazing round the pool which made a nice change from the tepid sea! We squeezed in another day of lazing on the beach before we got ready to make our way over to Koh Phangan for a few days.
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Koh Phangan
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A short and very scenic 45 minute boat trip and we were in Koh Phangan! Koh Phangan is famous for their full moon parties which they host once a month (when there is a full moon of course), however we had just missed one so the island was relatively quiet. We stayed in Haad Rin which is the full moon area, but as I said it was pretty quiet. There are 2 beaches here, sunset and sunrise beach. Sunrise beach is where the parties happen and sunset is much less vibrant. We stayed on sunset as the views are beautiful, but the other beach is only a 5 minute walk over the other side! As there was a pool at the hotel, which was a bit of a novelty, we spent most of our time there. Was nice to have a bit of a break from sea water and have some nice cool pool water! Every night we went down to the beach where the kids from the bars would perform a fire show. We were captivated by one of the little boys as he was too young to play with the fire he made his own entertainment! One night we met a couple from Newcastle who just happened to be doing pretty much the same trip as us so we planned to meet them in Koh Tao our next stop. On the same night we befriended a dog on the way home who ended up sleeping on our porch much to Deans delight. The sunsets on Ko Phangan were just to die for and it was a bit of a shame we only stayed for 3 days. On the morning of our last day we walked through the town to grab some breakfast. Little did we know that it was Thai New Year (Songkran) which means nearly everywhere is shut and a massive water fight which the entire country is involved in. To say we were unprepared was an understatement..
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Koh Tao
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We were safe for a couple of hours as we got the boat over to Koh Tao but all hell was breaking loose on the other side. Just walking from the taxi to the hotel we were soaked. It took us a bit of time to summon up the courage to step outside and have a look around. Not the best day to be in a completely new place! The streets were heaving with people and their buckets/water pistols. The locals were very playful and would usually just pour a bucket of water down your back. The tourists, as always, would just take it a step too far and were shooting people in the face with their water pistols. Not very clever or safe I thought! Luckily the water throwing had to stop when it was dark as it is too dangerous on the roads but we didn't go far before we crashed out. The next few days were spent on the beach, which wasn't quite as good as the other islands and the water was very shallow. We booked our snorkelling trip and arranged to meet up with the Geordies when they arrived in Koh Tao. They wanted to book onto our snorkel trip so we told them the name, however when the day came it turns out we were on a completely different trip! Whoops! Nevertheless we had a great day on a boat trip to a remote island and 4 other bays where we could snorkel in the very clear water. It was loads of fun, however the last bay we were supposed to be in able to see some nursery sharks and turtles which we were unfortunately unsuccessful at.. We met with the Geordies again that night for the boys to watch the football.. Again. We then said our goodbyes and that we would meet again at our next stop Koh Phi Phi. Another couple of days of relaxing on the beach before an early start to catch our 7 hour boat over to the mainland..
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Koh Phi Phi
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Well the journey to phi phi started off fine, a relatively short boat ride followed by an alright bus journey, there was only one leg left which was supposed to be the shortest bit. The boat from krabi to phi phi. About an hour they said.. Almost 2 and a half hours later on the hottest most uncomfortable boat ever we finally made it. There's no cars on phi phi and it is a pedestrian only island, so we walked for what felt like forever in the heat with our backpacks on before we found our guesthouse a little way up the hill. We were greeted by a very friendly British guy who owned the place before we settled in and got ready for our first night in phi phi. *Phi phi was one of the badly hit areas in the 2004 tsunami so there is a lot of debris still around.* Our guesthouse had 2 very stupid little dogs who we enjoyed playing with in the evenings. While most of the islands were full of dogs, phi phi is overrun with cats. They should rename it cat island, honestly there's that many!
We met up with the Geordies for some drinks and spent the next day with them at long beach just across the bay before we said final goodbyes as they were heading off to Koh Lanta and then Chang Mai in north Thailand. The next few days were filled with mainly relaxing on the beach. 1 day we hiked up to the viewpoint which was an absolute struggle for me. I gave up just before the end and headed back down where I was followed by some monkeys before I slipped and had a pretty hard knock. I was thankful Dean was around as I knew his assistance would stretch about as far as a laugh. However Dean said the viewpoint was very nice. Needing a good rest as we were doing a snorkel trip the next day, as always I thought I could sleep through anything. I met my match that night with a rooster who decided to cockadoodledo all bloody night, not amused. The next day on our snorkel trip, we stopped at one of the beaches on phi phi (Maya Bay) which is where the film 'The Beach' was filmed so it is an extremely popular place for tourists. However still very beautiful! We stopped in a few bay areas and an island where the water is really clear and beautiful. One of the bays was heaving with monkeys so it was pretty entertaining watching them swim around trying to steal things from the boat. We preferred the snorkelling in Koh Tao but it was still a good day. A couple more days of relaxing then it was our last day on our favourite island. We had one last drink at a nice place down the road which was owned by one of the tsunami survivors who had named areas of the bar after his loved ones who were sadly lost. Final goodbyes to the guesthouse owners and dogs and we were off to catch our boat to Railay.
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Railay
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A short boat ride and we arrived in Railay on the mainland. On arriving at the hotel we were 'upgraded' to a bungalow room which was a nice surprise! We then discovered that the kettle had the wrong plug and the hotel had no adaptors which meant no tea and coffee for us, I wasn't amused!
Railay is very small and doesn't have much around but there were a couple of little bars and some fresh seafood restaurants which seemed nice. We were lucky on our first night as there was a Thai boxing match, which we hadn't had the chance to see yet. Dean bet on red and I bet on blue, of course blue won. The next day we spent lazing around the pool which was wonderful in the heat before trying some local fresh seafood. The next day we walked over to Railay beach which was really beautiful. On the way back we stopped at one of the caves on the island. It wasn't until we were inside that we realised it was swarming with bats. I couldn't get out there quick enough! The last evening we met up with a girl that dean knew from back home as she was travelling alone and was doing the trip that we had already done so we gave her some pointers. A relatively early night as we had a very early start for our journey to Langkawi in the morning..

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