So paradise has been left behind and I am currently writing this en route to the East coast to get to Ko Samui island.
To fill in the gaps from my brief post last time though. The snorkelling we did on the boat trip was unreal. Beautifully coloured fish around the coral, even fish like angelfish. There were some small light blue and yellow fish that kept quite close to the surface and at one point I turned around to find myself in the middle of a shoal of them. It was like it was in 3D! The fish just look nothing like they do in an aquarium and it really was amazing. We also stopped off at a small beach called Monkey Beach. And yes, it was full of monkeys, waiting for stupid tourists to feed them. There were monkeys holding up water bottles and drinking out of them like humans. One stupid tourist even gave a monkey a packet of Pringles and it was quite happily eating the Pringles one by one like we would. On a different level of stupidity, a man got out a whole bunch of bananas, took off one to feed to the nearest monkey and then put the bananas back in his rucksack. Obviously, all the monkeys started to attack him! They jumped all over him, biting and scratching him and started on his wife too who was stood next to him holding a small child. They just wouldn't leave them alone. At this point, I turned round to Ben who had disappeared and got back onto the boat, clearly scared of catching rabies!! I was ready to go too, they were getting quite rowdy! Apart from the scary waves at Maya Bay where 'The Beach' was filmed, it was a stunning place. The weather just didn't suit to stay long though, the wind was blowing the sea into your face when you were swimming and when on the beach you were just hurt by the sand blowing into you so hard. Being on a longtail boat in that weather anyway was horrible. Everything and everyone was soaked. That alone was pretty scary. I was trying to not look at the size of the waves.
On our last full day we walked up to the viewpoint on the island where you can see both sides of the bay. No wonder it was devastated in the tsunami, there's nothing to it between the two sides (I'll have to post a photo, or Ben probably already has!) The small strip between the pier side and the beach is where all the restaurants, bars and hostels are. We actually saw a postcard that was a picture from the viewpoint, but after the tsunami was hit so everything was flattened. Why you'd ever want to send a postcard like that I don't know, but it was quite interesting to be able to compare it. It was quite a hard walk up to the top in the heat, but well worth it. I did get a bit cross with Ben who was stood right near the edge, then sat down dangling his feet of a massive rock and with how clumsy he is I had to get him to move away!
On our last night we went to the beach party with two couples we had met that had been travelling on an organised tour. Anders and Anne-matte are from Norway, Graham and Claire from Scotland. Having to get up early for our boat the next morning wasn't great and I feared the worst but the sea was a lot calmer and I slept all the way over to Krabi on the mainland. We really liked the couples though and we have met quite a few people on this friendly island. Everyone we meet now is heading for the full moon party on the 18th, so it should be good to see a few people we know again. It seems like we had ages island hopping, but now it's more or less a week until we will be heading on another uncomfortable journey to sticky Bangkok to catch our flight to Vietnam. In a way though, I will be ready to get out of Thailand before it tires me. The temptations of buckets or general drinking can be too much when you meet people you want to socialise with and a lot of the time there's not much else to do! Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos should save us a lot of money as well. Now Thailand is so touristy, the prices match. Even China had cheaper beers.
Anyway, tonight is our third and final night in Samui before we head to Koh Phangan tomorrow, where the full moon party is held and our final island, for now. I haven't been that impressed with the island, it's far too touristy which has probably made it lose a lot of it's charm. Walking down the street you have people trying to shake your hand and get you into a conversation to sell you everything you could think of. Its really annoying. Even the clear sea was filled with lighters, beer bottle tops and takeaway cartons. We arrived without booking any accommodation again and not too long after, found a fan apartment that was clean with a fridge, free water daily and a pretty useless balcony for £12/night. We took it but couldn't sleep that night for all the hookers laughing outside, (too many of them and most looked about 15) the loud music and the stupid heat of the room. It was too big for fans to cope with. We moved yesterday to a hotel the same price that has air con (oh how I've missed you!) fridge with water again and in a better, quieter area for the budget travellers like us. All we did yesterday was have a little time on the beach (but just had lots of people trying to sell us things) and watched the football with celebratory beers and cocktails.
Today we went on a little trip of the island so that we have seen more of what it has to offer as I'm pretty sure I won't be coming back here!! We went to a viewpoint of the island which was nothing compared to Phi Phi, went to see some famous rocks in rude shapes! We went to a monkey farm where they showed us how they get the monkeys to climb trees and pick the coconuts off. We then had our photo with one on our arms! It was v cute and surprisingly very light and soft footed on you. We also went to see a monk that had been mummified for 30 years, (weird! He had Ray Bans on!!) a big waterfall where Ben had a swim, (picture) a big Buddha overlooking one of the beaches and a temple.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow as we have a pool at our hotel so it'll be nice to have a few cheap, relaxing days and get some sunbathing in and prepare for the madness of the full moon party!