As most of you will probably know we are now back in sunny Aberdeen! It has actually been quite sunny since we got back on Monday but we woke up to snow this morning!! We thought we would have missed all the cold weather but it's been quite a welcome change to the heat and humidity we've gotten used to. Anyway we finished off our trip with a week in Thailand as our flight home was booked from Bangkok. We decided that after the quiet chilled out time we had in Phu Quoc that we would go for something a bit more lively in Thailand. We decided to try Koh Samui which was not too far from where we were in the Gulf of Thailand. Unfortunately, there was'nt an easy way to get there so we ended up flying from Phu Quoc back to Saigon, then from there to Bangkok and then onto Samui. We left the hotel in Phu Quoc at about 12:30 and arrived at our hotel in Samui at about 23:00 so it was a fairly long day of travelling and sitting around airports.Probably our least favourite bit about travelling!

Koh Samui is the second largest of the Thai islands after Phuket. We decided to stay on Bophut Beach in the north of the island which is slightly quieter than the main beach resorts of Chaweng and Lamai but there is still plenty going on. The hotel was really nice and right on the beach in a great location next to Fishermans Village, but was probably a little bit too busy for our liking. The beach was nice though and never felt that crowded even with all the hotels and restaraunts along the beach front. A lot of the restaurants set up tables on the beach at night for dinner which is pretty cool. Fishermans Village is also a great place to go in the evenings as there's loads of great little bars and restaurants. We never really ventured that far from the hotel so never saw an awful lot of Samui but it looks like a really nice island with loads of stuff to do. The airport was an interesting experience as it's pretty much all outdoor with small wooden buildings and a real island feel. When you are sitting in the departure lounge you are basically sitting on the side of the runway with the planes thundering past just outside!

After 4 nights on Samui it was onto the metropolis of Bangkok which is a city we both love visiting. We only had a couple of nights in Bangkok but had really just planned to stop off there for some retail therapy before heading home as the shopping there is amazing. We stayed at the Siam Kempinski hotel which is right next to the Siam Paragon shopping centre and walking distance to Siam Centre, Siam Square and the legendary MBK shopping centre. MBK has a few legitimate shops and a big department store but most people go for the knock-off stuff. You can buy absolutely anything there and it's sometimes difficult to tell the fakes from the real thing as some of the fakes are really good quality. As we'd been travelling fairly light up until now we had to buy a couple of 'Samsonite' suit cases to take all our shopping home!!

So, after abouts 12 weeks on the road, 17 flights and 7 countries our little adventure has now come to an end. We've had an absolutely brilliant time and it's been an experience we will never forget. Going on holiday will never quite be the same again though! Thanks for reading our blog and for all the messages and support while we were away. Till next time.....Barry & Vanessa xxx.