08th - 15th Jan. Koh Tao Temperature: 34 degreesSea temperature: 27 degreesSea visibility: 6 - 12 metresCertified Open Water divers: 2 Fish attacks: 1 The island is only 1 and half hours away from Koh Pha Ngan by boat. Our journey was shared with a young guy who must have spent the evening before partying really hard, or he suffered from really atrocious travel/sea sickness! Mmm…not what you want to see on a boat, it's one of those contagious things like ...

05th - 07th Jan. Koh Pha-Ngan Temperature: 32 degreesTropical downpours: 3Mosquito bites; Carl:2 Vik: 15Surfing methods: 2 Our next island hop was to the famous Full Moon Party capital - Koh Pha-Ngan. This island is smaller and more mountainous than Samui, and slightly less developed. We stayed in Haad Rin which is where the Full Moon party takes place. Unfortunately we weren't there at the right time to experience it.We hadn't booked anywhere, so when we tur...

3rd Jan - Malaysia Visa run As we found out in Bangkok there was no way we could extend our 30-day tourist visa for any more than 7 days, which wasn't going to be enough. The only thing we could do was to leave Thailand and re-enter, thus getting a new 30 day visa. Luckily for us there were many companies in Koh Samui set up to do just this in one (long) day. A lot of ex-pats still have to do this every month. To gain Thai citizenship, not only do you need to m...

21st Dec. - 04th Jan. Koh Samui Temperature: 32 degreesSea temperature: 25 degreesRainy days: 4Carl's mosquito bites: 0 (no insect repellent)Vik's mosquito bites: 10 (loads of insect repellent)No. 7-11's per mile: 3 (American convenience stores) The journey on the bus took around 9 hours to arrive at Surat Thani where we were to catch the ferry to the island. We had to wait an extremely long time on the boat waiting for all the other buses to arrive (more backp...

15th Dec. - 20th Dec. Chiang Mai Average temperature: 28 degreesTenuous elephant rock formations: 15KMs on ped: 350kmStrange "it's a small world" happening: 1Fake goods bought: 1 Chloe bagStupid mistakes: 2 After having no sleep on the train, we arrived at a good time in the morning. We hadn't pre- booked anywhere to stay this time, so the taxi driver drove us around to see many guest houses including his sister's place. We finally found some apartmen...