Oh it's hot - so very hot - can hardly believe you're all freezing in Blighty! We spent yesterday just bumming around the bunglow, in a desperate effort to help me climatise to this very hot country - what a wuss! Anyway the Germans in the bungalow next door were very amused by my plight, and nice Mr swimming-trunks-pulled-up-to-his-armpits even shared his lychees with me - it's a lot more innocent than it sounds, honest!

Anyway, feeling a bit braver (and not quite so red), we had a very early start to get the first ferry to Ko Phi Phi today. The owner of our resort took us to the pier in the back of his pick-up truck, so we finally got on the boat with very bruised bottoms after being bounced up and down a few dirt tracks to get there. The boat journey was amusing - the captain of the ship came running on deck to ask everyone to stay on one side of the boat, as it was leaning rather closer to the sea than he would have liked. Yikes.

An hour later we arived at Phi Phi (pronounced Pee Pee - that made me chuckle) and it wasn't a disappointment. It's gorgeous - like something out of a movie (oh yes, it was the film set of 'The Beach' wasn't it?) - so we had a lovely day mooching around the island, and playing cards on the beach. I kept winning which was irking Mike, then we noticed that 11 cards are missing from the deck. I think it's a testament to my skill that I could whoop his ass even with most of the hearts missing, but he begs to differ. In fairness, when we played cards with our other (complete) pack yesterday, he beat me every time. Ah shucks. We also had lunch in a nice beach-side cafe, where Mike ate his zillionth phad thai since we arrived, and I demolished some more of the local fruit. Again it was very good, apart from when a large cockeral strutted up to us and eyed Mike very evilly as he speared a piece of chicken - it's the first time i've ever seen Mike go off his food.

What else to report? Well, Mike says he's sick to death of being eaten by the local mossies - his legs look like a patchwork quilt at the mo - so i'm trying to convince him to go the Mexican route and drink some tequila (have I got that right, or is that an old wives tale?) Oh and we're planning on watching his beloved Villa play West Brom in one of the beach bars tonight - most exciting (ahem!).

Tomorrow we're heading North, hoping to find a more Susie-friendly climate, so we've got an 18 hour journey ahead of us - a drive, followed by 2 ferries, followed by another 2 buses. Then the overnight bus to Bangkok (to pick up our passports which are currently being held by the tourist office while they deal with our visas for Vietnam), then another train to Kanchanaburi where we're staying on the River Kwai. I'll report in again soon, but in the meantime, hope you're all staying well - and thanks for all the lovely emails and messages.

Much love as ever, Susie and Mike xxx