24th jan-

Today we went to Anthong Marine Park which is just off of samui, it's made up of 42 islands and filled with so much marine life!

We had to get up at half past 6 so we could get there. We got picked up f half past 7 after lots and lots of breakfast! We got picked up in a mini van which was so full! We were the only English people on- everyone else was Chinese. When we got to the boat everyone else had breakfast and enjoyed the early sun. I think we took the slowest boat ever!! It shouldn't have taken over an hour but oh no- it took two hours!!

When we FINALLY arrived it was simply stunning, lots of little islands in a small space. We pulled up into a cove and moored up. We then got longtail boats to shore, this was so funny. They probably put about 30 people on this wooden longtail boat, and everytime another person got on the boat it rocked so much and you literally thought it was going to capsize! We got to the shore and we went kayaking! This was literally amazing!! We went in and out of caves and we saw the biggest crap I have ever laid eyes on! Cherry and I were chuffed with ourselves, we were so speedy, literally in front of everyone! But on the way back we decided to just chill and catch some sun. The kayaking was amazing because you could get so close to the island, and see everything.

We ended going back to the shore where we explored the beach, cherry wasted no time climbing a rock and struggled a little to get down!! We waited and waited while the other group went for their kayaking session, but when they were nearly back we got taken back to the boat where the most delicious lunch was waiting for us. Steamed rice, sweet and sour chicken, curry, fried chicken and fruit. Yum.

Again though we had to wait around for a long time but eventually we moved around to another cove. Here we walked up 100m of steps (we both thought it was going to be a lot higher than it was) it was seriously hot and we walked up the tiniest steps, so there wasn't a lot of space to get your feet onto, but we did it so quickly. The view point was very pretty, one side we could see some of the 42 islands and on the other side there was the emerald lagoon which was stunning!

We then went snorkeling which was a tad disappointing. Especially after phi phi! We were warned that at this time of year it's usually cloudy. But the water was so cloudy it was very difficult to see anything. We swam right out and probably only saw around 20 fish. We weren't the only people who were a little disheartened though! So we gave up with the snorkeling quickly and just went on the beach. The cove was in the shade which as a shame but we spent about an hour just people watching!! It's amazing how many men wear speedos I don't really understand how they think it looks good!!!

When we got back to the boat it was time to head back!! So we had another two hr boat ride, both of us fell asleep, cherry fell asleep with her head dangled over the side of the boat and woke up abruptly to a face full of sea water!!

We got back at around half 6, we got ready to go out and decided against having dinner. We took the healthiest option possible and got ice cream sundaes- and oh my god- they were good!!! Cherry opted for a chocolate ring a ding which I went for a hot fudge banaza! They were amazing. After we headed to a bar called ark bar, this was such a chilled beach bar, you could literally lie on the beach with a cocktail and it was so chilled out. We met some friends there and quickly got chatting to other people! Some Russian boys bought us all a flower necklace, then came over to talk to us, and we just moved around different tables, we met Germans who were really nice, cherry took a liking to one especially (don't know what her thing is for Germans!!) and we also met some people from Slovakia who were the funniest people! They were crazy!

We stayed probably until just after midnight and walked home which took around an hour, it was such a chilled and lovely evening!