After my long trip I decided that it was about time to do some proper tourist stuff so I booked a us down to Ko Pha Ngan so i could go sit on a beach and not do anything for a while. The next day I was on a night bus heading south. Then on a ferry and after a total of 16 hours of travel I was finally there. I had got hold of Helene who was still there and she had booked me a Bungalow on the beach. It was a beautiful place called Mac's Bay Resort in Ban Tai (about half way between Thong Sala and Hat Rin) Apparently it is where they hold the Black Moon parties. The Bungalow was great. I had a hammock outside and only about 10 meters to the beach from my front door. 

After dropping off my stuff I made my way along the beach to Helene's Bungalow and met Johnny (from Ireland) and we too up the positions we would spend a lot of time in, sitting on our bums. Actually, that's not true, there was also lying down and walking to the water and swimming. It was great.

There was a restaurant next door which served delightful food. It did take a long time to get it though but we let it slide due to the fact that the lady making it had to be about 8 months pregnant, probably closer to 9. The strange part was that the menu hardly had any Thai food and it was always more expensive. (There was even a restaurant we went to that didn't have any Thai food.) But the thing that tis restaurant had going for it was the atmosphere. There were lost of pillows and low tables. There were lots of lazy afternoons spent there relaxing when the sun got too much.

Johnny had to get an extension on his visa so we took a day trip to Ko Samui. We got up very early to get the first boat at 7am. However, when we got to the port we were told that there was no ferry that day. If we wanted to go we had to get to the other port and catch the 9.30 am boat. I'm sure the lady at the taxi place already knew there wasn't one but wanted to get our money for 2 taxi rides instead of one. 

Once in Samui we hired some motorbikes to get around on. Within 5 min we were cruising the streets, then, crossing a main road I made a boo boo. Trying to push up to the line I used too much accelerator along with the break on some sand and ended up skidding across the main road between cars. Luckily the sand also made the crash a lot less damaging. All I ended up with was some scratches and a few bruises. THe best part was the bike didn't come off too badly and when we took it back the lady didn't check it and I was saved the hefty bill you get for a scratch. 

We went the whole way round the island stopping at a beautiful waterfall and a few beaches. then to a massive Buddha named "The Big Buddha" funnily enough. We had some lunch and then drove around a little more till it was time to get back on the boat.

A few days later was the Full Moon Party. Now I have never had a great urge to go to one of these things but it was free and I was there so we got a group of us (3 of us and another 3 from the hostel) and we went along later to avoid the drunken mess that is a full moon party. The difference of getting there late was that instead of people being all around you they are just all over the ground. I don't think I have ever seen so many passed out people in my life. I spent the first 5 min stopping and making sure they were alright but after that it was just too much trouble (the bars also pay people to make sure people are alright, there is even an area for people to have "quiet time"). We were there till sunrise which was very beautiful then we headed back to the hostel to get ready for the after party. We sat in the sun for  long time that day. It turned out to be the hottest one I had there. The after party was good, lots of people sitting around and chatting, a bit of dancing. At about 6pm bed started calling so it was a lazy stroll down the beach watching the sunset. 

All in all it was fun. I enjoyed the whole experience a lot more than I expected to. 

The rest of the time on the island was all about the relaxing. I don't really remember what I did or those 3 days. It involved a lot of sitting and sun and reading but that's about it. I think.

The bus ride back to Bangkok was interesting. It started with a ferry to the mainland

then a bus to where my bus was. It all started to go a little funny when we were getting off the bus. You show them your ticket and they tell you where to go. That all worked until I realized that my ticket was not the same as the people standing next to me. I asked the guy and he told me that it was "same same" (I am just going to interrupt this story with a rant.... Now, everything in thailand is "same same but different" you will hear it everywhere. I agree that the bracelets and t-shirts you buy are "same same" but when it comes to a bus ticket, there is no "same same" especially when the other ticket has a different destination printed on it. there is nothing more un-nerving then having someone say "same same" in a situation like that. Actually there is, when they then take your ticket and disappear for 5 minutes. Thank you, I'm done) Where was I? oh yes, the ticket. So eventually, as we were sitting in another bus, he had a proper look at my ticket (the 5th time I had shown him). He had a very panicked look on his face and he ran off with my ticket. Eventually he came back telling me I was supposed to go with a different person (who had gone) and be 10km down the road. But, he was willing to take me there for only 60 baht, the b******. I ended up swapping my ticket with a guy who was trying to get on the same bus as his friend. I think that was a mistake because this bus company did not look very professional. We were taken from the office to another place where we were told to wait and the bus would be here at 8.30 (we were supposed to leave at 7) After waiting for an hour, the same van came to pick us up and took us to another place and told us that the bus would be there at 9. All the time there was money changing hands between the various people and we never saw any tickets. I'm sure it was just an elaborate plan to make us spend money at each place. We were doing better than the guy trying to get to Pukhet. He was now being told that he would have to stay the night. But, eventually the bus came and we got to Bangkok 2 hours early. I'm not sure how but it happened.

So yes, sitting in Bangkok at 5am waiting till 6am the next day for my flight to Laos.