Thailand's Beaches & Islands - three and a half weeks of pure bliss.

From Bangkok we headed south and after a brief stop in Hua Hin, we got the night ferry over to Ko Tao. Well, we say a ferry but it was more a family's fishing boat! There were only 5 backpackers on board which was great as more space for us to lay out on the mattresses and have a snooze. We arrived in Ko Tao at 6am and the diving companies were there to greet us! We ended up going with a company on the south side of the island - Joel did his PADI Open Water and Clare did 8 fun dives. The diving is fantastic here, no wonder everyone comes here to get qualified. The last 2 nights on the island we moved to a bay only accessible by boat so you can imagine how remote it was and our bungalow was on a cliff with wonderful views. It was a shame to leave!

Next island was Ko Phangan and that turned out to be just as good as Ko Tao (without the diving!). We stayed on the west coast for 5 nights in a bungalow on the beach which was awesome. Hired a scooter, semi automatic at 1st, but after Clare nearly falling off the back when the bike did a wheelie going up a hill, took that back for an automatic! Did some snorkelling here too, was okay was as it was a full moon the currents were strong. Went to the Full Moon Party and that was pretty crazy but what an experience!

We only spent 3 nights in Ko Samui and not sure we'd even go back there. It was really expensive and full of fat old western men with young Asian women, English pubs and bars and what not. Not exactly what we're looking for on the other side of the world! The beach we stayed at on the west coast was beautiful though but the weather was pretty crap - storms! So, on to our next island...

Ko Phi Phi. Wow - really beautiful here but also very very busy so everyone there tries to get your dosh! As soon as you get off the ferry they tell you the cheapest room on the island is $60, you walk 5 mins and find a room for $20! Cheeky b*****s. Anyway...we did an island tour and snorkelling which was amazing - highlight being the black tipped reef sharks that we were actually swimming after! Apparently they are harmless! We also did some diving here which was as good as Ko Tao - we did our 1st wreck dive, an 85m car ferry and it was spooky but wicked at the same time! Last highlight was camping on "The Beach" (from the film) and what a night! After all the day trippers had gone we were the only ones there which was great, swimming at night and star gazing, drinking and chatting to other backpackers on the same trip. To wake up to the crystal blue sea was an experience and a half!

Last island was Ko Lanta which we loved too! We were here for 6 nights and pretty much sunbathed, read, swam, ate and drank! We did hire a scooter for one day to explore the island and see other beaches etc. The people here were so friendly, this island is nowhere near as busy as the others, which is probably what is so nice about it.

And now.....we are in Borneo! We climb Mount Kinabalu on Thursday but you'll get that update in the next blog! Hope all is well.

Love Clare & Joel xxx