Sawadee Ca

Met the girls last night in Hat Ri n (29the Dec), much busier and more of a clubbing holiday vibe compared to our hotel in Ban Thai which is more relaxed and out of the way. The taxi to Hat Rin is like an open truck, open to anyone to jump in along the way, costing 100 TB each way. We headed to watch a thai boxing match and Hayley had met a girl called Lauren a few days before who came along as well. The thai boxing match cost us 150 TB just for some seats at the back. Randomly we got asked if we would like to move closer the the front area, all 7 of us!!! So there we were, the 7 odf us girls right at the front, drink in hand...not knowing wha to expect. Bit weird having an English spokeman, sounded cockney and we're in the middle of Thailand! There were 5 matches, age ranging from 10 years old!!! to 46!!! Was good fun but watching the small boys wasn't very nice. Also before each fight they would do a respectful dance, bopping of the shoulders with wierd soothing music. We still bust the moves now and again.

Later we headed to coral bungalows for a pool party. Was freat fun and met aload more people. We had no bikinis with us but a few of us just lept in the pool fully clothed. Everyone we met seemed to be Australian. This was like a pre warm up to the full moon party.

Following day we just chilld at our own hotels, weather very versitile, one minute sunny, next minute cloudy, next minute monsoon, but still very humid!! That night we headed back into Hat Rin for a meal (which was hard to eat as there were cats and dgs running around everywhere!!) and to get our clothes for the full moon party...the brighter the better!!!! We all opted for the bright pink shorts, a yellow t shirt, body neon paints etc.

New years eve again wasn't very good weather (even thunder) so w just chilled on the beach people watching and reading. We met some really nice guys from Brighton who were here just travelling some of the islands in Thailand. You meet alot of people doing such a similar route to yourself, and everyones happy to talk about places they've been.

That evening our hotel hosted a compulsory gala dinner, they put on a really good show withThai dancers, and the food was lovely...pad thai noodles!! A whole range to cater for everyone, and thy have alot of vegetarian foods here too, tofu is very popular, even though it tastes like soft rubber! The dinner was good fun, played drinking games with people we met, so many were from Australia and especially from Melbourne, they are so keeen to tell you about their country and thy sound so enthusiastic all the time, then they ask where we're from...the table goes quiet...well it's not that bad but you wish you had something good to say about England!! Learnt some funny phrases already..."a dingbat killed my baby"..."skull it"

After the gala dinner we headed off to cover ourselves in neon paint. We said we would meet the other girls by 9....by this time it was already 10!! We got a bit carried away but it was so much fun. Every colour you could imagine...and it came off within about 5 minutes from sweating!!! We eventually headed to the full moon party, for those staying abit further out there was an entry charge of 100 TB.... we already had a bucket in hand! The taxi drive was pretty awful though. The roads are so under developed out here that we were bopping all over the plave. The taxi is like an open truck, and you just pile in, costing 100 TB each way. When you pass some bars you start to notice the prostitution trade, with young and old Thai women all sitting outside bars, and also you see alot of older European men with younger thai girls, the real gross looking men though, really big and with an extra long ponytail (making me sick even thinking about it)

So...the full moon party....BRILLIANT!! Very busy but it added to the atmosphere. We managed to find the other girls near enough straight away at the cactus bar where we rounded up the drinks ready to see in 2011. There were loads of chinese lanterns in the sky, fireworks going off all round, then 12 o'clock hit and everyone around was wishing everyone a happy new year. Chloe and Nikki found it really emotional, just the thought of home, but in a good happy way. We all had a drink for our family and friends...them partyed on until 7am!! We headed back to our hotel and we all experienced this wave of hunger...our stomaches were literally eating away at us...so we headed straight for breakfast... even if it was noodles and salad!

Again the following day the weather was on and off (so by this time we are still albinos, maybe a shade darker, like a rich tea biscuit) we just pondered around mailing home and listening to music. It is quite daunting how lonely times can be even though you are part of a bigger group. You have alot of thinking time, it feels like a time to clense your mind or something and reflect on like at home. WQe had to book our accomodation and travel to our next island, Ko Tao, which Cheryl, Hayley and nikki done a fantastic job as pretty much everywhere was fully booked.

On the 2nd Jan we had an earlyish start, taxi at 11 leaving power beach resort, Ko Pangan, to take us to the port to catch our ferry at 11.30. Chloe wasn't feeling too good and when we arrived there was a long row of food stalls, selling cooked chicken and sandwiches. We started to borad the ferry and the smells got too much for Clo and she was sick. The type of boat this time was the basic of all basic ferries!! Uncomfortable, not alot of room and no air conditioning.... a two hour journey to Ko Tao. Clo was sick another 2 times and alot of people around us were doing the same. From carry all your luggage in the heat and waiting arounf in queues it can be tiring and you feel like you have a body overload of heat and exhaustion. As we approached Ko Tao you could tell instantly it was the nicer island. It had beautiful greenery, clear waters, very busy around the port, large huts situated amongst the trees in the mountains. As soon as we got off the ferry, you could easily get a taxi. We had one take us to view cliff hotel....we thought the roads were bad in Hat Rin...well it is the equivalent to motor coss!! As we pulled up to the hotel it really didn't look all that but as we went up to the rooms they were perfect for what we needed. The best thing we have found so far is to get a room with space! Woth all of our luggage it's a must!!

The girls went for a walk and to grab something to eat, by this time it was around 5pm. Jo started to feel abit rough soon after and wnt and joined Chloe in the room where they were both sick (We were rolling around on the bed as we just could not get up...then we were laughing as we had sudden urges for specific food...Jo fancied maryland cookies and Clo fancied Ritz biscuits. We kept trying to drink water but it just didn't want to stay down. The other girls managed to book a boat trip for us for the following day, snorkelling around the island with an early start at 8.30am. Clo was sick again in the night...bu come the morning sh felt well enough to join the gang. here was 9 of us in total on the boat trip and it was fantastic!! The island was so beautiful, there were large rock formations on the outskirts of the island, clear white sand and so many green palm trees. We had plenty of stop offs to jump off the boat and snorkel. All of us gave it a go...with our rubber flippers as well. They seemed to make it harder though as they were solong there was so much resistance against the water. We had great fun and saw aload of tiny fishes, all different colours, unfotuantly we didn;t see any sharks, only tiny ones measuring about 1metre long, but no luck today. Around 2pm we stopped off at an island called Nanuang...our faveourite so far. It is a diving resort that offers free accomodation if you take up one of the courses, for this you need a good solid 5 days though, costing around 250.00(can't find the pound sign)....Very posey and a small island, but the weather was lovely and hot, clear blue skys. We had an hour and a half on this island, just relaxing and sunbathing. Clo was sick another 2 times, but felt better clearing whatever it was out of her system. We headed back to the boat at 3.30pm and we got back to Ko Tao for 4pm. It was an excellent day as we all wanted to actually get out and do something and see a bit of these islands. That evening we ha a nice meal altogether and headed back for an early night. As we had trouble finding accomodation for that night, we only kept on the one room that slept 4...so we were all crammed in together which was an experience.

Following day we were on the move again, leaving Ko Tao and heading to Ko Samui (a much better boat journey via the catermaran which took 2 hours). So far we hadn't heard many good things about the island, it had been compared to a Thai version of Magaluf. We arrived at 1pm 4th Jan, weather really hot and we could notice the difference staright away from Ko Tao and even Ko Phangan....a busy area, much more built up, ore commercial (has a pizza hut!!! boots, burger king, and yes....Mcdonalsds...just to make it very CLEAR we will not be eating in any of those) The beach is very lively, but we feel it's a different vibe to places like magaluf and malia etc, it's more funky, has a wider range of nationalities, yet still posry. Women with a little G-string thong on and the perfect body....but hey we've said it's all about the tan, it makes you looks healthy and gives you a better glow!!

Will update more soon....It's actually quite difficult to keep up the momentum of keeping a travel blog but we will do the best we can!

Things to remember from Ko Phangan:

Wear shoes to the full moon (Clo cut the heel of her foot from broken glass and we headed to the first aid clinic and let me tell you, you wuld have thought the girls were running the place)

You've not been to Ko Phangan if you haven't got a bandage

Fire and drunk people mix well

Everyones from Melbourne

Things to remeber from Ko Tao:

Try do some sort of boat trip, this island was our favourite by far out of the three

Hold on for dear life for the taxi ride

Everyones breath stinks on the ferry

Things to remember from Ko Samui:

It's true what they say about Thai brides

Watch your bag!! The little kids are out in full force of an evening wanting to play connect4...we are gonna poke their god damn eyes out if they come near us again

Iguanas, Monkeys and even a seagull....yes a SEAGULL..."you want picture"

Much love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Everyone pack your bags and come out and meet us...thanks)