Hello everyone,

We've been doing lots of travelling around since our last blog, which is why we haven't had a chance to update you. It's now our last day in Thailand and we're feeling a little bit sad about it!

We last left you in Bangkok with plans to see lots of Thailand. As we mentioned then, we went to Pattaya to meet our friends Daz and Willis. Pattaya, well, it was interesting to say the least. Daz met his Thai girlfriend there, Pom, who was able to direct us and order us various things! We stayed there for two nights and had a good look around. By day Pattaya is quite a nice beach resort, but as dusk falls, out come all the Ladyboyz like cockroaches from the cracks! All of the bars are filled with women shouting at you trying to get you in their bar, with lots of them dancing on tables, it looked like a scene from Cyote Ugly! Their are lots of seedy old men wondering around with young Thai brides on their arms, many of which we believe were probably of the same sex! On our second night, Daz introduced us to "Walking Street". Like the name suggests, their aren't many motor vehicles. The streets are crammed with all of the above, plus various guys holding snakes and iguanas. We even watched a young street performer do some breakdancing moves, which was quite amusing, as he was about 6 years old. He was actually pretty good, but we couldn't help thinking that he was being exploited by his dad, cheering him on. We also watched several Thai boxing fights, which were obviously staged, although they were still hitting each other pretty hard and were very entertaining.

The four of us decided that we'd had enough of city life, and all yearned for lying on the beach. So we consulted our Lonely Planet guide book (thankyou Kerry and Keith) and set out a route in search of sun, sea and snorkelling! We got a bus back to Bangkok and then caught a train to Chumphon. We had originally planned to get an overnight boat to Ko Tao, but knowone knew what we were talking about. So we opted for a later train, and a 7 a.m boat. We caught the train and somehow managed to find our stop having no help from the onboard crew member who was busy sleeping. The only info he gave, was that we'd arrive between 12:00 and 3:00a.m, useful. After arriving at 4:00 a.m, we had quite a wait for our boat, so we made ourselves comfy in Chumphon train station. Then came the rain and the leaking porch! After about an hours sleep, the bus came to pick us up. We were then told that the boat was stuck in Ko Tao because of bad wheather, and were forced to pay more money to get a better boat, apparently. It just sounded like a typical Thai scam. But we had no choice, and it was too early to argue. The boat took about three hours in total, and about an hour into it Shona felt a bit poorly ( i spent the remaining 2 hours being sick off the back of the boat (without the aid of drink!!) whilst Criag comforted me and other passengers gawped!). Once we pulled into the harbour though, it was worth being sick for, it was as if we had arrived in paradise. It didn't really look real, more like Tracey Island from Thunderbirds! We had a lovely week there, soaking up the sun, and at the fist opportunity we went and bought some snorkells. The water was so clear and there were so many fish to look at. Shona celebrated her birthday with a day of Scubba Diving which was amazing. We did two 40min dives and saw lots of beautiful and weird fishys, including an Eel, a Giant Clam, lots of Angel Fish and even a Coral Snake, not to mention all of the other hundreds of brightly coloured fish. Later that night we all got merry and celebrated in style!

Next stop was Ko Penghan, which had pretty similar veiws and surroundings. We made friends with various canines and even some humans. Our bungalow was situated in the middle of a swamp, with planks of wood leading us to our door. Here was the home of the famous Full Moon Party, and it was Craig's turn to be poorly (this time drink induced!). The beach was full of fire shows and some very drunk people all in neon paint. In the morning, it was Shonas turn again to be ill, and spent most of the day lying on the floor feeling sorry for herself! That day we left for Ko Samui.

This island is probably the most touristy that we have visited, and didn't stay that long as places were very expensive. The shops and bars were nice, and we all went out for some roasted pig on a spit. We then got a boat back to the mainland, where we caught a bus to Koh Sok National Park. This was a jungle, older than the amazon, filled with everything from Tigers and bears, to poisonous snakes and spiders, none of which we saw! We did however see lots of Monkeys and were able to feed them Bananas by hand. We also went tubing along a river and all got sore bums from hitting into the rocks!

Ko Phi Phi was our next port of call. We left the guys in Krabi to fend for themselves. Phi Phi was lovely, but again very expensive compared to what we've gotten used to. We stayed here for two night and genrally just lazed about the island as there wasn't much else to do.

We are now in Ko Lanta which has been very nice, apart from Craig losing his bank card! We visited an old town here and saw some elephants along the way, which was nice. Tomorrow we are heading back to the mainland and crossing the boarder into Malaysia. So if all goes to plan we shall fly out of Singapore on the 11th to be in Perth for Christmas. So we'll let you know how we've got on.

Love to you all, miss you lots xxxxx