Hello once more, and perhaps for the last time until I'm back in the UK. I returned to Bangkok yesterday from Koh Samet, where I spent a fantastic four or five days. The rain cleared up after the first day, and the rest of my time there was spent under clear blue skies, relaxing on the beaches and exploring the whole park (the whole of Koh Samet is a national park) on my little red scooter. Alas, I have two saddening pieces of information to impart. Firstly, I'm ill. Having proudly told some fellow travellers that I hadn't once been ill in Asia from food poisoning, karma struck me down for my boastfulness, at about 1:30 this morning. Not pretty. Still, I'm sure I'll get over it soon enough :) The second item: I'm in mourning - my lovely guitar is no more. Having hired my little red scooter as soon as I got off the ferry to Koh Samet, I made it 200m down the road before swerving to avoid the ditch in front of me, and landed a few feet away from my bike...sadly on top of my guitar. Having heard the heart-wrending snapping of high  quality wood, it was only a few hours later that I could bring myself to look at it - it now lies in its grave, a short finger-bend from the clear blue ocean. Sniff sniff. Still, it lasted 9 months or so, which isn't a bad innings, and I hope it had a happy life.

Sitting at a bar on Koh San road yesterday, who should I see but South African Peter strolling towards me - having not seen him and his girlfriend (Laura) since Cambodia a couple of months ago, it was an awesome surprise - and our chance meeting led to a few beers and a chilled night at a blues bar within walking distance of Koh San.

My apologies guys, this entry surpasses all previous attempts on the boredometer. Be gracious and put it down to my being ill. A flight to Macau tomorrow, and hopefully a ferry to Hong Kong, then I'll have just one day of sightseeing before catching the final flight of the journey back to London Heathrow. Madness...

See y'all soon, xxx