We started our trip to Koh Samui by travelling by boat to Ko Phi Phi, then getting another boat to Phuket from which we were flying over to Koh Samui. Whilst the lack of sleep and blistering hot sun made this experience somewhat uncomfortable, we were fortunate enough to meet a gorgeous blonde haired blue eyed swede who went by the name of Axen. Ladies, I must point out one crucial point.... Axen was three. Axen was amazing, we bonded after I caught him eyeing up my coconut biscuits and we were best friends from then on. What could have been a mundane and uncomfortable journey turned into an hour of making animal impressions, running across the boats aisles and flicking through my iPhone pictures. We even got a personal serenade of the Swedish version of twinkle twinkle little star and we taught him round and round the garden and this little piggy went to market. He was honestly the cutest boy ever, I'm just sorry I didn't get a picture for you all to see :(

When we finally arrived at the airport and made it through the gate we couldn't wait to get on our flight, have a cheeky nap and wake up ready for Koh Samui. However, when we got onto the runway we weren't sure that a nap was such a good idea as we didn't think we would survive the flight. We were booked onto what can only be described as a baby plane with mini propellers and the aisles were reduced to two seats per row it was that small. Still, we made it through and even were surprise with an in flight meal even though the journey lasted 30 minutes so all in all it was a pleasant experience. After walking through perhaps the nicest looking airport and bartering our way to a decent taxi ride to our hostel, we arrived at "by beach resort" - Koh Samui's best kept secret. Our bungalow was literally a stone throw away from the beach. The area was lovely and secluded, which is exactly what we wanted - the real castaway feeling. We also managed to secure 5nights accommodation for a mere £25!! This place is perfect and I highly recommend you stop over here if you get the chance. The owner is lovely and he has 4 dogs - two golden revivers, one called maya (4months old) and one called lion (10months old) and two others called Pepsi and cola. So despite jetting half way across the world I still found myself sharing my dinner with a golden retriever. Brilliant.

We decided to finish our first long day off with a nice cocktail on the beach front in a bar 100 metres along from our bungalow. I also treated myself to some dessert and discovered the amazing combination of warm banana in coconut milk. It's simply divine, tastes just as delicious as custard but with a coconut twist. Honestly you should most definitely try this at home! Again we spent the evening playing with a puppy called lamb (a black Labrador). If I don't come back with rabies it has been a miracle!! When we finally retired to bed, lion decided he wanted to join us and snuggle up at the end of Amy's bed. We like to pretend to because he loves us but actually I think he is just using us for our air con..... b******.

We spent our first whole day in Koh Samui sunbathing on our beautiful private beach. A few hours basking in the sun resulted myself and Emma turning a glowing shade of pink. Needless to say mocking Emma's sunburn in Ko Phi Phi bit me in the ass. Thats karma for u!

A particularly low moment in life was when we popped to the local 7 eleven where a Thai man followed us around the shop secretly taking photos of us before approaching me personally and asking me to pose with him. I don't know whether it was because I was a westerner or because he had never seen a human being glow like an atomic bomb but either way I'm not sure I was flattered. I feel like tomorrow will be a day of sun block / Factor 50 and lots of shade....

Since I was living the life of a vampire, avoiding direct sunlight at every opportunity, we decided to spend the next day touring the island and visiting all the waterfalls and monuments. We were kindly driven around by a friend of our hostel owner for a mere £4 and he took us to see a mummified monk who had not only dedicated his life to the teachings of meditation, but he had also predicted his own death. So I guess that's reason enough to be put in a glass cage for tourists to gawp at you. I must admit whilst it was entertaining, I am glad they put ray bans on him as I'm not quite sure I could have handle his decomposed faces without his eyes. Grim indeed. We also saw the rock formation named grandpa and grandma rock (due to its resemblance of the human anatomy) as well as various giant Buddha statues and waterfalls. Naturally there was also time to stop off at another local market and I am now the proud owner of a wooden elephant and fat Buddha sculpture which will go marvellously in my make believe living room.

Later during the week we decide to visit chaweng beach which is the hub of all things touristy on ko samui. Since I didn't want to risk any further burn age I decided it might be best if I hide under a sun umbrella for the day. I didn't expect though for the same price as an umbrella to be able to hang out in my own beach front cabana, complete with white drapes and beautiful flowers. I felt very glamorous and since it only cost me a pound I could afford a cheeky cocktail alongside. I most definitely could get used to this. Emma spotted a beach side infinity pool and after begging the pool bar waitress, she granted us access so long as we bought a drink. This delightful experience didn't last long. We aren't quite sure whether it was calling amy over to take our picture or whether me whipping my top off and swimming in my bra rumbled us to the manager but after pretending that we were guests of the hotel and failing to convince him otherwise we had to leave. Still we had 15 minutes of sheer bliss and a photo so what more could we ask for? I'm not sure the waitress appreciated us telling tales on her, pointing to her and saying in a very child like manner "she said we could".... I hope she didn't get fired and is now having to appear in ping pong shows to support her family....,,Oops.

Whilst we weren't intending on staying in Ko Pang Nang (I know my spelling is atrocious) we wanted to experience the half moon party so we paid to be shuttled over with a handful of other excitable tourist on a speed boat, only to return again the next morning at 5am. Despite a shaky start (I.e. the boat was broke and we thought we might have to swim over) we finally arrived and decided to cover ourselves in neon paint before indulging in some Samg Son buckets. We had decided to try some of this local rum before we left our resort and for £1.50 a bottle who could blame us? The rum was surprisingly drinkable however it is most definitely to blame for my dancing on a barrel all night, I dread to think what shapes I pulled up there. We happened to meet some guys as they asked to join our table and we found it rather funny that the first English people we met since travelling half way across the world lived in Luton! As the midnight munchies kicked in Amy and I decided in what looked like pepperoni pizza however the crunchy texture and dodgy after taste leads me to believe that it may have been something different. I may have eaten dog for all I know - sorry max. It's nothing personal I promise.

After a full evening of dancing like a tit we dragged our tired legs to the pier only to discover that the speedboat had not previously picked up the other backpackers and all calls were going to voicemails. After 5 minutes of star gazing the booze wore off and the reality kicked in. We were screwed. Thankfully we had met a group of Germans - also known as super homies on YouTube (they have their own backpacking channel) on our boat out and these lads had reached an agreement with a local fisherman to be taken back to Ko Samui and there were a few spaces left which they decided to give to us. I can honesty say in 24 years I have never met a nicer bunch of people. They had paid for us to get home along with 10 other strangers and they even sacrificed their life jackets for us. I honestly felt like I was filming a scene from titanic as our weedy little long tail boat left the pier and people started running over shouting "wait for me" trying to jump on the already overcrowded boat. Like illegal immigrants we crossed the ocean in pitch black, an experience which was made even better as the fisherman ran out of petrol half way and his boat came to an abrupt halt. As much as Leonardo Dicaprio makes it look easy in the beach, I did not fancy my chances trying to swim to shore. Thankfully that was not necessary as the fisherman managed to locate some petrol but my heart has never beat so fast in the mean time. Exhausted and dazed we arrived back at 7am and we finally crawled into bed at 9am. Still we were lucky enough to experience a stunning sunrise that morning so every cloud....

On our last day we went to Bophut beach for a last bit of sun burning (lets face it I don't tan). That night we trawled through the fisherman's village for our last souvenirs before returning to our favourite bungalow for a night cap. Again, like Chaweng beach, the beach on Bophut was beautiful but it wasn't as peaceful as Bang Po so make sure if you visit Koh Samui you try all beaches out!

Eventually we had to face reality and the girls had to return to the UK and I was about to be joined by Adam to embark on Vietnam. We had a long day of travelling from Koh Samui through Surathani to Bangkok. Again they tried to get us to board a bus which was heading to krabi (what is it with that place?!) but thankfully the girls corrected him and we ended up where we were meant to be.

I was beyond sad to see the girls leave as I have had the most amazing 3 weeks jam packed with adventure, drama and endless laughter and I can't wait for us to plan our next adventure. I was excited to see Adam but I will definitely miss them both and it will feel strange not seeing them for 5 months especially given how much we have been in each others pockets over the last few weeks. It has been immense thank you both for everything. ..... Me love you long time :)

Xxxxxxxxxxxx