Koh Samui!!!

Right - I am actually writing this from Bangkok and have just left Sar a few hours ago at the airport :(. Am missing her terribly so i'm trying to take my mind off it by updating my blog!

So - we found those lovely little bungalows on Lamai beach - cant actually remember the name now... they were next to Coconut Resort. We chilled out that day and went for a look around the markets which were great! We went swimming and just lounged around on the beach that day. We had arranged to meet Andrew - the Canadian guy who Mike met on the night train, and Lisa and Kelly, another 2 girls we met on the way over, at 3 Monkeys bar in Chaweng that evening. We also messaged Gina & Lesley who met us too. Me, Sar and Mike went for a mexican before we met them but I was feeling ill again from the bloody malaria tabs so i ate about 2 mouthfuls and couldn't stomach any more!!!

The next day we just chilled on the beach again... we woke up at 8am, scrambled out from underneath our mosquito net and opened the door of our little bungalow. That was such an amazing feeling.... looking out at the clear blue sea and sun beaming down on the soft white sand beach... a very happy moment! Me and Sar got ready quickly and made the most of it by going for an early morning swim!

That night, we walked up to Gina & Lesley's bungalows where we met Andrew too and walked down the beach to this pool party. Everyone was on the buckets again but me and Sar haven't been able to drink much alcohol for some reason. I thought it was the malaria tablets but i've been off them for over a week now and i still cant seem to stomach more than a couple of drinks. Anyway... we had a great night... we moved on from there to a women's thai boxing show which was good... then made our way down to the end of Lamai beach looking for a little reggae bar that the girls found earlier but everyone was a bit drunk and we didn't get very far!

The next day we rented a jeep out which was so much fun! We drove up north to Big Buddha Island - there are amazing views of Koh Phangan from the top and the Buddha is MASSIVE!!! It can be seen from miles away so it was geat to get right up close. Sar loved it and we did this kind of fortune telling thing right next to the temple. Interesting! I look a pic of mine and I will upload it when I can get my camera working again.

I did most of the driving that day and it was great! We drove down through Chaweng and Lamai to the Grandmother and Grandfather rocks. They are natural rock formations which look like female and male genitalia! Very funny!! Although the male one was very obvious... we had a bit of trouble finding the female one... we spent a while climbing over rocks looking for it but we were very hot and bothered... it was more than likely the rock that we were standing on knowing us but hey!!! The male one is impressive!!

We then went to Wat Khunaram where the mummified monk is! This monk has been dead over 4 decades but his corpse is preserved sitting in a meditative pose and wearing a pair of sunglasses!!! Very bizarre but also very creepy as we looked closely and could still see his skin ... all grey and wrinkled up and even his hair on his head!!! He was said to have predicted his own death but i think he just killed himself.

Whilst we were here we were approached by a monk who offered to bless us!! He had us all sit in front of him whilst he dipped this straw thing into sacred water then splashed it on our heads whilst chanting at us! It was so funny .... we could hear the occasional 'good luck for you, good luck for you' coming out!!! Sweet little monk!!! He then put these bands around our wrists which we are never to take off as it is bad luck... just let them fall off on their own. Mine started off white but is now a lovely shade of grey/brown!!!

We then drove to Na Muang falls - Sar decided she wanted to take over the driving in the jeep. We got half way up the hill with Mike trying to look cool sitting on the back on the jeep and whilst attempting a gear change, Sar stalled and we started rolling back!! HAHAH!! funny ... but if someone was behind could have been dangerous for poor Mike!!! We parked the jeep at the top and started a TREK (yes another trek) to the viewpoint and waterfall. It brought back memories of our hilltribe trek and Sar was in a bad way after a while!! Ahh sis - how funny!!! We were so out of breath and all i could hear from Sar behind was 'trekking... trekking' and quite a few swear words!!! What an amazing view of Samui from the viewpoint though when we got there!! Couldn't say much for the waterfall.

That night we sat in a bar on the beach - or rather - we layed down on these cushion thingys on the beach with a friendly little dog and a few wines chatting and watching the sun go down. This is such a good memory this night. We let of a good luck lantern and just laughed loads. After a few drinks we went for a swim in the dark... (mum dont worry!) and we floated in the still water looking up at the stars in the sky just so so so happy!! What a great moment!!! Then me and Sar got all hungry from the drink and proceeded to shove on any clothes we could find and run round to McD's for an oreo mcflurry!! HAHAAHAH!!

The next day we were due to get the boat over to Koh Phangan but it started raining so we got stuck in a beach bar drinking malibu & pineapple and had a little lunch... spicy papaya salad thai style... YUM!!! We decided to get the 4pm ferry instead of the 2pm. We left at 3pm and could not find a cheap taxi ANYWHERE...!! So spent a while haggling and managed to find one who drove THE longest way to Big Buddha beach and we ended up missing our ferry! We had to wait around for the 6.30pm. We got to Koh Phangan with nowhere to stay!! ME and Sar had been ringing around bungalow resorts for the last 2 hrs with no luck. Someone had recommended me Leela Beach Bungalows so we walked about half hour with our massive bags to find it through the dark jungle roads!!! We managed to get a room which was the most disgusting place i've ever seen!! NEVER STAY HERE!!! Mike got a room at the Lighthouse where the girls where staying so me and Sar trapsed around Had Rin for the whole evening trying to find a room but everywhere was booked bcs full moon was the next day...!! We got back to that bungalow and layed our plastic macs out on the stinking bug ridden bed, then my sarong, THEN our silk sleeping liners... and i still got bitten by bed bugs. The mosquito net had massive holes in it, we saw a huge spider crawling out of our room AND the worst thing, we had to share our shower with the whole bar due to a completely stupidly placed window RIGHT in front of our shower!!!

More on Koh Phangan to come.....