KOH SAMUI

If we thought that the journey to Koh Kradan had been a long one, that was nothing compared to getting from Koh Lanta on the east coast to Koh Samui on the west coast, certainly in terms of the number of different forms of transport involved. Rather than waste time breaking up the journey, we decided to do it all in one day which involved a minibus and two car ferries to get to Krabi on the mainland. After various other minibuses and coaches with fellow backpackers we arrived in Surat Thani in time for our ferry to Koh Samui. We were crammed into another minibus for the final leg across the island to Chaweng Beach where we took the first accommodation we could find rather than trek any further with our heavy rucksacks.

Our first impressions of Koh Samui were pretty dreadful. After the relaxed calm of relatively undeveloped Koh Lanta, this island was totally over-run and over-developed as a result of tourism, with large, ugly hotels on every spare inch of land and rubbish and tourist tat everywhere. Bars and restaurants were packed closely together along the beachfront, with little charm. Still, the sea at Chaweng Beach, although not entirely clean, was very clear, calm and warm, and we were content enough to spend a few hours here sunbathing and swimming.

However, luckily we didn't have to slum it for too long. Next day we got a ride in a bright red souped-up taxi to our next review hotel, high up on a secluded rocky peninsula overlooking the Gulf of Thailand. After taking the usual photos of our room and the resort, we spent the next three days luxuriating in the peace and quiet of this exclusive resort with its private beach, infinity pool, lovely restaurant and stunning views. During this time we also received a couple of pieces of good news from home, which certainly helped us to fully relax and enjoy our stay.

Reluctantly, we eventually had to leave what was possibly the most perfect hotel we'd reviewed on our travels. As our visas would expire in a couple of days, we had to take a detour to the immigration office on Koh Samui. We had some passport photos taken and filled in the relevant forms only to discover that we would have to pay almost £40 each for the privilege of extending our visas for a measly seven days, which wasn't even long enough to cover the rest of our planned stay in Thailand. We deliberated for a while, looked at the map and decided to take a trip across the border to Burma/Myanmar later in the week which, by then crossing back into Thailand, would give us a new 15 day visa for free. We were, by now, too late to get a ferry to Koh Tao that afternoon as planned so instead we headed across the island to the quiet resort of Bo Phut for the night.