So like Christopher Columbus I took off on my lone expedition to conquer the 'new' world of the lushest Thai islands we had yet to see... And after a grueling 18 hour bus journey I landed on the Andaman Coast of Krabi with its gigantic karst formations and beautiful white sandy beaches. I headed to Tonsai beach; famous for its mini full moon parties and rock climbers retreats unaware that my first initiation into this way of life would mean rock climbing from its neighboring beach; Railay to this secluded little haven! So there I was clambering from rock to rock with my HUGE backpack (complete with my hoard of market bargains!) when I met two guys who were to be my traveling buddies for the next week. After the introductions, precariously exchanged whilst clinging to the rock, Daniel and Rob offered to take my bag the rest of the way. And after having been climbing for the last half hour I thought the hardest was over so I declined their offer saying 'I want it to be the experience it should be'. How was I to know that the next 15 minutes were gonna be even more hard core!! But anyway I got there and after a round of applause from all the rock climbers and an explanation that if I'd waited an hour the tide would be far out enough for me to have walked across the sand, I checked into a ram shackled little hut above a coffee shop over looking the waters. My new found friends had just bought into a bar on the beach so we sent the next few days in raving and recuperation mode until our livers had decided they'd had enough of Rum buckets so we hoped onto a boat to the idealic paradise island of Phi hi where we were to spend the next few days in rehab... Well it didn't quite work out that way as the boys pulling agenda meant that we were out every night with the boys self proclaimed mission of 'pulling skirt'! So when we managed to find the guys so lovely German girls to 'hang out' with we had a civilized evening or two but the islands hedonistic nightlife meant that what was supposed to be my week of solitary R&R turned into a fest of fun and frolics in pure Phi Phi paradise! But paradise for me wasn't the same without the man I love to share it with; after all hammocks are made for sunset smooching, beaches are made for hand in hand strolling and the stars are made for romantic moonlit gazing, so I was ecstatic when James (finally) arrived on Monday to share this magical place with me. And it would seem that James had a blast of a week as well- Yeah I did! The Thai massage course was great; I passed with flying colours and met some really great friends too. Danny, Benny and I spent the week navigating ourselves around the food stalls and night spots of Khao San Road and I became scarily familiar with the Bangkok social scene. We even took advantage of our lack of ladies by dragging ourselves to the 'executive' strip clubs of Nana Plaza (this is executive by Thai standards of course i.e. Minus the ping pong balls!) where there was a lady boy caberat in full flow (check out the snaps!). So after celebrating the success of completing the course we jumped onto a bus heading to Thailand's Kanchanaburi; home to the poignant Bridge Over The River Kwai and a temple famed for its tiger sanctuary. Here we had to sign a disclaimer stating that if mauled by these beasts we would not sue! But that didn't put us off walking the canyon and stroking the tigers. It was such an amazing experience and the fact that I almost shat my pants when one turned and growled at me added to the experience! We even managed to sneak a peak at the other animals the sanctuary looks after and at feeding time we were surrounded by reindeers, wort-hogs, buffalos and things I've never bloody seen before! I was even kicked by a wild horse - but don't worry he was just being an ass!! By the time we had filled our day and made our way back on one decrepit motorbike after another I'd missed the last bus down to the islands! So a rather disappointed Katie had dragged her hung over arse out of bed to meet me at Phi Phi pier only to discover 2 hours later via email that I'd be a day late! So a disgruntled me had to spend another night in Bangkok before jumping on the 18 hour bus journey down to Krabi the next day. It was only when we got to the pier that we were told we'd have to wait another 4 hours for the next boat (bear in mind that Katie is waiting again at the other end!) So I spent the next 4 hours drumming up business at a local restaurant in exchange for food! But the boat finally tipped up to the pier and almost tipped over on the journey as all the passengers found themselves clinging on for dear life as the waves crashed over us! Not the kind of boat ride I would have wanted to introduce me to island life but I arrived safe and sound and seriously in need of some catching up with the girl of my dreams... (He's only being sweet cos he kept me waiting but he's a freshly trained masseur so he's forgiven!) And the last few days we have remained on this picture postcard perfect island enjoying catching up after the week apart and realizing how much more special the place is with each other. We've made some great friends on the social scene and have introduced first timers to the joy of buckets (with hilarious results!). One guy, Chi, got so plastered he landed himself in a fight with an Italian Stallion almost double his size. James' method of retaliation was to pull the guys chest hair which he didn't take too well to but after some reckless reconciliation they all kissed and made up and we got back to our bucket binges! On a serious note though we met a Thai family that has been living in the neighboring bungalow since their house and their friends were wiped out in the Tsunami. This served as a reminder of how volatile life can be and everyday we are thankful to be able to enjoy this tropical paradise and give something back to the community. We even offered to 'give something back' by asking our neighbour whether he needed any help with the rebuilding of his house, he declined. And in retrospect this is probably because he knows that the after effects of buckets mean we haven't surfaced before lunchtime and even then we're only good for lazing on the sand under the rejuvenating sun! Whilst we've been here though we thought we'd do something productive by trying some Thai cooking (you know what that means Sayaka - no more expensive Thai meals for you when we get back!!). We made friends with a Thai restaurant owner who let us into her kitchen to watch her cooking up our curries. It's only now that we realize that the two days following these culinary creativities had left us running to the toilet! So we're gonna requalify ourselves with another friendly, perhaps cleaner restaurateur! But we can handle the dodgy stomachs when we've got no further to go than from our beachside bungalows to the beach then to the bars! Last night we had a treat as top reggae band 'Job-2-Do' were playing a gig on the beach. It was an awesome night and James and I rocked our socks off till the early hours of this morning! We've got an action packed week in store though; we've booked ourselves on a fishing/camping/partying trip which squeezes in The (real life) Beach and shark watching. We've also met a girl whose birthday falls the day in-between ours so its gonna be partytastic! And being on one of the worlds most beautiful places we can't think of a better place to be sharing them... xx