Phuket was our first stop in Thailand, it didn't really live up to my idyllic Thailand paradise perception I have so I was mildly disappointed. To be fair though the beach was still nice, it was just really touristy and lots of rubbish lying everywhere so that spoilt it. We stayed in Patong and other than the beach all there really is are a few ladyboys, MacDonald's and lots of cheap eateries. On our first day we headed straight for the beach of course...only to find ten minutes after we had paid for our sunbeds and lay down that the weather was taking a turn for the worse and it started to rain so we made a quick retreat to the hotel and spent the afternoon in the pool fearing that the whole month would just be a thunderstorm. We did however have a lovely meal in a very posh, very expensive restaurant in a great location on the cliff facing the beach which was very nice indeed. The following day was glorious...well the weather. We excitedly made our way down to the beach for our first full day of sunbathing and lay there for a good 3-4 hours, applying less than sufficient suncream occasionally. After we had thoroughly roasted ourselves we got up and went to find something to eat...realising that it was quite difficult to move. That evening we realised the extent to which we were both burnt...Paul worse than myself and were both in agony for next week or so...then came the peeling and blisters and so on....not good...not good at all!!!! Paul literally couldn't move for about 3 days. We even had to book an extra night in our next destination Phi phi because we couldn't bear the thought of putting on our bags in the state we were in. Ko Phi Phi island was much nicer than Phuket...although over run by backpackers...guess can't complain as that's what we are but still it was a bit too crowded for my liking. It is where we saw our first pretty stunning sunset on the beach though and there were lots of lively bars down on the beach we enjoyed. No sunbathing for us though so it was lucky we were staying in a pretty nice hotel with a sea view. Once we had recovered a little we made it on a day trip to Phi Phi Lei...which is the smaller island next to the main island of Phi Phi Don of which we were staying. Phi Phi Lei is the location in which the beach was filmed...well Maya bay to be specific. i wasn't expecting too much as it is now such a popular tourist destination, but it really was gorgeous. We were lucky as there weren't too many people there only a couple of longtail boats worth so we could really make the most of the beautiful bay. We took many photos as you probably can see from the album. The water was amazing and the soft silky sand too...it is probably what I would describe as paradise. Other places we visited on our day trip included monkey island...where it was over run by tourists..some of whom were pulling their tails and being generally awful. The monkeys were so tame even drinking water out of bottles. It was nice to see some supposedly "wild" monkeys but I think the place should be controlled a little more in the amount of people they let on the island at one time. We also went snorkeling which was good, the corals were pretty impressive and there was a lot of variety of fish. We made a stop at Bamboo island and had our lunch on the beach that place was also pretty close to paradise as far as beaches go...we took a lot of photos of that island too. That night after we got back we ended up at a Thai boxing match...3 hours of straight Thai boxing. I'm not usually into anything like that but it was quite enjoyable...for the first couple of hours it got a bit boring by the end but they did throw in a "show fight" to liven it up half way though and that was quite spectacular but obviously fake. We were drinking "buckets" for the whole night and only stopped when we ran out of money which wasn't the best idea as we had to catch a boat the next day. I got quite drunk..had my photo taken with the champ and beat Paul at pool so not a bad night. The following day after being harassed by the hotel receptionist who was insistent that I had broken a glass and was demanding me to pay for it (I argued to the end and didn't which got her quite mad...I promised her I would make a written complaint to her manager..who she was too scared to give me the name of) we got a boat to Railay Bay. A wonderful mellow island only accessable by long tail boat. The beach is stunning and was the perfect location of some of the best sunsets we have ever seen. We stayed in Railay for 4 nights, although its small and there is not a lot to do there it is a lovely place as the beach is gorgeous and there aren't many people..I'm assuming in high season this isn't the case though. The island is scattered with little bars playing reggae where you sit on these bamboo constructions on mats and cushions, they were a nice and relaxed place to have a beer and a cocktail. Whilst in Railay I got to meet up with my friend from work Emma which was crazy...seeing someone you know from home in such a different far away from home place. She was staying on a different beach so it was a bit of a nightmare getting there and back as you have to get a longtail and wait for other people to want to get in too...I waited for 2 and a half hours on the way back but luckily got on some random climbers boat on the way there. I anticipated the wait on the way back though and told them I needed a boat a lot sooner than I did so Emma and I just sat around chatting for a good 4 hours or so which was really nice.

Paul and I went on another day trip around the islands close to Railay and experienced some fantastic snorkeling...in fact you didn't even need a mask as you can see from the photos. the tiger fish just swim right around you and you can feed them bread which sends them insane...lots of fun. I also saw a little octopus and Paul saw a jellyfish..which I did not thank god but after he told me spent the entire time scared to death...(I have been stung before..not nice) The best snorkeling was at Honk Island (it's actually called Hong Island, but I'm leaving the spelling mistake in because it's amazing - Paul), which is actually a national park and is a beautiful setting, I also managed to spot a huge iguana walking around on the beach, it was seriously massive. When we got back we had dinner on the beach and watched the sunset...there was a wedding going on on the small beach so we lay there and watched that for the evening and had a few drinks...that's the second wedding we have witnessed on our travels. It was lovely and the weather stayed nice for them thankfully. We finished the night with a drink at one of the relaxed little bars where you sit on the bamboo constructions.

The next day we started our hell journey to Samui. This was certainly an experience, one that we'd been warned about, but also one that we couldn't really avoid without hiring our own coach and boat for the day. Over a 9 hour period we traveled by Long Tail, local biscuit tin with wheels (they'd probably call it a "VIP BUS!!!"), then a decent coach, then another wheeled tin, then a ferry for two hours, then a taxi (who got lost but didn't want to own up to the fact that he had no idea where he was going). We were ready for an awful hotel, we really were, as all the enthusiasm and fight had been drained out of us by our ordeal. However, the place turned out to be amazing, easily the best all-round hotel we've stayed at so far - great room, walk-in shower, right next to the beach, great restaurant and a good, fairly cheap mini-bar! We spent our time on Samui beaching it up, as the water was waist deep and crystal clear and the white sand beach easily made up for the millions of hotels around. One of our days there was spent on another day trip, only this one wasn't as good as the others. We went via speed boat and did a bit of snorkeling, kayaking through caves and walked to a picturesque green lagoon on one of the islands we stopped at. Unfortunately the boat was packed with more people than it could really hold, which is pretty typical of the way they do things here, and we were stuck next to the loudest Japanese family ever, but all in all it was a decent trip and a fun way to spend a day.

The weather on Samui was great most of the time, although it did rain once during dinner and that taught us what real rain is. Us British like to think we know a thing or two about rain but I now see that we really don't. Then again, apparently neither do the Thais, as watching the hotel staff unsuccessfully scramble to pack up the beach bbq and buffet and get everything under cover proved. Anyway, we also saw a troupe of ladyboys handing out fliers for some ungodly establishment or other during our wanderings around the town, and ate at a restaurant called Captain Kirk, which besides the name had absolutely no references to anything trekky.

Our last stop on our Island hopping tour was Ko Pha Ngan. Firstly, the drop in quality between the hotel on Samui and the beach hut we had here was amazing, as all we had was thin wooden walls, beds that tilted to one side and a shower that just kind of dribbled. We also discovered that our "wonderful" travel agent from Railay, who had been so friendly and organised so much for us there, had ripped us off. It turned out that she had charged us 1500 Baht per night when the advertised rate was 1200. It was a shame, because we had found the hotel by ourselves and simply asked her to call for us, and when she asked what the charge per night was they had obviously told her 1200, and she had then made the decision to lie to our faces and tell us it was more to get a chunk for herself. Why she though she would get away with it I don't know, as Jacqui called her, gave her an earful and she eventually had to pay for our taxi to the full moon party as well as our dinner that evening. Not a bad result in the end, then. Anyway, it wasn't the best place to stay in, especially since we'd opted to stay at one of the quieter beaches to keep away from the full moon party crowd before and after the event itself. This meant that there was literally nothing to do, so if we weren't on the beach or by the pool we had to sit in there, staring at the ceiling. 95% of our time traveling so far has been all-out, pack as much as we can into one day, frenetic madness, but the change in pace between all that and the Thai islands was at its worst here, as we actually found ourselves getting quite bored. That is, until the full moon party.

On the night of the full moon party, we were again taught a lesson in real rain which didn't let up. We weren't worried though, as rain didn't really make any difference to anything, and the party turned out to be quite an experience. We befriended an English couple in the taxi there who we spent the first hour or so with, enough time to steal most of their neon paint (by accident) and explore the bars for a bit. Eventually we lost them, but there was plenty to occupy our time there and we didn't get back to the hotel until after 6am, very, very tired. All we did for the rest of our time on the island was swim in the pool or lay by the beach, which again got boring fast. I'm now looking forward to getting to Bangkok and getting back to sightseeing and activity filled days!