After spending the last 2 weeks or so of Vietnam in long pants and jerseys, we were excited to get down to the beautiful south islands of Thailand to soak up some much needed coastal sun. So you can imagine our disappointment on out last night in Hanoi to hear about the flooding that had taken place in that area. Our dreams of sun soaked days were dashed by weather forecasts of thundershowers in the south for the next 8 days. Nevertheless, we flew into Bangkok with the anticipation of meeting up with Greg Bloom and Dave Brodie, who themselves have started an around the world trip, and their sisters Rossy from London and Kelli from SA. We figured that even if the weather is dull, we'll be with friends from home and it would be impossible to have a bad time. But first we had to get there...

The mission began as we arrived in Bangkok. Our plan was to head to a travel agency and book an overnight bus down to Phuket. We quickly realised that they were all closed as it was a Sunday. We could then head to the Southern bus terminal which is quite a way from where we were or to hop onto the metro to the train station to try get onto an overnight train to the south. We chose the latter but our plans were quickly changed when, as we arrived there we were told that as a result of the weather, there were no busses or trains going down to the islands. Now what?? We landed up spending one night in a hotel near the train station with the hope that the bus/train routes would open up the next day or, if all else fails, book a flight to Phuket. Unfortunately the routes remained closed when we woke up early the next morning so we packed up our stuff, got onto a train to the airport and managed to book ourselves a flight to Phuket with only 45 minutes to spare. It took us another two bus rides and a half an hour taxi drive once we arrived in 'Phuket to get to Aunang where the gang was waiting for us. After such a crazy few days of true backpacking we were so happy to meet up and celebrated with a night out on the town, home-made buckets in hand.

On opening the curtains the next morning, we were greeted to a day without a cloud in the sky - the polar opposite of the forecast reports. We spent our first full day on a small beach a 15 minute boat ride away from the Aunang mainland, called Phanang. We spent the day catching up, lying in the scorching sun and relieving ourselves from the heat in the clear blue water. This was followed by a delicious meal back in town and an early night as we were all beat from the night before and the day in the sun.

Day 2 in paradise - a full day boat trip around the gorgeous neighbouring islands of Aunang. We were lucky enough to get onto a bigger boat which had a roof on which we could lie between our different destinations. It was another stunning day - chilling on the roof top listening to music fit for the occasion, jumping from the roof into the refreshing water below, snorkelling and swimming. Many of us came out of the day a little redder than we would have liked but it's just a small price to pay for a day like that one.

Greg and Dave were wealth information on the area having been there a couple times before. On Greg's recommendation we packed our day packs and took a short boat trip across to Ton Sai. Ton Sai is as rustic as it going to get in Thailand these days. A beautiful rock lined beach front lined with a few beach bars and restaurants behind which lies a forest of lush greenery, cleared here and there with little bungalows where we checked in for our night there. We watched the sunset over the horizon over beers at one of the beach front bars - a quintessential island moment shared with some really special people. We moved from restaurants to bars the rest of the evening and went to bed after another full day.

The next day we waded through the sea with our bags on our heads to reach Railey beach for another lazy day on the beach. Reading, building sand castles, drinking delicious fruit shakes and getting massages on the beach - just another day in the life of a Thailand backpacker. We treated ourselves that night to some seriously good ice cream. Jeff and Greg shared a sundae of 3 scoops of the aptly named chewy sticky chocolate ice cream smothered in chocolate sauce, whipped cream and chocolate balls.

Our last day back in Aunang was spent at the pool of the resort that Greg, Dave, Rossy and Kelli were staying at. Our sunbathing and swimming was only interrupted with trips to the internet cafe and lunch. Rossy, kelli and Dave however, went out in the afternoon for elephant riding but because Jeff and I had already experienced that in the north we decided to give it a skip. Jeff, Dave and Greg became obsessed with an Italian restaurant in town and for the third time in only 5 nights we went back there where the boys each stuffed themselves with a pizza AND a pasta each! Rossy and Dave went into Krabi town after dinner to watch a Thai boxing match, so the rest of us started our night innocently enough - walking the streets of Aunang and doing some shopping - but that soon changed with a visit to the seven eleven where we stocked up on coke, Red bull and the infamous Samsong whiskey and headed to our hotel where we sat on our balcony drinking our bucket concoction. Once Dave and Ros rejoined we headed to a bar close to the hotel to play some pool and hang out. The night ended with a late night/early morning stop at the 24hr McDonalds. The next morning was going to be tough - we had to be up early for our ferry to Koh Phi Phi.

We formulated a plan to find accommodation on the island. The girls looked after the bags at a restaurant near the port while the boys went on a mission to book us into accommodation for the next 2 nights - our last with the group. The island only has pedestrian streets which was a great relief after having to hold our breath when crossing the roads in Vietnam. The streets are lined with bars, restaurants and shops and are packed with tourists from all over the world walking around in their costumes, most of the time, with a bucket in their hands. The hotel that the others checked into came with the use of a stunning infinity pool right on the edge of the beach with a well-stocked bar and restaurant set up in the corner of the pool. We set up camp there for the rest of the day - we could lean on the edge of the pool and overlook the stunning beach and ocean and the typical limestone outcrops in the middle of the sea. We ate dinner that night in a night market in town where Jeff ordered one of the spiciest Tom Yum soups of the trip. He finished it all off but had sweat it all out at the same time. We topped the night off with a chill on the beach before a relatively early night for Phi Phi standards.

We took another boat trip around the islands the next day but this time we weren't so lucky with the boat we were herded onto. I say herded because they really did stuff us onto the boat like sardines - 4 people to a bench. Nevertheless, the trip was very cool - we did some fantastic snorkelling where Jeff and I caught site of a small shark on the ocean floor. The large array of fish was spectacular. We were then taken Maya bay, made famous by the movie 'The Beach' with Leonardo Dicaprio. We spent some time there before heading back to Phi Phi with the sun setting in the background.

We went to a beautiful restaurant on the beach front for our last dinner as a group. Afterwards we met up with the group of people we had met on the boat trip that day and went bar hopping from the Irish pub, to the bars set up on the beach - dancing with our feet in the sand. A great way to end off a fantastic time with the gang. They all left for Phuket the next morning to head off in all different directions - Greg to Australia, Dave to Cambodia, Ross to England and Kelli to South Africa.

It was at lunch that day where we were supposed to be planning out our trip to our next destination, where we were both simultaneously hit with a wave of exhaustion and home sickness. After spending such an amazing 2 weeks with the gang we decided that there could have been no better way to end our trip and so, there and then, phoned the airline and changed our flight to come back in time for Pesach to surprise our families.

We spent 2 days in Bangkok shopping us a storm. We based ourselves at the gorgeous Bayoke sky hotel where we treated to outrageous buffet breakfasts and spectacular views of this bustling city. Our last night felt surreal. We sat at a restaurant in the hotel and reminisced about the truly unbelievable experience that we had just shared. It is scary how quickly time goes when you are having fun. We tried to decide on our highlights but on a trip like this it is so hard to choose out specific moments. The whole 7 months was the most incredible and priceless journey which we will both always be grateful to have been able to experience. Our relationship was put to the test and we surely came out stronger than ever with a new appreciation of each other's strengths and weaknesses.

We had set out after articles to make a way for us to afford this trip. 16 months in London later that was achieved and we then we set out on formulating our route and planning the intricacies of the trip. 7 months later, after the time of our lives we have a new adventure to look forward to - Settling down in Joburg with our treasured family and friends to start our 'real lives'. And if this trip is anything to go by, the rest of our life is bound to be an amazing adventure.