hello friends and family!

for the last week we have been sunbathing on the lovely Ko Tao, no topping up of the all over body tan this time, that would be disrespectful.

we unfortunatly arrived on the island just before the full moon party, a long Thai weekend and high season began so all the prices had gone up, after wandering around we managed to find a room for 300 baht which was excellent since we were being quoted 1000/2000. two days later it was impossible to find a room below 400 baht and we saw loads of tired and hot looking backpackers wandering up and down the beach so we were really lucky.

the room was above the laundry and over the next few days we found out we were sharing the same accommodation block with the staff who worked at the resort. next door to us lived one of the waiters and next to him the cook, a few doors down was the elderly gardener who had the longest white beard and smiled a lot and grunted but didnt seem to be able to talk. it was really nice making friends with them all, doing our laundry by hand together teasing them about snoring loudly and we were sad to say goodbye.

when we werent perfecting all over tans we swam in the sea which was warm and clear, snorkelled, ate overpriced food and tried walking around the island but the tropical heat was exhausting so we had to relax on the beach a bit more (jealous yet?).

one night we decided to go to a free cabaret show which was seriously excellent. the dancing was amazing, gorgeous costumes and i really couldnt tell they were all men!

although Ko Tao is beautiful some of the beaches are covered in rubbish, new resorts are being built all over the island eating into the central region which is jungle and the coral reefs are being destroyed which is evident as soon as you start snorkelling. its not the best island to go to if your backpacking because most of the resorts are aimed at higher budgets and no market means paying a lot for food at the farang restaurants.

from Ko Tao we took the night boat to Surat Thani (mainland Thailand) which takes 9 hours. the tickets on the boat had been over sold and the weather was bad so the sea was rough but they squashed us all in regardless. there were only enough matresses for the first 150 people so we ended up on the wooden floor using lifejackets for pillows. i had just finished 'Life of Pi' so worried for 10 mins about the possibility of the boat sinking and there not being enough lifejackets for us all but after 2 motion sickness tablets the hard wooden floor became as soft as the most comfy bed and i prompty fell into the deepest sleep from which i awoke only to remove ants crawling all over my arms.

we are now in Trang which is south of Surat Thani, its low season here and we are the only foreigners which is a bit strange. everyone stares, says hello and smiles and we feel very welcome. not a lot to do here but eat - special Trang coffee, pork and cake.

tomorrow we leave Thailand for Malaysia which is going to be another long day of bus journeys and border crossings. i am tempted to take a few sickness tablets but will probably end up becoming addicted - i have been addicted to tonic water since laos which is a surprisingly expensive habit to feed, so delicious though that fizzy dry taste, i must have one right now!!!!

ah yes, now that i am a master chef specialising in Thai food i will withhold the recipes from the blog and will gladly visit everyone who wants to invite me over to cook for them. i can adapt the recipes for vegetarian and vegan although a lot of fish sauce is used, but probably not for raw.

i hope it isnt raining too much in England/Wales. love to everyone x