Thailand!!!! My number one, top of the list, reason I came travelling country!

We flew into Samui Airport on a beautiful Sunday, with the streaks of gold beating down from a clear blue sky. As we we descended we could see that this was a beautiful and luscious island. Stepping out of the plane and onto a little motorised train thingy we pulled up outside the immigration department of the airport. A little boy pulled on his daddy's hand and asked if we were 'going into the house now?'. You could forgive him this small confusion. Samui is the least airport-y airport I have ever seen. And we've been through a lot in the last few months.

We were staying in a little place called Hi Coral Cove Bungalows, situated midway between the busy beaches of Chaweng and Lamai. At first we were a little unsure about the location, with only ourselves an a handful of other restaurants for company. The incredibly helpful staff picked up our heavy bags and carried them for us, first up, and then down an incredibly steep path to reception and then to our bungalow. I can't begin to explain how grateful I was. Carrying that bag is on my 'Least Favourite Things' list, and in the scorching sun it's even worse!

The bungalow was lovely, with a double and single bed, a TV, a fridge, a balcony with a gorgeous sea view. How lucky we were! The only downside was the trickling excuse for a shower, but we learned to live with that over the next 5 nights.

Our first two days were lovely. Gorgeous sunshine and a lovely pool to escape to when the heat got too much. A very welcome relief, as although it sounds delightful, lying out for hours and baking in the sun with a slimy layer of suncream and insect repellent covering every bare inch can get unpleasant (how I regretted ever expressing this thought). The view from our balcony was simply stunning. We could see Chaweng in the distance, calm during the day, and like an electric light parade (including fireworks) by night. The ocean was an incredible mix of blues and green, barely moving, and beautiful next to the blues of the sky and the cluster of large rocks directly below the bungalows. The greens of the palm trees looked perfect. The only downside was that our beach was gravelly and not suitable for laying on.

Sadly, when we woke after the second night (and the third) it was a different scene which greeted us. Grey skies, an increasingly choppy ocean, and after a while barely any differentiation between the sky and the water. Then the rain began. Followed by the storms. Thunder growled angrily around the bungalow, and by night when we ate at one of our restaurants overlooking the ocean lightening filled the entire sky.

Needless to say a lot of reading and writing was done in those dark hours!
A purchase of bright pink ipod speakers helped to brighten our moods considerably, as listening to music and chatting at the same time finally became possible!

Over these grey days we would wait in the room for a suitable moment, make the climb up to the road and jump on a sawngthaew (a little bus, like a truck with no back and benches down either side) into either Chaweng or Lamai. As soon as we saw these places we were glad of our peaceful location. Chaweng was horrible. Like the tackiest, awfullest European holiday destination you can imagine, but grimier. Lamai wasn't much different, just on a smaller scale.

Our final day was better, not great, but better. We set off to actually see something of the island and ended up at the 12 metre high Big Buddha. Covered in gold it must once have been an amazing sight. It's still impressive of course, but the gold doesn't gleam like you imagine it may have done in the past. We were offered bracelets by monks, although we're not sure they were real monks, because they're not supposed to take things from or pass directly to women! We spent a while wandering around, taking the obligatory photos and perusing the many market stalls. We were so glad to have escaped the confines of our bungalow and see some amazing sights. The view from the top of the 73 steps up to the Buddha was just lovely. We were finally in Thailand!

A lovely travel agent in Chaweng enabled me to fax a form re the money stealing escapade, and also booked us onto a bus/boat from our hotel all the way to Ao Nang in the Krabi Province. Pick-up was 8am and we were assured we'd arrive by 4pm.

We were up early the next day, prepared to half carry half drag our bags to the top of the long climb. I won't lie. It was a struggle! The ladies working at the bungalows were very sweet and chatted to us while we waited for the mini bus to pick us up. They had a pet bichon frise dog which I took photos of for my nan, seeing as she has a slightly chubbier one at home! By 8.30 we were on the bus, which took us to Na Thon. There we boarded a bigger bus and drove onto the ferry. It felt like New Zealand all over again. For about 2 minutes, until I realised that this boat was in slightly worse condition :-). Eventually we reached the beautiful mainland and as the sun was shining I was filled with hope for the next part of our trip. We drove to the town of Surat Thani where we left the big bus and went to wait in a travel agents. A very bubbly young woman convinced us to book a bungalow through her, in the area of Napparathara Beach, just down from Ao Nang. At 13.40 we boarded another big bus. To our surprise this was a local bus, filled with middle aged women and school girls. We secured the last 2 seats on the bus and settled down for what we'd been told was a 3.5 hour journey. It wasn't. We arrived in Krabi bus station about a week later, got into a car and promptly got out again (due to a burst tyre), got in another car and drove to Krabi Town. We were dumped in yet another travel agent and told to wait for the bus, and to our relief the woman didn't push us when we said we didn't want to book anything through her. After a long wait the bus turned up. We had been expecting another mini bus, but instead were told to get on a sawngthaew, which already had 10 people on it. Our bags were chucked on top of the roof by the driver, and we perched on the seats watching for signs of bags falling from the sky :-). Eventually, 12 hours after we set off we ended up at our new bungalow. What a journey. We both agreed that we're definitely 'travellers' now, after having felt like we were probably taking the easy route a little too often.

The upside to the monumental journey was the view from the bus between Surat Thani and Krabi. The Thai landscape is almost indescribable. Dotted all around are these great big hunks of rock sticking up from the ground (I'm sure there's a proper word for them, but I won't pretend that I have any idea what it is!) like mountains. The rocks are almost striped, in vertical patterns, due to erosion. I'd seen a similar thing in Mallorca and was told at the time that the only other place in the world with such formations was South East Asia, so had been looking forward to seeing this! We drove through various towns and villages, which was a small insight into the Thai way of life. The most amazing thing was that these school girls were on journeys of a matter of hours - I hope for their sakes it's not a daily trip! At one point a collection of women got on, selling drinks in plastic bags with straws poking through the top, various chunks of exotic fruits and chicken. I only saw about 2 people buying anything, but these women must make some money from selling their wares in this way, as it was clearly standard practise from them to jump aboard each bus that came through.

All in all, a long but strangely enjoyable experience. And the best opportunity to see some of the 'real' Thailand (if from a distance!).