Heaven, . . . . must be missing some islands...... This is a story about 3 epic journeys and 2 places that are just like paradise. When I last wrote i think i was on Langkawi in Malaysia. From there I got a taxi, a boat, a taxi, an overnight bus, a taxi, a boat and a mini boat to a place called Long Beach on the Perhintian islands. People recommended the place, telling me it was like paradise, and I was not disappointed. It is just stunning. I did the best snorkelling there that I've done on my whole trip - it beats the great barrier reef!! I just had some really chilled out time there and soaked it all up, and some sun too. Then epic journey number 2 to paradise number 2. Jason, who I met in Georgetown on Penang, told me about Bottle Beach on Ko Phangan. He lives there and says he thinks its the best beach in the world - I had to go and have a look. Epic journey number 2 took about 30 hours and involved a small boat, a slightly bigger very bumpy boat, a taxi, a boarder crossing, a walk, a 10 hour train, a truck thing, an overnight boat, a truck thing and a longtail boat. But it was so worth it. I stayed in a hut on the beach on my first night then a hut set slightly off the beach with a view of plants and trees, the sea and not far from the restaurant and bar. The beach is lovely and the atmosphere was really good. People sit around on cushions playing backgammon and chatting about improtant things like what makes a shark a shark. After 3 days I was planning to leave but stayed for another 3. People really get sucked in and stay there for months if not forever and I can see why. I met some great people and laughed an awful lot. Other than laughing, I spent a lot of time sitting on the beach (am now rather brown), swimming in the sea (once I got over the crab fear problem), playing frisbee (badly), eating nice food, drinking good drinks, sitting on the veranda drinking beer and listening to the crickets and the danish bloke next door playing his guitar. Is pretty unbeatable. Why did I leave? Because of my sense of adventure and because I am very much looking forward to Laos. Now I am part way through epic journey number 3. I am heading up to Chang Mai in the north of Thailand where I'll spend some time before I go into Laos. As I fly home from Bangkok (in less than a month) I wanted to wait until then to see it so I'm going straight past. So far I have got a boat, a truck, another boat and another truck and have made it as far as Chumphon. I am now stuck here for 7 hours or something while I wait for an over night train to Bangkok where I'll get a flight to Chang Mai, probably. The bar I am stuck waiting in has one menu page titled "to get drunk" and another menu page titled "to get even more drunk". I like their honesty. So far I have purchased one item from the "to get drunk" list. I'll download paradise photos as soon as I'm in a place where I can. Prepare to be very jealous. Josiexxx