Hi all,

I'm finding it soooooooooo hard to get off my sunlounger to write this blog so I hope you all appreciate it!!

Had a rather boozy night out on Sunday and in true Julie fashion ended up swimming in my pants at 3am! The embarrassing thing was my only clean pair were my Hoff pants!!! Lots of drinking later I ended up finally getting bed at 6.30am. Haven't done that in a while!

Needless to say that Monday was spent mainly in bed. I did surface for the last bit of sun of the day and to eat some food. Steered clear of the booze tonight but it's so tempting seeing as everyone is so nice around here. I've made some excellent new partners in crime! Jo and Tim from Manchester, their friend Glen who is cycling around the world (crazy!) and Caroline and Dave from Galway.

Tuesday we all decided we should do something instead of lazing by the pool so we went for a day trip around the island. We got picked up at 8.30am in a jeep. Stopped off at various places and were just told to "get out" and "follow me" by the tour guide. We had no idea where we were going!
First stop was a rock that was the shape of a man's rude bits! We had no idea what it all meant but just like the Japanese we stopped and posed for photos. Went onto a waterfall which was lovely but I was mainly looking forward to the Elephant ride. Disappointed isn't the word for the Elephant ride. They looked so sad, I wanted to rescue them all. We then sat and watched an elephant show, a monkey show and a crocodile show. I must say that the croc show was ace. They were actually putting their heads into the crocs mouths. I think they must have been drugged up (the crocs not the performers!)

Next stop was the mummified monk. It was quite creepy to be honest. The monk had predicted his death back in 1973 and was asked to be mummified. His eyes must have been pretty nasty because he was wearing sunglasses!

The best stop was lunch - on the way there we could sit on the roof of the jeep. The roof only covered the part of the jeep where the driver and passenger sits at the front but we managed to squeeze 3 of us up there. Talk about a hairy ride. Obviously this is Thailand so there is no health and safety whatsoever. I was clinging on for dear life as our tour guide ripped through the dirt tracks and pot holes. It was great fun though. I reckon that was more dangerous that doing the sky dive!!
Anyway, I got sidetracked a bit there.... lunch was yummy. We had rice (of course!) soup, 2 chicken dishes and veg. All very spicy but yummy. Fruit was also served. I tried a thai fruit - no idea what it's called but it was hairy on the outside and once peeled it was like a big grape. Tasty.

Onwards to see how they tap the trees for rubber and then to the big buddha.
Got back to the apartments at 5ish. It was a really long day but worth it because I got to see so much of Koh Samui.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent chilling by the pool. I took a walk around Bo Phut and the village. Thursday night was spent in Chaweng at a beach bar with Caroline, Dave, Drew and Mandy. You can buy fireworks and set them off but they're really dodgy and sometimes don't go up but straight out. You have to be careful where you point them! Caroline and Mandy brought one of those canvas tube things that you light up and they float up into the sky. All very cool.

Am sad to be leaving Samui, it's been great. I've met some lovely people and had some great laughs and lots of relaxing.l
Koh Phangan tomorrow. We'll see what fun and adventures that brings!

All for now, Julie xxx