After being particularly sad to leave Koh Phangan we arrived in Koh Samui knowing it was going to be a lot more modern than the last two islands. It is far bigger than both Tao and Phangan and in fact, almost too much to explore in the time we'd be spending there. Therefore we narrowed our stay down between two of the most popular areas on the island, Chaweng and Lamai and stayed in both of them while we were on the island.

On the boat over to the island we met a Canadian guy called Craig who was travelling on his own for a bit (he was a teacher in South Korea) so we hung out with him for a while. After finding our accommodation which was a series of small bungalows between Chaweng and Lamai, we met up with Craig in the centre of Chaweng. The accommodation was nice, friendly and even had a decent sized pool to swim in for a change instead of just the sea! Chaweng itsself had the feel of Bangkok with more modern shops and restaurants but it managed to keep some individuality which made it still feel like you were on an island. We ate in the town a couple of nights and found some really peaceful Thai eating spots just off the main streets and near the night markets. We also spend those few evenings having a few drinks and hearing all about Korea from Craig who had a lot of knowledge about the country and South East Asia as a whole.

After four nights near Chaweng we decided to travel to Lamai without pre-booking any hostels and it turned out to be the best decision we have made. We walked a little way from the centre of the town and found some amazing little beach huts right by the most pristine looking beach you could think of. It was also really cheap and the huts were cosy, all made out of a sort of mahogany that smelt gorgeous! We ended up staying a whole week there and really got on with the staff, they were like a family! They had a full-time gardener who would just waltz around all day around the huts trimming the bushes and sweeping the paths. It was an idilic place to stay and we were also within walking distance from the centre of Lamai by road or just all the way along the beach!

The day we arrived was a Sunday which is when the best night market is in town. We spent that evening looking at all the weird and wonderful things the local people were selling on their market stalls. We bought some lucky Buddha bracelets that we hope will keep us safe as we travel from place to place (that's what the lady said they'd bring us anyway and she can't have been lying!) Later in the week we found another night market on the other side of the town which is there every night. It was the best place in Lamai to get food. We had the best kebabs ever there and also lots of variations on the usual Thai dishes that were really tasty and just so ridiculously cheap! We ended up eating there 3 of the 7 nights we stayed around the town. Again we felt sad to leave the island for our next destination, the province of Krabi, but we need to learn to stop getting so attached to the places we are staying as it will make the whole trip that bit harder!