We left Ko Samui on Monday and had a pretty smooth crossing to Ko Phangan. I was surprised how close the two islands actually are in reality as they look further apart in the Lonely Planet guide.

We got a cab to the resort that we had booked, called the Milky Bay resort (www.milkybay.com). We have a beach hut that is literally on the beach with amazing views from the windows (which are basically shutters without glass that can be opened fully). I wake in the morning, throw open the shutters and enjoy the view and the sea breeze whilst sitting on my bed and recovering from the hangovers (too many Singha beers and cocktails I'm afraid). There is also a porch area with two chairs and it's lovely to just sit and read after coming from the beach and watching the sun go down.

I like Ko Phangan more that Samui, as it's not as commercialised and it isn't full of tailors and massage joints. It has a smaller feel to it (and it is actually quite a bit smaller I think). The pace of life is slower and there's plenty to do at the resort so it's been nice to continue with my winding down regime. The infrastructure definitely needs upgrading and there are frequent power outages at night. The wind up torch that Sarah Gibbs bought me has proved an absolute godsend since we started island hopping as when the lights do go out it is literally a blackout!

Yesterday morning we left the resort to visit Ko Phangan's oldest temple which is inhabited by one lead monk (and sometimes two others). It's in the hills and is quite secluded. As it happens, we spent a lovely couple of hours there. We spent the time with the monk who blessed us with holy water (virtually drowning us in the stuff), and asked us to pray with him. Ordinarily I'm not that religious, but I do believe in god so I prayed for the reconciliation of my dad with my youngest sister and also for my mate and his dad on the loss of Betty who recently passed away. It was so peaceful there and I felt an amazing inner calm like nothing else. The monk then took us to his room (which was very basic apart from the TV, VCR, DVD player) and we sat drinking tea, chatting about our lives, and looking at photos of his visits to England.

The photograhs were amazing and I could not believe that the very first book contained photos of him on Cromer Pier and around Cromer in Norfolk, England. Cromer is where my dad now lives and is a lovely but very small sleepy seaside town and most of England has probably never heard of the place. The last place I would expect to hear of Cromer/see pics was in a temple in the hills of a small Thai island.

The next set of photos were even more of a surprise. It was of the monk and the pop star Jamiroquai. Apprently JK visited the temple some time ago, made friends with the monk and invited him over to his house in England. There were loads of pics of the monk sitting in JKs sports cars with JK and around his house. Apparently JK is having a house built on Ko Phangan. He also showed us a couple of JKs albums (both fake copies obviously bought off a stall - I'm sure JK would approve!). The monk, tied a ribbon round our wrists and blessed us again before we left. The temple is called Wat Phukaonoi and the monks name is Somchai Kemasarano. It was an amazing couple of hours.

We are leaving Ko Phangan tomorrow lunchtime (Thursday) and will be getting a boat to the mainland and then an overnight train to Bangkok. Harnaik leaves Bangkok on Sunday but I have changed my flight so I now leave Bangkok on Tuesday (rather than Sunday) for my onward flight to Beijing - more adventures beckon..

I've posted some photos of the resort and Ko Phangan and the monk. It's now the countdown to the Full Moon party tonight and I'm going back to the room to get some sleep as I had a late night last night and the party doesn't wrap up until dawn. We met a couple of Aussie girls in the bar last night so we're are all going together which should be fun.

I also spent ages chatting to the owner of the resort who is South African, working with a Thai business partner. He's been in business in Thailand for the past 4 years and had some amazing stories to tell about doing business on the island . I was fascinated and it was great to get that kind of perspective on doing business here. He also very kindly picked up the tab for some of our drinks!!!! He's a fascinating man and well worth chatting to if you go to Milky Bay. We're meeting him at the Full Moon Party later at the Cactus Bar which is owned by his mate.

I'll post the Full Moon party pics when I arrive in Bangkok.