Sawadeeka from Koh Tao!

I have just finished uploading pics into two albums...added some more to the "Thailand" album and also created an album of pictures of My Forsyth and Miss Littlejohn's visit to Thailand.

Since I last updated, I have been busy travelling around Thailand to places old and new! I left Koh Phi Phi about 9 days after I arrived, and had to say a tearful goodbye to my travelling companions of the last month. Sezen is off to New Zealand and Kate headed for Canada, but the 2 Alex's and Pippa were sticking around and I actually ended up seeing them again this week, so that was nice! Koh Phi Phi ended up being lots of fun - we managed to somehow have another huge group of people by the end of our time there. It is a beautiful island, with some of the views breathtaking. I had to drag Mr F, Miss L and Mr K back to visit!

Once I left Phi Phi I actually had to take a detour down to Malaysia to get a new visa...I spent a few days on the island of Penang to make it worthwhile. I stayed one night in the city of Georgetown, but decided to get a local bus up to one of the beach resorts, Batu Ferringhi, the next day. I spent a nice couple of days chilling on the beach and doing lots of reading. It felt very strange being on the beach without company, it was the first time I had done that in a while!

Most of the time I was there I spent getting really excited about my impending visit from Mr F and Miss L, and of course another reunion with Mr Keir (the third in our world trip!). I flew up to Bangkok on the 6th of April, not too thrilled with having to return to city life...but the knowledge that I would soon be reunited with my friends made it all worthwhile!

I checked in to a lovely hotel where Graeme (Mr K!) came to visit later on. It was great catching up as the last time we saw each other was in Rio way back in October, while Gayle was still with me. We reminisced about our previous adventures and discussed everything we had been up to since we last met. It was interesting to hear things from his perspective this time since I am now also a solo traveller! I also loved hearing about Vietnam and Laos, two countries where I am headed to next.

The next afternoon, after having a swim in the open-air pool, we were joined at long last (it seems as if I've been waiting for this for ages!) by Miss L and Mr F. It was great seeing them after so long, 7 months to be exact! They caught us up on news from home and brought us backpackers some much needed luxuries from their hotel in Dubai. We chilled out in the afternoon and then had a nice dinner in the evening. We then headed out to check out Khao San Road, one of the main tourist hotspots in Bangkok (basically a road full of shops and bars, but good atmosphere all the same!). This was my first visit to Bangkok too, and I was pleasantly surprised by it. I thought I would hate it but I'm actually quite looking forward to my next visit there. I think it's probably best done in small doses though!

We had an early start the next morning to head for Kanchanaburi by bus. A couple of hours later we arrived and our first stop was the Thailand-Burma Railway Museum and the Prisoner of War cemetery, where over 6000 POWs were buried. The Thailand-Burma Railway was built by Japan, who forced men from Allied forces (British, Australian, Dutch, Americans and Canadians) to build the railway by hand under horrific conditions. Around 16,000 Allied POW's died as a result of torture, overwork, malnutrition and disease. In addition to this, 90,000 Asian labourers lost their lives. In the cemetery we could see that a lot of the men who were killed were very young.

After leaving the cemetery, we went to see the famous "Bridge over the River Kwai". The train still runs on some of the Thailand-Burma line (or Death Railway as it also known - because of the loss of life during the war, not the danger to us!) so if it arrives while you are standing on the bridge you simply have to hop on to one of the platforms at the side...not sure if that would pass health and safety standards back home! The bridge was magnificent and we walked all the way along, thankfully without the train coming.

We took a short bus ride after this to arrive at our train station (on the same line) so that we could enjoy (maybe that's too strong a word!) a trip on the Death Railway. We decided to upgrade to the "Special Car" entitling us to cake, tea and juice. We had a few spills as the train jolted from side to side! It was quite scary when we had to cross one of the bridges further along...didn't feel as if the train was going to make it across! The views of the River Kwai and the Thai countryside made up for it though.

After our white-knuckle ride we hopped back on board the bus to get to our hotel, The River Kwai Village Hotel. We had imagined our rooms (which we knew were floating rafts on the river) to be completely basic, perhaps a mattress in the middle of the floor and not much else. We were all astonished to find that they were completely the opposite and could be described as 5 star luxury! They were beuatifully decorated and had a huge TV, minibar, comfy beds, lovely bathroom and our own little balcony right on the river. Just like a normal hotel room but with the one difference that it was floating on the river!

We enjoyed lunch at the hotel and then took a long-boat trip down the river to see some of the sights. The cliffs on either side of the river were stunning, and it was interesting to see some of the ordinary floating houses on the river that people lived on. Later we had a nice dinner and then an early night, exhausted after our busy day!

We woke up early the next morning for another busy day. Our first stop was Hellfire Pass, part of the Death Railway. POWs were forced to cut through the rock here by hand for up to 18 hours per day. It was given its name because of the eerie appearance at night when torches lit up the shadows of thousands of frail men against the rock. It was very harrowing to walk along the very track and was impossible to imagine what it must have been like to suffer those conditions. After walking back, we went to the Hellfire Pass museum. It was very imformative and had lots of exhibits, including pictures of some of the POWs in the conditions they were forced to live in and stories from some of the survivors.

Next we drove by minibus to an elephant camp not far away from our hotel. We got the chance to ride the elephants, which was lots of fun! I wasn't sure how I felt about jumping on the back of an elephant and making it carry me around for my enjoyment, but apparently the elephants are treated very well in these camps and wouldn't have much chance of survival in the wild in Thailand nowadays. We had two people to each elephant and Mr Forsyth and I's was tiny so we were quite worried! Bae Thon was very well behaved though and managed just fine!

We had a more relaxing afternoon at the hotel spa. Massages overlooking the river and hot springs, bliss! Graeme particularly enjoyed the pool where the little fish eat the dead skin from your feet or your body...I definitely wasn't as keen, it was way too tickly! Our night-time entertainment took place in the form of a karaoke session with the resident singer, Joey - lots of fun!

Next day it was time to wave goodbye to the River Kwai and head back for Bangkok. We were staying in the same hotel again, so we got checked in and then enjoyed another night on the town. I was definitely not as keen to see an elephant tied up on one of the main streets in Bangkok for people to take pictures! It was really disgusting to see.

Time to leave Bangkok...Mr F and Miss L did it in style and flew down, while Graeme and I opted for the much cheaper way - overnight bus! It was reasonably comfortable, despite being woken up by extremely loud Thai pop being blasted from the speakers at 6:30am. When we arrived at the Krabi Cha-Da resort, our jaws dropped...as did the reception staff's probably when they saw us rock up with our backpacks and dirty clothes! This hotel was even nicer than the last! Our 6th floor balcony had an amazing view of the sea (Ao nang is just next door to Railay, where I have previously stayed) with rock formations jutting straight out of the water.

We spent the morning by the Swimming pool (three to choose from!) and then the afternoon at the beach. April is the hottest month in Thailand and it feels as if the temperature is climbing every single day. Not very pleasant sometimes! Doesn't leave much energy for doing any more than sunbathing. Thai New Year (Songkran) came as a welcome relief to the heat. The tradition involves soaking passers-by with water and throwing talcum powder. We spent the afternoon soaking and being soaked by crazy Thai people...so much fun! A lot of them were driving past in big trucks with waterguns and buckets of water. We were hoping it would continue late in to the night but sadly didn't!

One of the days we decided to take a day trip to Maya Bay, where the film "The Beach" (starring Leonardo DiCaprio) was filmed. Our boat took us to Maya Bay first. It was beautiful but PACKED with people, which made it quite hard to get a good photograph! It was nice to see nonetheless. We also stopped a couple of times to snorkel, which was amazing! There were so many different types of fish, and feeding them was even more fun! Graeme got some great underwater pictures.

The day after we decided to head back to Koh Phi Phi and stay the night. We watched an amazing sunset from the viewpoint and then after getting ready to go out, had dinner and took part in a pub quiz...which we sadly just lost (they had more people though!).

We got the boat back to Ao Nang the following afternoon and enjoyed one final meal together before I had to head back to Koh Tao. I had an amazing week and a half with the Turriff crew but can't believe it's over already! It also made me miss everyone at Turriff a lot...and was sad Gayle couldn't be there too!

On Friday I got the boat and bus to Koh Tao and was really excited to be reunited with Alex, Alex and Pippa, as well as others we have met along the way. Unfortunately, I got ill after the first night out I had so have just spent a few days trying to get better and stay out of the heat. Everyone has left now (more sad goodbyes, second time round!) so I'm on my own but happy to be here on my favourite island getting better and figuring out where to go next!

Once I'm fully recovered I think the plan is to head up slowly to Bangkok and then start to think about Cambodia, Laos or Vietnam.

Hope everyone is well!

Rach x