It's been a while since I've written my blog, so I thought I'd better get on with it! I'm now in Koh Samui. I travelled from Hanoi in Vietnam to Bangkok for 1 night, then on to the island of Koh Samui.

This place is a world of difference from my Vietnam trip - that was a cultural experience, this is an island that caters for just about anything you want to do in an idyllic setting with golden sands and 34 degree sunshine every day. Oh, and 2 miles of restaurants, pubs and clubs that spans the length of the beach.

Bob and Jo, a couple from London who I met on the Vietnam trip have been in Chewang Beach where I'm staying all week which has been great, as we've met up each day and night since I've been here.

After arriving on Monday afternoon, I met on the beach with Bob and Jo, then went out for a meal and to a Thai ladyboy cabaret show on the night. I'm not sure I'd have gone if there hadn't been a girl there as some of them don't understand the phrase "@#!% off" when you're on your own! It had to be done, just to say I'd been!

As I said on the message board, we went to Muai Thai Kickboxing on Tuesday night at one of the two boxing arenas they have here. There were 7 bouts, each of 6x3min rounds. Ringside seats on DFS leather sofas was a treat! It started with young kids - no older than 11 years old - and worked up to the "big one" in which the English guy fought the top boy from Southern Thailand. It was a messy contest which looked more like UFC than Thai Boxing. Needless to say the English guy got a bad cut to the head in the 4th and it got stopped - he was getting battered anyway! Adam I think you should come down here and show them what English fighters can really do, because this guy was a right weasel.

Not wanting to spend my whole time in Chewang Beach, I took a full tour of the island yesterday by jeep. This involved travelling into the mountains and going elephant riding. It was an amazing experience - I've got some good pics that I'll upload as soon as I get fast enough connection speeds. We also visited mountain waterfalls, went to the highest peak on Samui, held a (Golden?) Eagle and had Thai lunch, then came down from the top of the mountain with Bob, Jo and I sitting on top of the 4x4 jeep roof. I was better than most roller-coasters I've ever been on!

Today, it was all about the beach, then off to a Crocodile farm where we watched locals putting their heads inside the mouths of fully grown crocs. I assume they'd been well fed beforehand as these guys were fine with it....although one had a thumb missing and a rather interesting scar on his shoulder from a previous attack. We also watched a snake show, with guys kissing King Cobras and even putting the head of a King Cobra in his mouth. This is a snake which is 12 ft long and would kill you in 10 mins of a bite without anti-venom. Nutter.

The guest house I'm staying in is owned by a local Thai lady and her American husband. I've got to say Penzy (the owner) has been amazing. Before booking, I read loads of reports about how helpful they are if you're a first time visitor and it has been proven right. So far she had booked all the trips, a flight to Krabbi, catamaran to Ko Phangang, and recommended all the best places to eat and drink for me. What more could I want?

I leave for Ko Phanang tomorrow, but I've booked another 3 nights here after that, before I go to Phi Phi. It's the Full Moon Party on Sat night, which should be fun. Hopefully, I will be meeting one of the other guys from my trip there.

Hope all is well back in Blightly and in Oz. I'll update from my next island. Keep the messages coming, I'm loving them....