We went for breakfast at 9am at our hotel, I chose a breakfast quesadilla and it was amazing! It was really big but I was planning on skipping lunch, I couldn't finish it though.

We had arranged to meet Hayley and Katie at the end of the beach on a pier which belongs to a posh resort called the Koh Tao Resort, where there are sunbeds and umbrellas. It was so nice sunbathing there, we had drinks brought to us so it felt more like I was on a luxury holiday rather than a budget backpacking trip! Whenever we were hot we just had to climb down a couple of rocks into the sea. I just laid on my sunbed and start to read The Beach, by Alex Garland, on my Kindle. It cost me £6.49 but I really wanted to read it because it is set around here and also in Khao San Road in Bangkok.

In the afternoon, Vicky, Vix, George and I rented snorkels and flippers. There were an English couple there too, and the lady made a comment about the area being 'too nice' for us travellers - I couldn't tell if she was being rude or not but it annoyed me a bit anyway! We swam out to sea with our snorkels, it is really shallow for at least a kilometre. Near the shore we couldn't see anything, but further out there were colourful fish, spiky sea urchins, slimy sea cucumbers
and coral. and coral. In some places there were so many sea urchins that you couldn't see the seabed, that scared me! I don't like being far out at sea, and even though it was shallow, I started to panic when the water turned dark blue and colder, and the swell got bigger, so I left the others and swam back to shore as fast as I could. I was so relieved to be back on dry land. I don't think I have a phobia but I am definitely, and maybe irrationally, scared of swimming in the sea.

After some more sunbathing we headed back to shower and then had a drink at our hotel bar overlooking the sea. I had a tasty dinner of chicken with garlic and peppers, with rice at a nearby beach restaurant, and then we set off for The Castle, a nightclub where a big party was apparently happening which we'd seen banners and posters for.

We stopped at the minimart where I bought a Cadbury Dairy Milk bar which was very exciting. I also got a tasty sparkling wine spritzer type drink. We weren't sure how far the club was, so us girls got in a taxi. The man asked for 300 baht so we bartered it down to 200 baht and got in - we arrived literally 30 seconds later, it can't have been any more than half a mile - we were so annoyed that we had spent £4 on it - that is loads even at home for a journey that short, let alone in Thailand. We tried to give him less money because he had lied and said that the club was far away, but he started to get angry so we reluctantly paid him. We then found out that to get into the club was 100 baht! Cover charges are rare here so it is annoying that they have found yet another way to get money out of us. We decided not to go in and instead went to a little outside bar opposite and had tequila shots (at the Western price of £2). I don't like tequila so I ended up spitting half on the floor because it just wouldn't go down - a bit of a waste of money!

I was really flagging by this point, so Rosie and George went into The Castle (and Rosie got to cuddle a baby monkey!) and Vick, Vix, Keith and I headed off to find somewhere to play pool and decide whether or not to go into the club. We were only 50 metres down the road when Rosie texted to say that there were heaps of people in the club and we should go. I very nearly went to bed but the others persuaded me to go and see what it was like. We haggled the cover charge down to half price and went inside - it was actually outside! Everything was made of rock so the stairs were a bit hard to walk up and down, but it was a really cool place - I ended up staying until 5am with Rosie! I met lots of friendly people which was cool, although on more than one occasion guys tried it on with me even when they knew I have a boyfriend, saying 'everyone does it, he'll never know!' which made me angry with them. Especially one Canadian guy, who was away with some friends, one of whom
was married and one was engaged. He was telling me that the other night some English girls were all over the guys even though they knew the guys were married/engaged, and saying how disrespectful that was. However, when he tried it on with me and I reminded him of what he'd said earlier, he just said 'there's no ring on your finger, so you're single.' Unfortunately I'm too nice to be confrontational, so I just said I was going to the loo and left, even though I wanted to slap him for being such an arrogant arse. I did lots of dancing though, and had my first 'bucket' of the trip (shameful really), which is just that - a bucket full of very strong drink. I had a really fun night and didn't get in with Rosie until 5.30am, where I fell asleep immediately!

xxx