Hey everyone,

Just like to say thanks for all your messages, we hope you are enjoying the photos.

We've been on Koh Phangan now since Sunday and its beautiful! Its smaller and greener than Koh Samui, and the sea is clearer. We are staying in bungalows by the beach but they are set in a garden, which means more insects! But we don't mind so much as we have two hammocks this time. Luckily the restaraunt at our resort is very nice as our other dining experiences have been rather strange. We went to a place recommended by Lonely Planet, which turned out to be..... shambolic! They forgot orders, brought food out at strange times - the alcohol he'd been consuming clearly didn't help the situation!

On Monday Fin went on a Discover Scuba Trip to see if he liked it. He thought it was 'ace', and is keen to do it again at some point during our trip. Later when the tide went out we went for a walk along the beach, but the sand is quite shelly. The sea is lovely and clear but the sea lice take some getting used to. Apparently they are quite common around here, you can't see them but they give you little stings all over. Very odd!

Yesterday we went on a trip around the island and there was only one other couple on it. They were from Liverpool, small world! We started the trip on an elephant ride up in the mountains, which in comparison to our elephant ride on Koh Samui wasn't quite as smooth. I'm not convinced our guide knew exactly what he was doing, and we weren't comforted by the fact that the elephant ignored the guide and did whatever he liked. The absence of a seat belt was also disconcerning. It was a long way down! However we did survive and we then hiked up to some waterfalls and even further to a viewpoint which was really hard work in the heat. It was absolutely stunning, which you will be able to see from the pics when we upload them.

Lunch was from a traditional Thai street stall, which is very popular in Thailand. It was delicious! We visited a Chinese temple set up in the mountains, which was the first temple we have seen so far and it was like nothing we'd ever have back home. It was so peaceful. Lastly we ended the day on the beach near Koh Mah where we could snorkel, swim or just lie on the beach.

The weather is still lovely, if not slightly hotter on this island, and we've been very careful not to let ourselves burn. We have an afternoon of sunbathing planned after our partying last night. We went to the Full Moon party on Haad Rin beach which is a monthly occurence, and the biggest draw to the island. The locals really go to town for the party and nothing is planned for the day after! We weren't sure what to expect and were worried it'd be just young kids bouncing around in a drunken state to trance music, but we were pleasantly surprised. We were advised not to take valuables, but we wish we had taken the camera so everyone could see how crazy it was. The beach was packed with people all drinking the legendary 'buckets' - a traditional bucket and spade bucket filled with 200ml of vodka, some coke and some redbull. It was gross but we didn't want to be left out! There were lots of fire displays, including idiots trying to jump over a flaming skipping rope - nuts! We really enjoyed it, it was insane and we are thinking of starting our own Full Moon party on Rhos-on-sea beach when we get back!

Later on today we are treating ourselves to a traditional Thai massage (the legit kind!) which we are looking forward to. We are heading back to Koh Samui for another two days tomorrow. We have really enjoyed Koh Phangnan and we'll miss it. Photos to follow soon.

Take care

Sian and Fin xxx