Hey blogsters!

Long time no speak! We’ve finally dragged ourselves from paradise and found time to give you lovely lot a bit of an update on the last 8 weeks.

Firstly, we’ll take you back to the beginning of April, when our month long stint on the Thai beaches began. We boarded the banter bus to Koh Phangnan and hit a resort in the west of the island called Haad Yao where we had time to take in the beauty of the island before full moon fun set in. We hired a scooter (!) to explore the island and ventured to the south-east corner to Haad Rin beach, the location of the infamous full moon party. It provided the perfect time to meet up with friends we had met along the South East Asia circuit and even gave us chance to catch up with some school friends. Build up to the full moon was ace despite the daily storms. In true full moon tradition, we covered ourselves in luminous rave-paint (albeit in candle light) in preparation for the party on the beach. The three hour pre-party power-cut didn’t dampen the mood and when the lights and music finally came back on, everyone was ready to rave! We put in an impressive performance and managed to party for thirteen hours before we had to leave the beach to check out of our accommodation….at 11am in the morning! The full moon was an awesome experience and lived up to our high expectations.

After a week of partying on Koh Phangnan, a voiceless Barnet and an ear infected Sparrow decided it was time to leave so headed to the tranquil paradise of neighbouring island Koh Tao. This was our favourite island: the beautiful beaches, the hospitable people and the week of giggles with friends Bryony and Ben made this one of our favourite travelling memories so far. We were lucky enough to spend “Songkran” (Thai New Year) in Tao and had a fantastic day celebrating the water festival with locals and fellow travellers. We woke up early, bought our water guns and headed to the beach to storm some unsuspecting breakfast diners. Needless to say, at 8am, some of them weren’t quite as in the spirit of the festival as we were! By mid-day the celebrations were in full swing; we were suitably soaked, covered in flour and filled with good wishes from the locals. Definitely a highlight of travelling so far. Other Tao treats included an “interesting” ladyboy cabaret show, featuring Tina Turner and Celine Dion; snorkelling in Shark Bay; watching some of the most incredible sunsets we have seen, and watching amazing fire shows on the beach.

Next stop, the Andaman coast and the paradise gem of Rai Lay beach. We caught the night boat to Krabi, a mainland port before walking through the mangroves to a wooden longtail boat which took us to the isolated peninsula, Rai Lay. Three days were spent here, relaxing and soaking up the atmosphere of the annual Rock Climbing and Fire Show Festival…we would love to say our exquisite planning had enabled us to experience the best of all the local festivals, but to be honest we are just lucky to be in the right place at the right time!

Koh Phi Phi was our next destination. The journey was an interesting one: working our way through mangroves with our 18kg rucksacks, before clambering aboard a packed longtail boat, only to be driven to the middle of the ocean and told to climb aboard a massive ferry liner which had stopped to “pick us up”! Hope you can picture the scene and the look of horror on our faces! We made it to Phi Phi in one piece, just, found ourselves a suitable three bed apartment and awaited the arrival of Ms Raynes (Carley’s friend from uni). Phi Phi is one of the most idyllic islands we have been to. Despite being destroyed by the tsunami, the island has been rebuilt incredibly quickly and the natural wonders of Bamboo Island, Maya beach and the surrounding lagoons remain secluded beauties. The only mode of transport on the tiny island is bicycle and we quickly became accustomed to hearing the chime of a local Thai calling “beep beep” to let us know they were coming through! The narrow streets, friendly locals and long beaches created a chilled out and relaxed vibe, and before we knew it our ten days there had flown by. We took a longtail boat tour around the island and ventured to Maya Beach (where the film The Beach was filmed), snorkelled in crystal clear waters and saw some amazing fish, and watched sunset bobbing in the middle of the ocean. Sigh!

Our final stop was the undiscovered island of Koh Lanta, where we spent four days soaking up the last of the Thai sun and living the life of luxury in our air-conditioned, TV-fitted, refrigerator donned, hot- water running, beach-side bungalow…for a whopping six pounds a night! We had a giggly and girly time here with Em and Erin and enjoyed many a beach bbq and cocktail before we all went our separate ways.

Singapore was our last destination of our South East Asia leg. Despite only having five hours in the city, we managed to squeeze in the compulsory Singapore Sling cocktail at the infamous Raffles Hotel (…do you see a pattern developing here?!) before exploring Little India and taking a walk through the commercial district along the river front.

So how do you sum up South East Asia?? Impossible! We’ve made some fantastic memories, met some awesome people, seen some incredible sights and soaked up the fascinating cultures. Three months here has flown by and we’ve loved every minute…but we’re very much excited about the next leg of Sparrow and Barnet’s world tour….. AUSTRALIA!