I am now back in Koh Samui and Bryan just arrived two days ago. I had a very very hard time leaving Ton Sai on Thursday to come all the way back up to Samui to meet up with Bryan. I was excited to see a friend from home and show him what Thailand is all about but not one ounce of me was ready to leave Ton Sai. As I waited for my longboat over to Au Nang to take me off the island all I could think about was how amazing Ton Sai was and how much I did not want to leave. There were still so many things I wanted to see and do. I was getting to know some of the locals and making good friendships which I now just had to say good bye to. This also made me think about how thankful I am to be travelling alone and have had the freedom to do however I please up until this part. I had to keep reminding myself that it would be fun to see an old friend and that I should really just suck it up and go and see more of Thailand or I might regret it later on. I can always go back to Ton Sai and it gives me more reason to come back to Thailand and Southeast Asia.

I spent my day taking a short longboat to Au Nang and from there I waited for a minibus to take up to a bus depot where everyone would hope on a bigger bus which took up to Surat Thani so we could ferrie over to koh Samui and koh Phangan. Bryan had booked a place for us to stay on the night of the 26th but it was a national holiday that day so I had to travel on the 25th and get there one night earlier then I was hoping. I ended up checking into the same hotel he had booked for us in Fisherman's village. It was an upgrade from where id been staying in Ton Sai with air con and a nice clean hot shower. It's strange flipping from really grimy bungalow huts to nice accommodations like this all the time but I do really appreciate the hot clean showers when I have them. It's also nice to have something as simple as a mirror. I don't think I even looked in one mirror the whole time I was on Ton Sai.

The first day Bryan got here he mostly just napped all day until he had enough energy to check out the Fisherman's village Friday night market. I had been to this market a few times before so it was nothing new to me but he was pretty amazed by everything and we had a good time. We ate dinner at the Italian restaurant where I had that amazing pizza because I loved it so much and wanted to go back! Bryan was blown away by how good everything was. We split and started of King Prawns in olive oil, white wine and chilli with flat bread and then shared the house veggie pizza. After diner we continued to walk around the market for a bit until we could find a nice place to sit on the beach and catch up on what we've been up to in our lives. It was nice to hear stories about all our friends being together and having a good time. I am having the time if my life and meeting some pretty amazing people everyday but I do still miss those that are closest to me back home! It was also nice sharing all my stories and telling him about my travels so far. We drank our big Chang's on the beach and then headed back to the room for a good nights sleep.

Yesterday was a jam packed day of fun and excitement. Seeing as I've spend quite sometime in Samui already I wasn't too thrilled to be back here now that I've seen more of Thailand and have realized Samui is no comparison to some of the places is been, we still managed to make the best of it. I planned out a day for us with a balance of activities I had done and wanted Bry to experience as well as something's I'd never seen and wanted to do. We rented motorbikes from a place right beside our hostels and took off for the whole day! We started by going to Big Buddha, probably the biggest tourist attraction on Samui which I hadn't seen up close yet. Then we continued to drive our bikes through Chewang and over to Vikasa where I showed him around and we hangout in the Sala doing headstands and other various poses. It felt good to be back and brought back a lot of good memories. I do really miss it and all the friends I made. Although I am loving my freedom and the times I've had since I've left. After that we went to The Spa for lunch, I'd hangout there a lot during my Vikasa days and the food is really good so we decided to eat there. Then we continued to drive our bikes further down the coast and up a mountain to this amazing viewpoint id found before. Bryan was pretty amazed by the drive up and view at the top. When we got back down we decided we wanted to see one last thing before going back to our hostel to get ready for the Chewang night market where we could walk around, have some drinks and get some food. We decided on grandmother and grandfather rock which are two giant rocks shaped like a penis and a vagina. Sounded like a fun way to end the afternoon! We followed signs that took us to a restaurant on the side of the road where we could park our bikes and go take a look. When we got down to the water we could not see any rocks that resembled what we were hoping to see. I noticed signs guiding you through the forest to where the rocks are. First we passed a super cool reggae bar built on top of the rocks and over looking the water. I knew we needed to stop there for a drink and hangout a bit after we saw the rocks which was exactly what we did. The rocks weren't anything to special but discovering Rock Bar made the trip all worth it. We each ordered a beer and just hangout taking in the view and soon made friends with one of the guys that worked there named Dude. He was a super cool guy and turned out he used to live and work in Ton Sai. I was telling him about how his bar reminded me of being in Ton Sai and how I was sad to leave but it was nice to be here in Samui and get a bit of the same vibe at Rock Bar. He then went on to tell me how he worked at a bunch of the bars in which I'd been hanging out at on Ton Sai. We talked about how amazing it is there and how good the life is, just climbing and hanging out all day. Everyone is so happy and all about no worries, the best approach to life! I love the Thai locals and hearing their stories and views on life like this so it was cool to hangout with Bryan and Dude. We ended up staying past the sunset and Dude invited us to come down to the beach for a barbecue. There were about 10 locals, Bryan and I and an English girl who moved to Australia a few years ago and is now teaching English in Thailand. The locals cooked up tons and tons of seafood offering us more and more food!!! It was amazing, everything was so fresh and just so simple but good. They had prawns, squid, and fish which they grilled and served with a spicy citrus dipping sauce which was the perfect accompany for all the fresh seafood. This is what Thailand is all about! Getting to see how the locals live and eating like a true Thai. We were eating the fish right off the bone with its two little beady eyes staring back at us. The shrimp still had their heads on which i just sucked the juice right out of. I felt as if I were on an episode of Antony Bourdain's No Reservations and life couldn't be any better. Good food, good people, good music and all in all good times!!! A few other people ended up showing up who seemed to be living in Koh Samui and had found this little hidden gem of a bar which became their local hangout. I am glad we also came across it as hanging out there has been one of my highlights of the trip so far especially after that BBQ!

Today Bryan and I are off to Koh Phangan where we will hopefully find Calina and partake in some crazy full moon partying!! It's going to be insane and I'm not sure how ready I am! I've been chilling out a lot and have been enjoying the more mellow, chilled out vibes of Thailand and avoiding the crazy party beaches! I know we will have a blast though just need to prepare myself for the crazyness!! I'm excited to see Calina and hear about her travels so far. But anyways I should go so we can get organized and over to the full moon mayhem!