Pattaya, Thailand

Another 8 Hour journey took us from Koh Chang to Pattaya. From Pattaya we should be able to get to our choice of destination, Phetchaburi.
Pattaya is a really busy resort, popular with old & young white men looking for a Thai gal. It's not really a place we would choose to go but we both ended up having a nice 2days.
On our first evening we visited the Pattaya Central Mall. It's a great modern place, with lots of shops to look around and a cinema/bowling complex on the top level. We had a look around and thought we would treat ourselves to watching Alice in Wonderland in 3D. It was great. We both really enjoyed it and as we were sat there I think we both forgot we were in Thailand. At the beginning of the film whilst they are playing the trailers, they play a short film and ask you to stand and pay your respect to the King of Thailand.
On our second day in Pattaya we went to see "Big Buddha" . It was interesting to see because it was so huge! All around it there are lots of different types buddhas for every day of the week, they all have a meaning and the Thai people all come here to worship.
On our way back from Big Buddha we caught a taxi moped. Us and the driver on 1 bike, crazy!
Next we will be catching a local bus to get us to the Upper Southern Gulf.

Koh Chang, Thailand

We left Haad Rin (Koh Phangan) in the back of a truck which dropped us to the port to take us on a 3 hour boat ride to Don Sak. From there we took a coach to Surat Thani, two taxis and finally a ten hour coach ride to Bangkok where we arrived at 5 in the morning, the whole journey cost 12 pounds! After a power nap we went to explore Khao San Road. A busy tourist road in Bangkok full of bars, market stalls, food venders (selling fried water beatles, maggots, crickets
and scorpions). After indulging in none of this sam and matt booked their bus and boat ticket to Koh chang and Kyle sorted her transport to the airport. In the evening Khao San turns into a mad road where thai people still manage to open more stalls onto the already cramped street. We awoke the next morning bright and early and said adios to Kyle. After a 7 hour journey we
arrived on Koh Chang and went to our first stop, Klong Prao. Here we spent three nights of peace and tranquility on the deserted beach, eating fresh fallen coconuts for lunch, skillfully opened by Matt. We then moved to our next stop further south, Kai Bay, where we found our own little stone haven in a luxury resort. Taking full advantage of the swimming pool and free BBQ and only paying 10 pounds a night! Moving on to our final stop on Koh Chang, Hat Tha Nam (Lonely Beach) We stayed at a mellow place owned by a German guy called Thomas. The food was good, the beer was cheap and every night at 7pm he would play the latest movies
on a 50" screen. We spent the days relaxing on the beach in Matts hammock, playing pool, getting kicked out of a 5 star hotel and probably drinking to much beer. Which was all payed for with the 2000 baht (40 pound) that Matt found on the beach! Due to the blood splashers in Bangkok (Protesters) Kyle decided not to fly back from Australia but to spend some more time with her sister, we are hoping to meet up again in June. Her geographical skills will be missed but we must say we haven't had as much local attention brought to us, since her departure. In a nutshell we really liked Koh Chang, its really different from the southern Thai islands. It has a jungle feeling to it and the beaches are more natural.

Koh Phangan, Thailand

We caught the 13:00 boat to get us from koh Samui to Koh Phangan. Koh Phangan hosts the biggest beach party in the world, the full moon party, so we were all looking forward to getting there and seeing what all the fuss was about.It was quite cloudy on our way over and by the time we arrived at the pier, it was raining! We couldn't believe it. Our first proper rain fall in 5 weeks. Koh Phangan was already getting busy with people ready for the full moon. But we luckily found a place to stay, a bit more pricey than usual but we were prepared to pay it. Our first few days we spent looking around, on the beach and eating chocolate chip cookies. There was a nice buzzing atmosphere. Sam celebrated her 23rd birthday, swimming in the ocean and bathing on the beach. We also went out that night and danced the night away on the sand, whilst drinking buckets. Buckets are Koh Phangan's speciality, the beach is filled with stalls selling mini buckets of alcohol, with ice and plastic necklaces made from straws thrown in for free. Monday came quickly and it was time for the full moon party of March 2010! With our body's painted in luminous colours. Matt winning the body art competition, we headed for the beach. There was a nice vibe around, everyone was happy, drunk, dancing and jumping through burning rings of fire. Different types of music was being played from various beach bars. And fireworks were going of all night long. The atmosphere was great. When you get tired of dancing, you just sit on the sand for a while, next to some sleeping strangers before getting back up and dancing some more!
The full moon continues till 11am the next day, we on the other hand didn't stay to the end. Our dancing sand legs felt it the next day! On Andy's birthday we hired a 4x4 and drove around the Island to do some exploring. Our first stop took us to Phaeng waterfall, to our amusement, there was no water. This made us laugh. We drove on some more and came to a few small temples and a marble Buddha. And then onto Paradise Falls which....had no water! we couldn't believe it. We later found out that apparently the day we arrived was Koh Phangan's second rain fall they have had in 13months, Hence the lack of natural flowing water. Never mind, Andy continued to drive whilst Matt had fun standing in the back. The so called roads, were the worst roads either of us had ever seen. They were just a dusty, dirt track really. We eventually found a waterfall, with water and had a great time chilling on the rocks and swimming at the bottom of the fall. After this, we found some luxurious beaches that were practically deserted and well worth a visit.
All together we had a nice time on Koh Phangan, the buzz of the full moon party soon
passes over to a relaxed atmosphere and a gorgeous beach. A place we wouldn't hesitate to
return to, if given the opportunity to do so.

Koh Samui, Thailand

Another early start to get us to Koh Samui. What was meant to be a nice air conditioned bus ride to Don Sak in the Southern Gulf of Thailand....turned out to be the hottest, fastest and bumpiest bus ride ever, thanks to a unique bus driver!!
From Don Sak you get the ferry across to Na Thon, Koh Samui and from there you can get a Sawngthaew (mini bus style taxi) to Hat Chewang. Chewang is the most popular beach in Samui. Me and Matt had been there before so were both looking forward to returning and seeing how the place had changed.
Chewang is a nice place, there are lots of shops, restaurants and relaxing beach bars to keep you busy. Our first night we chilled on the beach once again. We had been away from the beach for a few days so it was nice to get back on one with a cool beverage....Pina Colada for sam :)

We had ourselves a bit of a luxury room, t.v, wifi, 1 minute from the beach and a swimming pool, not bad at 4 quid each.
The rest of our time in Samui was filled with days at the pool, Cheap Thai food and a bit of bartering. Matt kept himself busy by having another tattoo on his other leg. No sun, sea and sand for him for a week! All worth it of course!!
Our last evening in Samui was the funnest. We visited Koh Samui's Bar Ice. A bar which is -7 degrees, everything is made of ice. As its so cold you cant have glasses and bottles, so even your drink is given to you in an ice cone! In the bar they also have ice elephant sculptures, tables and a tuk tuk. pretty clever. Wearing flip flops wasn't the best idea.
All together it was a relaxing week in Koh Samui, sometimes its hard, never having to do anything or be anywhere.
Still a feeling were getting used to after 5 weeks.