Koh Phanang

Since the last instalment we've caught a 1 hour ferry north to a smaller island called Koh Phanang (the island's claim to fame is it's full moon parties) - we've been here 6 nights.

Upon arrival at our accommodation we met up with an aussie sheila and a german guy and went 200 metres down the beach to a resort that had a pool - they let non guests swim for free, which is fantastic because the ocean is so warm here that it's not that refreshing. After that we went back to our resort which has a beach bar and lazed the night away.

There were quite a few people staying at our accommodation and they were all really outgoing which was cool because to be honest we were getting a bit sick of each others company.

The next day was spent chilling out in hammocks which run between coconut tree's - hard work. That evening there was a party on - the ever cunning Thai people who sensed that they were onto a winning idea with Full Moon parties have setup Half Moon parties and even a Black Moon party (no moon). As luck would have it we were here for the black moon. We rounded up two tuk tuk's of people and headed down to what was essentially a party on a beach but with loud, annoying thai dance music. They sell these things called Whiskey buckets which are small plastic buckets with a hip flask of whiskey and coke/fanta etc chucked in as a mixer, you need to pace yourself as they're quite strong.

We've been to Haad Rin a couple of times which is the party area of the island. Basically it's beach bars selling cheap drinks.

We've hired a scooter and yesterday we explored the island. It's very laid back and not as commercial as Koh Samui (the last island). Yoga and spiritual living are pretty big in the North of the Island - where as down the South end it's mainstream alcohol based partying. We're in the North end - it's very beautiful with pristine beaches and blue sky.

Because we're on a tight budget we found a bottle store and purchased crate bottles and ice which in the evenings go down really well on the beach. Tonight is our last night on the island - we are talking about heading to Changmai (northern Thailand) - and we're both looking forward to a bit more hustle and bustle as island life is very relaxed.

The All Blacks are playing the wallabies in an hour and the hunt is on to find a bar that will play the game - ideally we will find an australian to hassle about the outcome as well - preferably one that follows rugby but any will do. The camera has been out snapping photo's but haven't gotten around to putting them up yet - hopefully in a couple of days.

Highlights:
- Big Chang beers, at 6.4% and in this temperature it doesn't take much
- Free swimming pool - you can't beat a nice cold dip to wash away the temperature and sand and salt
- Free table tennis at a mexican restaurant - we've never spent money there - "you want food or drink?", no thanks, we just want to play table tennis.
- Other travellers, met lots of really nice people alot of which are heading to NZ. Our country has got such a good reputation and everyone is excited about checking it out.
- Fire skipping rope in Haad Rin. The locals soak a rope in petrol then stand on stools, set it on fire and swing it like a giant skipping rope.

Lessons Learnt:
- Everyone gets sucked into pre-booking trips, we're in the majority so yay for us
- No one likes Bangkok and it's pretty common for girls to cry when they get there
- Coconuts are hard to open but there prize is worth your labour. Especially if you've got a young Australian doing all the hard work!

Koh Samui

It's been a while between posts. Since last time we have managed to find our way down south to the island of Koh Samui - 10 hours on a bus and 2 hours on a ferry.

Koh Samui has a population of about 160,000 with about 40,000 born and bred Samuians. Our accommodation is a bungalow about 20 metres from a private beach which is nestled in between the two main parts; Lamai and Chaweng.

The private beach is nice in that it is private and that there aren't people trying to sell you things and generally pester you. The downside to it is that it is a reasonable distance from other beaches and other people. So if you haven't got any friends at the resort then you effectively isolated unless you taxi, walk or scooter somewhere else.

The first couple of days on the island were really good, we spent alot of the time hanging out with a couple from the UK that were really nice. It also allowed us to ask lots of 'living in the UK' questions and we told them about NZ as they are visiting in a month or so. Who knows, we might end up having a catchup over a world famous 'Strongbow' when we get to the UK.

The island is ridiculously commercialised and must be frequented by alot of Australians as a common greeting from sales people is 'How's it hangin' cobber?', or more simply "aussie, aussie, aussie". It's very amusing, if not slightly unfortunate hearing the Thai's talking English with an Aussie accent.

We had some scooters for a couple of days which was great as it let us see the island at our own pace. It's slightly unnerving driving through the busy areas of the island but we both found that once you get used to it the unwritten Thai road rules are really straightforward.

Tomorrow we're leaving the island which just quietly we are rather looking forward to. No offense to our "tropical paradise" but the slow pace of life and isolation is getting to us a bit. Koh Phanang, the next island we're visiting is marketed towards backpackers and young people so should be more our kettle of fish.

Highlights:
- All you can eat self cooked Thai Buffet. This place costs 100 baht (NZ $5) per person and is el fresco dining at its South East Asian best. You get a coal based wok style cooker on your table and select raw ingredients to cook. You can also select precooked food to eat while your stuff is cooking. The locals are really into it and it's got an air of local cool about it. We've been dodging most of the meats as they are left uncovered on the tables for long periods of time.
- Thai beaches, the water is so warm you could almost say that it isn't refreshing. Swimming can easily become a full morning/afternoon activity.
- Utes full of Thai people. These guys are the definition of efficiency when it comes to transport. Not uncommon to see 10 or more guys on the back.

Lessons Learned:
-In Thailand the Thai's are always right. Don't even argue, there are better things to do with your time.
-Before entering a store of any kind be clear on what you want and what you will pay for it.
-The waterfalls on this island aren't what they're cracked up to be (at least not at this time of year). Their purpose is to attract you to the other tourist activities on offer.

Bangkok

After a couple of flights we touched down in Bangkok at 12pm local time. We caught a taxi into town and found some accommodation that was rather ghetto but the best we could manage for 7am NZ time.

After a pretty rough night sleep (we didn't see the aircon machine and relied on the ceiling fan..) we were both in positive moods and went out exploring. The street we've been staying on is packed with sweaty tourists who look completely overwhelmed by their current situation. It's rather amusing and we're both in agreement that there is no way we look like the other tourists, hah.

We started with the intention of buying backpacks as we only had two very basic travel bags. Instead of this we ended up catching a tuktuk and visiting a government administered travel agent. One thing led to another and we signed up for 14 nights on the islands of the South East coast (we're leaving for this later this afternoon).

The tuktuk also took us around a few buddhist temples before making an unrequested stop at a suit store. The suit salesman took it pretty hard when after ten minutes we told him we didn't want his suits. I'm sure he'll get over it.

That evening we went for a walk down by the river and took in some sights and generally chilled out. It's school holidays over here until the end of the month so there were lots of families doing similar things.

The next day we set out and achieved our original intent of buying backpacks. They are a bit larger than we require as we are travelling light however it's nice to have some spare room and be able to find things quickly. We might even be able to increase the warddrobe to 4 tshirts each.

Later that day, after picking up some rather nice singlets, we set out Khou San Rd which is tourist central. We settled down for a couple of quiet beers and exchanged some banter with various people that we happened to meet.

Today we've been killing time waiting for our bus to come and take us to the islands. It's going to be really nice to get out of the city and get to some beaches where we can laze about.

Highlights:
- Mr Yim's restaurant
- Thai singer singing western songs without knowing how to speaka the English
- The sheer amount of scrawny and pasty looking Englishmen who only appear after sundown
- The lady that did our washing in an alleyway yesterday for a $1.50 NZD
- The Turner look alike that was de-fleaing his dog
- A missing cat flyer with photos

Lessons Learned:
- Other tourists aren't really interested in talking and meeting people during the day. At night time on the other hand most people are pretty friendly
-Locals are relentless at pestering you, during the day it is "Mr, Mr, where you go? Tuktuk? Where you from Mr?" At night time it is replaced with tattoo's and pingpong shows.