FULL MOON PARTY! + The islands

Feeling refreshed after our stay with Andy it was time to head over to the islands on the East coast in preparation for the full moon party. Annoyingly our bus arrived late at the ferry port meaning we had to spend most of the day (9 hours!!) sitting in a cafe waiting for the night boat to Koh Tao which left at 11pm. We arrived very early (4.50am!) in the morning to find that nothing was open so decided to nap for a few hours on a sunbed on the beach before finding a hotel for the next couple of days. Koh tao was lovely and we spent some time by the hotel pool and also on one of the days walked to a deserted beach of which we were the only occupants for the first few hours!! We then got the ferry over to Koh Samui, and while waiting for the ferry also bumped into some of the people we had met whilst in Laos who were going over to Koh Phangan, for the full moon party, a couple of days earlier than us so we arranged to meet them when we arrived - what a small world! 

Our deserted beach

Vietnamese walrus

We opted to stay on an alternative beach to the busy Chaweng beach on Koh Samui called Maenam Beach which was quieter and I think a little cheaper. We found a comfy room meters from the beach and then resorted to yet more days sun worshipping on the beach- tough life. In the evenings many of the restaurants along the beach front lined up their tables metres from the sea, setting the scene for a lovely couple of meals. We could easily have spent another night there but had to head over to Koh Phangan for the full moon party. 

Dinner on Maenam beach

We arrived in Koh Phangan and tracked down our hostel to dump our bags and head to the beach. The hostel was clean air conditioned, however it was also extremely crowded with bunks in every available bit of space! The night of the full moon we got painted up and met up with the others. Obviously before an evening of drinking we had to eat- I had my customary chicken schnitzel sandwich- my diet for breakfast, lunch and dinner which on Phangan. Poppy had found an amazing crepe shop and had one of these instead. We both had a really good night and partied till the early hours on the crowded beach. The next morning I struggled to get up at a reasonable hour- but with Poppy's persistance (as an early riser) we managed to catch a boat over to a nearby beach, Haad Yuan, and had a lovely day there relaxing and nursing a hangover! Getting back to Phuket took a lot longer than anticipated. We left Phangan at 6am, and after 1 ferry, 4 bus changes and a mad driver who shouted and screamed, reducing one of the girls in our minivan to tear, we arrived for a few more days at Andy's before heading to Koh Phi Phi for Poppy's 21st.

Lethal Thai energy drink!

Feeling somewhat worse for wear?

Just in case you partied too hard

A slice of luxury in Phuket and Diving

Leaving Bangkok we couldn't find a bus that left late enough to give us enough time to get back from the tiger temple so we booked onto our 1st train. There were no sleeper tickets left so we went for the class just below which seemed very nice as we boarded the train. We'd been told to make sure we had A/C at the very least, however, pulling in to our destination we both took a reasonable amount of time to defrost after 10 of the coldest hours of my life! Annoyingly there is no train station in Phuket so we still had 4 hours more on a bus, although this wasn't actually too bad and the time went by relatively quickly. 

Arriving in Phuket we were picked up by Andy, a friend of Poppy's uncle, and taken back to his villa via his office where he gave us the keys to a car he was lending us while we were staying with him and his family! The villa was amazing with stunning views over the sea and beaches below...a stark contrast to what we have become accustom to! The next couple of days were spent relaxing by the pool or on the beach and also organising our Scuba Diving course with an instructor that Andy knew. It was a lovely change to be able to eat in for once rather than eating all of our meals out and not have to live out of our bags as we stayed for almost two weeks!

 

 

View from our sunbed at Andys - don't be too jealous!

Sunset overlooking Surin beach

Generously, Andy also offered to take us out on one of his boats while we were there. We boarded the RIB and sped out to nearby Racha Noi where Andy and his wife, Julie, were meeting some friends on another boat. We spent the afternoon snorkelling with his two sons, Jakk and Min, and had a lovely lunch on the boat. A lovely day before the start of our Scuba Diving course! 

 

 

After a wet and choppy ride back on the RIB

Racha Noi beach

First play with the GoPro

Heyyyyy

Min - Andy's son

Moray Eel

 

We met Graham (our instructor) and headed over to a hotel to do a few more theory bits and then the pool stuff that day before going out on the diving boat. The next day we headed down to the pier nice and early to jump on the dive boat to head back over to Racha Noi to some dive sites around the island. The sea was very calm and the visibility was very good on the first day making all 3 of our dives very enjoyable! We were both nakered upon returning to shore and crashed out in bed soon after getting back to our room! Thankfully we had a rest day before our final day of dives where we went over to Koh Phi Phi. The sea, however, was far more choppy than on our first day and the water no where near as clear although we did manage to spot a turtle. We both had another great day diving and are now Qualified scuba divers. I think, however, while I'm keen to go diving again in the future, Poppy would still rather spend the day tanning! 

 

 



Terry the Turtle (Hawksbill Turtle)



Lionfish

 

Before leaving Phuket we were keen to head over to a restaurant Andy had suggested in Patong that served roast dinners! Having not enjoyed a roast for almost 2 months this was an absolute treat an we both ate far too much. We then stayed in Patong for the evening to enjoy some of the nightlife and watch a 'katoy' (ladyboy) cabaret show which was hilarious. Could you guess that they are all men?



Poppy's best Thai meal yet!



Whoops

Angkor Wat, Bangkok and Tiger Temple

Our journey from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap was slightly faster than anticipated thanks to a very fast driver and at the expense of a couple of local motorbike drivers who were edged into a ditch at the side of the road! The main reason for visiting Siem Reap is that it is located very close to the temples at Angkor Wat. We woke up early on our first day to get a good morning of sightseeing the temples in before heading over to a nearby butterfly farm and then looking at a couple more temples in the afternoon. The temples at Angkor Wat were amazing, especially when you consider how intricate the detailing is considering the huge size. Our tour of the butterfly farm was very interesting although we were somewhat underwhelmed by the amount of butterflys in the enclosure. Our afternoon was spent exploring the ruins of Wat Prohm, where huge trees have grown and some of the footage from the Lara Croft film was filmed.

Angkor Wat 

 

After a full day of walking round all the temples we were more than happy to spend our last day in Siem Reap by the hostel pool before heading into town for the night market. This was interesting to look round and I ended up buying a couple of paintings that we found. to finish of the evening we treated ourselves to a foot massage in town, with Poppy getting a pedicure as well.

Heading back to Bangkok we had timed it so as to make the weekend market which is the largest in the world. This was very difficult to navigate and sold everything from food to clothes and puppies to the kitchen sink. Staying over in a different area of Bankok to when we were first there we also had a look round some of the huge shopping malls that were nearby and found them equally as difficult to find our way around! On our last day before heading down to the Thai islands we decided to book onto a tour to go to the Tiger Temple in Kanchanburi. This is somewhat controversial as many people think that the tigers are only so relaxed and tame as they are drugged however we were reassured that this was not the case and that they tend to sleep for long periods of the day when it is hottest anyway. The morning in Kanchanburi was spend looking round a couple of other sights as well as a visit to a nearby waterfall. After lunch we were taken to the temple and got in line to go into the tiger enclosure for some pictures with the tigers. All in all it was a good experience and not something I can think that many people would have done. I would love to think that the tigers aren't drugged and are in fact just sleepy in the afternoon but it is difficult to tell as some of them did seem quite alert and awake.