Koh Samui and Koh Tao...

For the final part of my Thailand adventure I got the ferry over to Koh Samui. As I arrived at my hotel I was kindly welcomed into a pretty cool group of travellers, mainly British with some Swiss guys, some Norwegian girls, a couples of Ozzies and a Canadian thrown in for good measure! Our first night we went to a Thai barbeque which basically meant we had a small pot on our table which we had to cook the food on ourselves...the four of us at our end of the table went for the throw everything in and see what happens approach which seemed to work out quite nicely! After food we headed down to the beach for some buckets and towers of beer then off to a nightclub. The next day I was feeling pretty sorry for myself so spent most of the day in bed, I didn't miss much though as all that seemed to happen that day was a whole lot of rain! We then got a ferry over to Koh Tao, our first night here we went to see a ladyboy show which I absolutely loved! One of the campest things I have ever seen, I'm not sure how much the guys appreciated being dragged out the back and being dressed up however, but we found it funny! Our last day in Koh Taowe went snorkeling. The weather was pretty rubbish though and our first excursion into the water ending up with me having a little bit of a panic attack. The next stop, the weather now thankfully a bit better, I jump back into the water this time with a life jacket as to not freak out again! The water was so clear and you could see so many fish. The last stop on our snorkeling trip we went to a private beach, a few of us decided to venture up to the top of a small mountain on the island followed by a bit of sunbathing then back to the hotel. Our last night in Koh Tao and last night together as a group we had some food and headed out for some drinks, I had a great time with these guys and was sad to say goodbye at the pier the next day. I then headed back to Koh Samui for a few days then got the night train back to Bangkok. Leaving Thailand on Saturday and am quite looking forward to it.

Khao Sok and Chiaw Lan Lake...

With my teaching finished I left Chumpon and got a bus to Khao Sok. The place is beautiful and I got my very own tree house to stay in for a couple of days but for various reasons I did not have a good time here and all that is worth mentioning was getting to feed some monkeys. So then off to Chiaw Lan Lake which was amazing! I was staying there with a German couple and a hilarious Dutch couple, we all got our own draft house which was basically a small hut on the lake with only a mattress inside. After some lunch we got into a long tailed boat and headed out to a waterfall which we climbed up and got to see some of the jungle, unfortunately all the animals had decided to hide but the views were stunning. Then back to the long tail boat and over to a bat cave where with torch in hand we jumped from the boat into the lake and swam into the cave, the further you went in the darker it got and suddenly you see all the bats flying above. I realise this might sound awful; to some of you but I happen to quite like bats, luckily! That night we all sat down to eat and had fun with the family who live there. The next morning we sit down on a boat/table to have breakfast, with the pancakes and coffee ready our tour guide starts up the boat/table and we have a trip round the lake whilst tucking into breakfast. Probably the strangest and most amazing way I have ever had breakfast!

Koh Phangan...

My last week in Chumpon was well...a little boring so I decided to ditch school (eesh!) and get a boat over to Koh Phangon. This island hosts the famous full moon parties every month and it just so happened that the night I was there was a full moon. A friend of mine from London was staying there and kindly let me crash at his. After being introduced to his friends we had a couple of drinks and food at their hotel then headed down to the beach to check out the party. It was crazy! So much fire and disregard for safety! Some guys were spinning round these long poles which were lit on fire, they had obviously been doing this for a long time and it was very impressive. Not too far away from these guys however it all got a bit silly. First was the big slide that had two poles on fire at the bottom which you had to go through with a crash mat at the bottom although most people just seemed to end up in a heap in the sand, then there was the skipping rope. This was a huge rope, again set on fire, with someone holding each end and anyone could just run in for a go of skipping in the middle. I remember being quite good at this at school but decided against seeing if I was still as good due to the fact that the rope was on fire! All night people kept trying their luck, running in and out and not doing too badly but you saw so many people being hit in the face with the rope or falling and landing in the fire and all of this seemed to only get more people wanting to try! We decided it best to just watch from a distance. Then onto the buckets, they were selling these 'buckets' which got filled with a large amount of alcohol, a mixer, ice and straws all for the price of about 2 quid...hmm...I stuck to beer! The party was quite an experience and I'm glad I got to go and had a really good night. Unfortunately I could only stay the one night as I had to head back to Chumpon the next day so said my goodbyes and got on the boat back. The boat ride was full of people who were either still drunk or very hungover and pretty much everyone still covered in fluorescent paint. The majority of people got off at Koh Tao so I then moved to the deck at the front of the boat for the rest of my journey were I got to watch the sunset into the sea...nice! My last day in Chumpon was a good one, got to mainly just relax on the beach and have some drinks with some of the friends I had made whilst staying there then off to bed.

Chumpon...

So after a long week I leave Bangkok and travel by train to Chumpon. The train took about 8 hours but I got my own bed, blanket and pillow! I got chatting to a lovely Thai girl who's name she told me translated in English is reindeer and that if I wanted I could call her reindeer, I instantly liked her. I arrived late to my new hotel so went straight to bed. The next morning I got up early to check out my new home for the next 2 weeks, I have Thung Wua Laen beach right on my doorstep but unfortunately I have arrived after a storm which has brought in a LOT of rubbish from the sea. I am told this happens around this time every year and once all the rubbish is out of the sea they have a big clean up. I have been shown pictures of what the beach normally looks like, I am sad I won't get to see it that way. Later that day, Jeng an i-to-i volunteer takes me into central Chumpon to show me around, do some shopping and get some food. Monday was my first day teaching, the head teacher of the school picks me up and drops me off every day. The school is tiny and has only about 40 students! My first class is a class of 6 12 year olds. I had no idea what to expect and didn't really have anything planned or even any idea of how much English they knew, the teacher just left the room when I got there and so I just had to improvise. Needless to say, they quickly got bored. I had a couple of hours before my next class so spent that time putting together some sort of lesson plan. My second class was a group of 9 10 year olds, they were really fun and as long as you play some games with them they stay pretty well behaved. Later that week, Tong another i-to-i volunteer came to stay for a few days and what a great few days we had! The first night we went to a great bar called maliblues run by an effortlessly cool couple with live blues music every night, a lot of Thai rum was drank so the next day to cure our hangovers we went for a 2 hour long Thai massage. Then Tong took me out for a motorbike lesson, I was terrified and can't have gone much faster than about 10 mph the whole time, we went down a quiet road and after a while I started to get the hang of it and even managed to change gears. All was going well until I started to panic and tried to break with my feet...oops! No harm done just a couple of grazed toes and some chipped nail varnish and so back to Maliblues for some more rum and good music. The next day we went to a boarding school for autistic kids where I helped serve their tea, the kids were lovely and a lot of fun. Yesterday was Tongs last day here so he took me to a turtle sanctuary were the turtles are loving looked after until they are big enough and well enough to be let free in the sea. And so I sadly waved Tong off at the train station but now feel very at home here, I have quickly come to love it here at Thung Wua Laen beach, everyone is so nice and as cheesey as it is to describe it this way; they are all like one big family which you are so quickly and lovingly accepted into, I will be sad to leave this place next week.

That is all from me for now, sorry I have still been unable to upload any pictures. Hopefully I will be able to get some up soon.

Much love x

Bangkok...

I thought it was about time for a little update of my trip, I tried uploading some pictures but it seems this internet cafe is having none of it! I will get some up as soon as I can! So...Bangkok...what a wonderful, strange, beautiful and ugly place! The crowded, hot, stinking, polluted streets are quick to bring you down and the tuk tuks, oh the tuk tuks! How they annoy me! But just as I am starting to really dislike this place I come across some of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen! The Buddhist temples are amazing, such vibrant colours and stunning detail and that is just the outside! I have also found a few lovely parks where I have spent a good few hours sitting in the sun and watching turtles, then back to the streets...I don't think I will be visiting Bangkok again. Bring on the rest of Thailand, bring on the beaches, come on Friday hurry up! In other news, my fellow teaspoon lovers will be pleased to know I stole my first teaspoon today! And so begins the addition of 'teaspoons from my travels' to the collection.

One more knit before I go...

Sadly I lost the first jumper I knit for my iPod on the bus, I hope whoever found it gave it another iPod to hug! This is my replacement jumper, I like it!

Apologies...

To all of those lovely people who stop by every now and then to read this little blog of mine I apologise. You may well have noticed I have been a little...or a lot rubbish at updating recently, I choose to use the excuse of being busy although I'm sure a hint a laziness also had something to do with it! To those who don't know I am off to do a bit of traveling, starting in Thailand then heading to Australia, New Zealand and finally Fiji, lucky Me! I have spent the past fews weeks getting ready and well...freaking out a bit hence the absence of bloggage. I leave this friday (new years eve!) and intend to turn this into a bit of a travel blog. I will update when I can so that those of you who are interested can see what I have been up to, which will probably only be my 6 year old cousin Sammy (Hi Sammy!)

Anyway...that is all, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and have an amazing new year! x