M.I.A.

Not the most original title but seeing as there has been a distinct lack of posts for the last few weeks, apt i feel. OK so the last time i put my thoughts online i struggled with motivation its just hard to maintain the level of enthusiasm that you have at the start of writing a blog, and it's very easy to slip into bad habits and neglect the people following it by becoming wrapped up in your own adventures.

OK so we left you on the millionaires playground Koh Samui and it was a hedonistic haven for the rich and wannabe rich trying to sample a small part of Thailand in a Custom package that is a badly designed as some of the suits manufactured by the numerous tailors that hawk their wares on its busy streets.
Anyway i digress our time in Thailand was running out and we needed to step across the border to renew our visa so we could spend some more time in Thailand, so we decided to catch a bus to Ranong and catch a boat across the sea to Burma and back.
This sounds far more brave than it was to prove to be as the hotel we stayed in had a big sign offering to take care of the whole thing for the paltry fee of only 300 baht.
So even though the hotel could be referred to as a bit of a dump in actuality it served its purpose, however Ranong was entirely different it was a dirty rat infested city that i cant think of any reason to stay there apart from to renew your visa the next day. Unless you happen to like dingy dirty rat infested havens in which case I'm sure it's perfect for you.

So on the following day we decided to get the hell out of dodge as fast as humanly possible, and while having breakfast in the cafe next door we saw posters on the wall to a island called Koh Phayam.
It looked beautiful and boasted free wi-fi and 24 hr solar powered electricity, so we dutifully made our way to the pier and caught a boat over there, on the way we got talking to a few people and it emerged that the island only had 600 indigenous inhabitants, and that 24 hr Solar power meant that they left it on till it run out(an average of 6 hrs of power a day).

Anyway deciding that now we were hardened backpackers, we weren't fazed and looked forward to our new adventure on the horizon, after all how hard could it be?
So after 2 hrs in the blistering sun and several Beers, we pulled into Koh Phayam's pier, there was a dread locked rasta waiting there along with other members of the locals hawking their bungalows as the best on the Island.
Even with all these useful snippets of local information we decided to stick with original choice and go to Bamboo Bungalows.

Upon our arrival we were met by a helpful lady called Jen, who said they had several levels of Accommodation Best,Middle and Basic naturally they showed us the best first and informed us that it was 1200 baht a night after my heart had stopped having a shit fit she showed us the two others, the middle was pretty poor to be honest, and the basic was exactly what it said on the tin open side sharing your room with Gecko's and mosquito's (hmm nice but nothing new to any backpacker)
Anyway Helen told me there was no way we were staying in anything but the best one and after the owner Yuri came out he eventually dropped to 750B a night as we were staying for 4 nights.
So after paying we went to our room and found out it had a outside Cold Shower (very tastefully done though all very modern and stylish) A big old fashioned fan in the ceiling of the room and power sockets that didn't work, looked like he hadn't finished all the wiring in them. although to be fair to Yuri, the rooms were beautiful and he did without doubt have the best restaurant on the island.
However As beautiful as the setting was when it rains every day bar one when you are there very quickly you become disinclined to stay and tend to move on very quickly. #
So on the fifth day we decided to move to Bangkok as on the weather forecasts it showed the weather was much warmer up that part of the country.

Samui Warrior

Koh Samui


Ok so Samui well we arrived here after a fairly uneventful trip on a fast Catamaran from Koh Phangan which coincidentally included our taxi fare to our chosen resort.
Which in this instance was Chaweng beach, now once again we had heard a mixed bag of reports of this place including that it was too busy and was not what backpacking was really about etc, good job i'm not really a back packer ;)

Anyway we were dropped of at The Wave Samui which advertised Room rates from 400B ( for a fan room) but when we enquired when these rooms were all taken and the only rooms they had were 850Baht, so we decided to blow Lonely planets recommendation and find our own place yet again,.
So following a short hike down the road, we stumbled across a picturesque place called Green Hotel. it's location was great one min from the beach and the rooms were huge and nicely decorated with Sat T.v and A/c as standard and a nice garden balcony one thing which made me hesitate was the notice on the front desk stating that these rooms were 1200 Baht a night, yet when we asked the lady she offered them us for 600B i tried to negotiate with her more but she wasn't having it, she said the reason that she'd offered them us for 600 was that if she'd of asked for anymore she figured we'd of walked out(you see mom looking scruffy sometimes does work in your favour!!)

Anyway we originally thought to stay at Samui for a few days, but yep once again a few days stretched to a week. To be honest Samui is a great tourist resort great for a package holiday complete with great food, beautiful restaurants, immaculate beach and as many water sports as you could want.
The entire place was as diverse as you could wish it to be with a range of activities to fit all budgets, all *ahem designer makes are on offer for hugely discounted prices along with all the latest movies for around a pound great if you have a laptop and speakers system with you.
Overall i really enjoyed Samui and i would not hesitate to recommend it someone looking for a nice each resort holiday, maybe not quite right for those looking for peace and tranquility if that's your thing head to koh Phangan as mentioned in my blog earlier.

The 6 km Beach



Helen Loving the Beach



Jet Ski Tomfoolery




After a Bloody long Jungle Hike we landed here and found a pretty nice waterfall.