The city then some sun, sea and sand

Greetings from Singapore . . . . . the island that is clean, friendly and always smells bloody lovely (which is fab cause we've experienced some god awful smells!!!!) But before we talk about the Island that Dave and Tina have fallen in love with we need to fill you in on our where abouts since our return to Bangkok :)

Our journey from Koh Chang to Bangkok was one of the easiest and quickest journeys to date. We literally hopped from Taxi to Ferry to Mini Bus and were back in Bangkok before we could say "I think its time we had a MacDonalds!" . We have loved eating Thai food (Tina especially which is surprising because she didn't think she liked it until we came away!) but we hadn't had the option of some REAL junk food in so long and you know what they say - absence makes the heart grow fonder!!!! Strange considering neither of us were avid MacDonalds eaters before we left!?!

Before we have reached most destinations we have tended to book 1 night in a hostle just so we have somewhere to lay our heads on the first night . But now that we were Bangkok pros we thought we'd be like real backpackers and fend for ourselves! Surprisingly we didn't do a bad job of it either! The first time we stayed in Bangkok we chose somewhere close to the old quarter (ie The Grand Palace etc) so this time we opted for the shopping haven that is Siam, which would mean Tina could finally ride the Skytrain and Dave could get to the cinema and see one of the films he was sad he'd missed out on!

So after the McDonalds, a skytrain ride, one Harry Potter movie and a trip to the book shop we were both pretty pooped and wanted to get back to the room to read the Twilight books that we have become obsessed with!!

The rest of our time in Bangkok was spent doing all the things we didn't do the first time round! We finally made it to the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Jade Buddha and were very disappointed to find after going to the effort of covering our shoulders in the blistering heat (compulsory at all Buddhist temples!) that our over the knee shorts weren't good enough for his majesty!! Luckily for us they rent skirts and trousers out, free of charge, surprisingly! So we spent the day sweating and exploring.

We were booked on the night train to Ko Samui the following evening so wasted our day away wandering around the hundreds of shops. We visited the Paragon and walked down the corridor of mirrors which is where all the EXPENSIVE jewelry shops are and then proceeded to the MBK, home of the market stalls, fake items and cheap as chips bargains! 2 hats, a new bag, one Twilight dvd and a Hello Kitty contact lense case later (all for under a tenner) and we were ready to get the train. We had enjoyed the night train the first time round. Not much to see of course, in the dark , but we entertained ourselves with games of Shithead (thanks to Jon Humphries for that one!) and settled down in our bunk beds to read yet more of our Twilight books! Sad we know, but they really are worth a read!! We arrived in Ko Samui the following afternoon after yet another bus ride, ferry trip and mini bus adventure to the town of Hat Chaweng.

First impression . . . .it smelt . .. . BAD!!!!!!! Thailand seems to have a real drain issue!!!!!! It's bad enough that you have to squat when peeing but having to smell others business in the loos and outside was becoming too much! With the help of a tout on the ferry we found a pretty reasonable resort on the beach (smell free!) and decided to go exploring.......4 MacDonalds, 3 Starbucks, 2 Boots the chemists and a ton of massage parlours, restaurants and market stalls later and we decided there wasn't much else to Ko Samui so we headed back to the beach, the reason we had travelled there anyway!

We spent the next 3 days sunbathing, swimming in the sea, eating BBQ corn (yum!), BBQ chicken (double yum) and rice noodle soup (even yummier, well in Tina's eyes anyway!) bought from the little vendors on the beach who carry their BBQ and days supplies hanging from a pole that looks similar to an old school scale on their shoulder. We went for a beer or ten, Dave managed to catch an Arsenal game and took strolls along the beach and watched the countless fireworks that were set off and the lucky lamps that floated up into the sky set on their journey to . . (well who knows, but they looked pretty!) Tina even managed to have a BBQ fish for tea one evening! Red snapper to be precise! Looked pretty intimadating but tasted great !!!! She couldn't be pursuaded to eat the eyeball but did have a munch on the cheek!

After Ko Samui we headed to Ko Phangan, home of the infamous Full Moon Party. However, we weren't there for a Full moon, half moon or quarter moon party (they seem so have parties for all occasions there) so we settled on a pool party at the Coral Bungalows! The island was only a short ferry journey from Samui so we had the whole day in Ko Phangan and spent most of it wandering around the little shops and by the pool at our nice hotel......Nice hotel shame about the room!!! The bathroom stunk which made everywhere else smell and we couldnt open the windows because there were no mossie nets!!!! Oh. . . . the life of a traveller ay . . . . it's a hard one!!!!!!!! Ko Phangan is a party island with shops selling little beach buckets, bottles of booze and a mixer so you can make you own buckets. However after our last bucket experience we decided to stick to beer because it was safer and not as expensive. Dave was the only one to dance in the pool, Tina danced by it because it was really, really windy and well she's a whimp! The beer soon took hold and we danced around to crazy music that neither of us are really into, talked to people we didnt know and took many a drunken picture. Dave discovered his watch is water proof and we were both very impressed by the under water pouch we bought in Laos that kept the camera nice and dry too! We got a motorbike taxi home, great laugh and then Dave was sick (its becoming a common thing! lol) and we both woke up the next day feeling pretty crap and a bit depressed cause we had to get up and move hotels (because of the smell!)

The rest of the day was spent walking round like zombies, sleeping and eating a BUFF dinner that included roast potatoes for Tina and GOOD mash potato for Dave. We were going to try and catch a film at one of the hundred restaurant/cafes but were even to lazy for that!! We couldnt stay long because time was slipping through our fingers and we still had another island to visit so we swiftly moved onto our finally island - Ko Tao!

Another ferry ride and we arrived at the beautiful island of Ko Tao - first impression - WOW!!!!! As the boat sailed in to the harbour we were met by clear blue water, rocky terrain and beautiful trees scattered across the hill tops. An amazing sight!!!!! We headed to a secluded part of the island first and stayed at a tiny resort on a private beach so we could relax and enjoy.....and very secluded it was indeed!! So secluded that our toilet wasn't even part of any drainage system and we had to bucket flush! It was a small room, good value so we ended up staying a couple of nights and enjoyed the small lagoon we were in. Ko Tao is a tiny island, 21 km in area and it's very hilly! We ventured out on the first evening up and down some big hills and watched the sunset on the beach at a near by resort. We returned to our hotel at around 7pm for some dinner and we were the only ones there! Very secluded indeed!!! It was shame that the staff seemed so put out to serve us otherwise it would have been a really lovely way to spend the evening!!

The next day we went snorkelling around the lagoon, amazing!! We saw some beautiful fish and Tina watched a small lobster type creature (fab definiton we know) making a big hole in the sand, shovelling bits out with its claws, then using bits of shell to pad around the edges so more sand wouldn't fall in and all under water, Brilliant! We saw crabs scurrying along the rocks and schools of fish feeding on the coral. That evening we ate out, lol and watched Gremlins 2 in a cafe :)

The next day we awoke to cloud and big winds and decided to head to the main part of the island where it would be a bit more lively! We found a nice hotel on the beach with big rooms and a toilet that flushed. The bathroom was outside so we could sit on the throne and watch the clouds roll by! Not so good when it rained though! And it did!!! On and off for the next three days which was a shame because it meant we didnt get to enjoy as much of the beautiful clear blue water as we wanted too! We had an amazing, relaxing time there though, it was a shame we couldn't stay longer but we had a plane to catch!

Which brings us back to Bangkok. we calculated on this journey that we had been in and out of Bangkok 6 times in the last 3 months! We had to endure another ferry and another bus journey (7hours!) and returned to Bangkok at about 8.30pm. We had booked into a hotel close to the airport for ease and more sleep and then made our way to the airport to catch our next flight to Singapore.

I'm going to leave Singapore until the next blog update because this has taken far longer than it ever should have. My back hurts and the karaoke blasting through the floor is making it difficult to concentrate.

Till next time followers. Thanks to everyone who is reading and if you haven't already, leave a message on our message board. Its a nice surprise when we talk to people on Facebook and they say they love the blog but it would be an even nicer surprise to see your message on here :) We check it alot!

Lots of love and jelly tots

Tina & Dave x x x x x x x xx x x x