I can't remember the last time I wasn't covered in sand!

We're here! In Thailand!  Our round the world trip has finally kicked off and in style!  

Day 1:

Arrived in Bangkok and after a minor visa based confusion we hopped in a taxi with a couple of random Swedish girls and headed for Koh San Road.  Got hugely lost looking for our hotel but eventually found it (it was massive and obvious but we are clearly blind).  Dumped the bags and had a wonder round Koh San Road and the surrounding area, it was a bit of a culture shock, A didn't like the smell and felt uncomfortable but I found it quite exciting and felt quite safe in the chilled out environment, maybe I'm naive?!  We stopped for some noodles for an absolute bargain about 3 pounds for both of us and had another wonder.  Later in the evening we were approached by a man offering a ping pong show I said to him "I take sport quite seriously and I think what you have done to the noble sport of table tennis is a mockery and a shambles!  When she can hold a little bat and offer a rally of some description then maybe I will be interested.  I suppose you would be worried about losing the bat?  You may want to reconsider your career choice.  Good day sir".  It became apparent about 3 words into that little speech that "ping pong show" was the extent of the bloke's English, so I pretended I saw someone I knew and hurried off.  

Day 2 and 3: 

Went to the main train station bright and early to try and book an overnight train to Koh Samui.  Obviously they were all booked up so we opted for an overnight bus, problem was we were 7 hours early for it and there wasn't much to do in the surrounding area.  We trotted down to the nearest temple and a quick look but that took about 20 mins so didn't make much of a dent in the time!  Decided to go for noodles and generally hang out in the station.  One thing that was odd, at 6pm everyone suddenly stopped what they were doing and stood up for the national anthem.  I had heard about this happening otherwise I probably would have thought it was a flash mob or new T-mobile advert!  It's scary how much they love their King here.  I was told that if you drop a note on the floor and tread on it you can be arrested for treading on the king's face and a Bridget Jones Thai prison scenario would ensue.  Although everyone knows that to get out of a Thai prison all you do is dish out your spare bras and sing Madonna.  When we finally got on the bus it was freezing cold because they seemed to be making up for the heat by cranking up the air con til pneumonia set in.  At one point after a toilet break the bus started driving off without someone and didn't stop to let them on, they made them run to catch up and jump on while the bus was still moving!!  Also it wasn't the simple bus and ferry that was advertised!  We were dropped at a random place which we thought was the pier where we would get the ferry but an hour later another (worse) bus came along and we had to get on that for another hour to the actual pier.  When we eventually got on the ferry it sat there for an hour before doing anything.  I was so tired by this point that I slept through the entire journey even though it was really choppy and vomit inducing!  Arrived at Koh Samui, thank God's pajamas!  Overall our journey down to the island from Bangkok took longer than our flight from England to Thailand.  Nightmare!  To make up for that it was a lovely 35 degrees when we got there so we sunbathed for the rest of the day and got more Thai food for dinner.  Having slept for about 5 hours for the past 3 days I was possibly the most tired I've ever been and fell asleep at about 9 ZZzzzzzzz.....

Day 4: 

Sunbathed for the morning and afternoon until it started raining.  While we inside we were considering how to get back to Bangkok because we didn't want to repeat the bus trip.  Went across the road to a travel agent and managed to bag ourselves a flight back for 80 quid (can you tell I don't know where the pound sign is on this keyboard??!).  Result!  I was literally having a nightmare thinking about repeating that bus trip.  Also whilst having a cocktail on the beach we found out that A got accepted on to the PGCE course she applied for a few weeks ago.  We celebrated by taking advantage of happy hour that evening!  After that we chilled out in the hammocks and A shouted "I LIKE SWINGING!".  I pointed out that she probably shouldn't shout that out so she added "IN HAMMOCKS!".  Oh we laughed......

Day 5:

Woke up praying it would be sunny and it was- result!  Worked on the tan for most of the day, A got a bit burnt and I somehow managed to burn my eyelids.  The only downside to all this heat is that my hair looks like Monica from Friends' when they go on holiday.  I will fight the urge to get it braided with shells!

Day 6:

Possibly the most eventful day yet.  We checked out of our place in Samui and queued up for the ferry for Koh Phan Gan.  Ferry was really bumpy but we managed to hold it together unlike some people who were sick off the side.  Niiiiice.  Jumped in a minibus taxi to our accommodation on Haad Salad beach.  The roads in Phan Gan are like a Mario Kart race course i.e. very twisty and steep but sadly lacking in bananas and missiles to blow up other traffic.  Arrived at accommodation only to be told they had over booked and they didn't have a room for us that night.  We were understandably fuming because we had confirmed the booking less than a week ago!  They told they had booked us another bungalow nearby and drove us there to see if we wanted to stay there instead.  It was in the middle of a field and nearly falling down.  It consisted of a mattress and a hole in the floor for the toilet.  Our initial reaction was 'are you shitting me?' but evidentally they weren't.  We used many choice expletives to express our feelings towards said hovel before we made them drive us back to the resort.  In the end we decided that as it was the full moon party that night we wouldn't need a bed anyway because we would be out all night.  Got ready in reception with another group who didn't have a room and decided to go on the internet to waste time.  This plan was thwarted by an island-wide blackout.  Brilliant.  So sat in the bar in the dark and had some drinks.  To top everything off it started to rain.  Not just rain a bit, it was a full on downpour.  It was at this moment that I received a text from my Dad saying "have fun".  Timing.  Wasn't funny at the time but now it seems hilarious!  We got chatting to an English couple in the bar who were getting taxi with us to the full moon party.  They very kindly offered us a spare single bed that was in their room for the night.  Mood lifted dramatically at this point and we went and got ready properly with our new friends P and M in their room.  The taxi was essentially the back of a pickup truck with benches in it where they shoved as many of us as they could.  Needless to say everyone couldn't wait for the taxi back the next morning along the Mario Kart roads once we had all been drinking for around 8 hours!  Got to the party and got body painted up in preparation and then got well and truly stuck in on the beach with M and P and 30000 others!  The beach was AMAZING, had around 12 different DJs all playing different music along different sections of the beach.  We got a load of buckets and checked out the whole beach.  As well as the beach there were fire eaters, jugglers, massive slides and fireworks.  It was such a fun night.  A and P had a go on one of the massive slides and P even braved the giant fire skipping rope!  We also stumbled across a very drunk couple "becoming acquainted" in the middle of the beach in front of quite a crowd.  When they realised the size of the crowd they stopped.  People cheered and shook the guy's hand and shouted "YOU SLAAAAAG!" at the girl as she struggled to put on her bikini top whilst otherwise completely starkers (priorities, love!).  I felt like giving a brief speech on equality, quoting Respect by Aretha franklin, but decided against it and had a little rave with A instead!  It was SUCH a good night and we haven't danced that much in ages!


Day 7: 
Woke up in M and P's room and decided to leave ninja style and check in to our own room.  Spent most of the day recovering on the beach whilst picking up quite an epic tan.  A and I showed the beach crowd exactly how the British play bat and ball (badly).  Had dinner with M and P then passed out due to tiredness.

Day 8:
Chilled out on the beach and got chatting to 3 Geordies who invited us to go for dinner with them.  Had dinner on the beach with aforementioned northeners and played cards by candlelight for ages after.  Some Germans spoilt our romantic atmosphere by letting off some fireworks.

Day 9:
Took advantage of the permanent nice weather on our last day in Phan Gan.  Out of 10 I would say our tans are approaching an 8.


Day 10:
Got the ferry back to Samui with the Geordies and went back to the place we stayed at for our first few days in Samui.  Went to an internet cafe and braved the dodgy Thai keyboard to write this!  Don't say I don't spoil you!


Just to give you an idea of how hot it is here: I left my iPod in the sun for about 10 minutes the other day and the glass on the front cracked in the heat!  It's blazing and we're loving it.
Also I would just like to point out that we are loving the food!  Accordingly we are planning on doing a Thai cooking course.  I would like to suggest to my parents that learning to cook Pad Thai would be advisable for my return.  
Things we are loving/missing:
- iPhone!
- We are loving being barefoot
- I miss sausages for some obscure reason, don't eat them that much at home.
- Not loving the sand in my pants.


Bye for now,
Lucy 'Chopsticks' Christopher! xx