Luang Prabang

Thursday 25 – Sunday 28 November: A slow meander to Luang Prabang

The time had come for Matt and I to leave Thailand and make our way to Luang Prabang in Laos. We had an early 6.30am bus booked to take us to the Thai border, where we would then catch the slow boat to Luang Prabang, stopping for the night in Pak Beng.

Up bright and breezy, Matt and I waited for over an hour for our pick up to arrive. We were getting quite worried, so Matt gave the agent a call. It turned out that the pick up had been waiting at the wrong hostel, although I wasn't happy at being made to sit around for so long at such an early time! Still, I was pleased they arrived in the end; attempting to get our money back from the agent wasn't something I was overly keen to do.

Our pick off dropped us at the border, and it was completely mental. The Thai side was reasonably logical – a queue of people waiting to get their passport stamped on exit. You then take a boat to the Laos side of the river, where you have to complete your visa application form. Upon completion, you put your passport and application in a basket with about 30 others, and they take it to an office to complete your application. Half an hour later, they somehow find you based only on your passport. I have no idea how they do it – I for one don't look anything like my passport picture, and yet they still managed to find me immediately.

We were now officially in Laos, and after the usual trek of sitting around for hours and being shuttled from minibus to minibus, we made it to the slow boat. I did have romantic ideas of everyone being sat around on the floor, but instead they had make shift seats which were actually pretty comfortable – we were clearly ripped off when we bought our cushions earlier in the day.

The journey on the slow boat is one I would recommend to anyone. It does take two days, and you spend the night in a tiny little village called Pak Beng. Pak Beng has essentially been designed for its purpose, and it is just loads of guest houses, all trying to win you over so you come and spend your money at their business. Our particular guesthouse was great – we had a little hut with essentially a bed, a fan and a small bathroom. It had a really tasty restaurant on the side too, and all the waiters try to get you to buy drugs from them... Clearly the no drugs law isn't exactly enforced in Laos.

A hint if you do decide to get the slow boat to Luang Prabang - don't listen to anyone who tells you that you won't be able to get a room for the night in Pak Beng. We heard this a lot, and although I was wise enough to figure out that they hardly had 90% of all the slow boat passengers sleeping rough for the night, some people weren't, and they ended up paying double what we paid for a far inferior room.

The boat journey itself is absolutely stunning. Each day takes about seven hours (depending on the season – the wet season is obviously quicker and the hot season is a lot slower), and you slowly make your way down the Mekong River. The river is surrounded by natural rainforest, little beaches and some make shift villages. It was very common to see a group of men in their pants having a wash in the river! Each part of the journey was beautiful, and it was incredibly relaxing.

On the second day we decided to sit on the floor so we could stretch our legs. This was a great plan until some kids (ok, like, 18 year olds) decided to come and invade our space and play cards. I am quite used to people invading my personal space (I think people sense I hate it and for some reason feel inclined to push me as much as possible), but these kids were ridiculous! I pretty much had one on my lap, so I decided that they would have my feet in their faces. This didn't work, so I decided they would have Matt's feet in their faces. This worked a treat and Matt and I soon had our leg room back.

As beautiful as the journey was, it certainly went quickly. Before we knew it we had arrived in Luang Prabang, and we were one of the last boats to do so. Matt and I set off in search of a guesthouse but everywhere was full. We decided to settle upon the first guesthouse we found a vacancy at, and ended up in, essentially, a family's spare bedroom. It stunk of cabbage and was pretty grimy, but hey, it was a roof over our heads for the night. The next day we were inevitably up early and in search of a new guesthouse. Fortunately, the next one we found was a lot nicer, and we quickly found ourselves settling into Laos.

Luang Prabang is a beautiful place, and perhaps most beautiful of all was the waterfall about 30km from the centre of town. We had heard many a tuk tuk driver offering to take us to the waterfall, and on our last day in Luang Prabang we decided to go. It was the best decisions we have made on the whole trip, the waterfall was absolutely stunning. I don't need to go into too much detail as the pictures speak for themselves, but it was paradise. Thailand's beaches certainly have nothing on this waterfall, and ignoring the many, many fat Westerners in their speedos, I could have sat their for hours.

I also found my favourite bar so far in Luang Prabang. Across a make shift (and incredibly safe, as always in South East Asia) bamboo bridge there was a small bar. As it was on the other side of the river to the main strip of restaurants, it was really peaceful in spite of its popularity. Matt and I found ourselves there quite a bit, and enjoyed our first Lao Fondue there.

A Lao Fondue is essentially a big metal dome with a moat around the outside which is placed over the large bucket of embers. You then fill the moat with water, vegetables, eggs, noodles and seasoning, whilst you place fat and meat on the top of the dome to grill. What you end up with is actually a noodle soup you make yourself, but it was delicious, and certainly worth the novelty. Very hot work though in a tropical country!

We enjoyed three nights in Luang Prabang, but decided to move on to Vang Vieng sooner rather than later due to the price. Luang Prabang is one of the most expensive places we have been to so far, although it is definitely worth stopping at. It is incredibly civilised and peaceful, which is certainly not what I am expecting from Vang Vieng...

A random note on Myanmar (Burma)

When Matt and I first started planning this trip we had no real idea of which countries we were going to visit. We knew we would start and end in Singapore, and somewhere in the middle we would go to Thailand and Vietnam. However, where we would go in the middle is only something we have recently decided, and it has changed substantially from when we first arrived here.

Myanmar is a country that I have thought a lot about during our travels. I have heard that it is often many people's favourite country that they visit in South East Asia, however, it is not short of controversy. Initially I had great interest in going there, but, after much thought, Matt and I have decided not to go during this trip. I am certain it is a country I will visit at some point in my life though.

We decided not to include Myanmar in our trip for two reasons. Firstly, after looking into the finer details of our travels, it is actually quite hard to get into Myanmar. It is near impossible to cross the border by land. We had looked at Thailand as a possibility to do this, however we have since discovered that you can only cross the border for one day, and you must leave your passport at the border in order to gain entry. Land borders with Myanmar are notorious for closing completely randomly, leaving visitors stranded, often without their passports. This idea didn't appeal to me, which led to our second hurdle.

There are quite a few countries that fly to Yangon, the old (and still unofficial) capital of Myanmar. Flights around South East Asia are generally very cheap, but this is not true of Myanmar. Perhaps it is because there are fewer flights here than elsewhere, I am not sure, but the flights are very expensive. We would have had to take serious cuts elsewhere in our trip (Hong Kong certainly wouldn't have been on the cards, nor would Christmas in Kuala Lumpur), and both Matt and I were not willing to do this.

In addition to this, Myanmar is undergoing its first 'democratic' election in quite sometime, and there is a lot of political unrest around the area at the moment. Many people avoid Myanmar to respect the boycott on tourism requested by the Noble Peace Prize winner and pro democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. However, although the government controls and profits from many of the guest houses and bus routes around Myanmar, it is possible to visit the country and use only independent services. A detailed travel guide on the country is essential to do this, and it is of vital importance that travellers in no way fund the horrific oppressive government that exists.

Whilst in Chiang Mai I noticed a lot of Burmese people working there. During our elephant trek the mahout of our elephant was originally from Myanmar, and his family moved away from the country to escape the oppressive governmental regime that existed. This is true of many Burmese people, and the government has done some shocking things in its time. Of course, they have placed Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest numerous times since she won the election in 1994 (she has only just been released again, for now). Another example that sticks in my mind is when the 1985 leader Ne Win withdrew 25, 50 and 100 Kyat notes, and replaced them with 15, 35 and 70 Kyat notes. The process of changing the old notes into new ones was incredibly difficult, and many Burmese people lost all their money. And, as if that isn't bad enough, a couple years later Ne Win then withdrew the 35 and 70 Kyat notes, and replaced them with 45 and 90 Kyat notes! This time there was no exchange, and once again Burmese people lost incredible amounts of money. No wonder they now keep their money in the form of gold. And we thought our government caused us money problems – please forgive the Burmese when they struggle to sympathise!

Once you get past the government, which isn't an easy task, Myanmar is reportedly an incredibly beautiful country. It has a lot more originality than its neighbour, Thailand, and the people are supposed to be incredibly friendly. I have written this note mainly to remind myself that I must go there at some point. It is important that the Burmese people know of the lives led outside their country, and tourism is one of the only ways this can happen. It is also one of the few ways that the Burmese people can make any money for themselves. As with any country with an oppressive government, it is also essential that an international presence is felt so that acts against human rights are not hidden away and allowed to happen unnoticed.

I will make sure to visit Myanmar in what I hope will be the near future. After encountering the good nature of (most of) the Thai people, as well as the sheer beauty of Thailand, I can't wait to see what Myanmar has to offer. Being able to help a country so badly disadvantaged by its government whilst being able to enjoy the beauty it has to offer will be an amazing experience.

And one last note: if you ever decide to go to Myanmar, please buy some books on the country and leave them there. Myanmar is in dire need of intellectual perspective, and it won't be receiving any of that from its government anytime soon.

Tuesday 16 to Wednesday 24 November - North Thailand: A spot of cooking, a few elephants, a big Loi Krathong celebration and a whole lot of relaxing

2 After visiting the incredibly slick Hong Kong, Matt and I decided to move on to the north of Thailand. We had to book our flights to Kuala Lumpur for Christmas early due to the price, so we are now having to be quite tight on time to ensure that we manage to get everything in before then. As such, we decided to head directly to Chiang Mai, rather than work our way up slowly as we had wished. Unfortunately, we only decided this whilst in Hong Kong, so how we were going to get to Chiang Mai was a decision we still had to make, and fast.

Ideally, Matt and I would have taken the sleeper train. This was a very comfortable and convenient way of getting to the south of Thailand. However, the sleeper train is incredibly popular and you must book a few days in advance. We considered trying our luck, and then failing that going to the bus station and getting on a sleeper bus. This idea didn't really appeal to us, mainly because the Bangkok-Chiang Mai bus trip is notorious for having things stolen. Having been victim to this already, we decided to check out flights first.

We were both convinced that flights would be too expensive, but after setting a price, we decided to shop around whilst at Bangkok airport. Amazingly, our price was spot on, and three hours after landing at Bangkok, we were taking off again, this time bound for Chiang Mai. The flight was incredible value for money. Our flights during our travels have so far been with AirAsia, but this time we flew with THAI. And what luxury! Reclining seats! Inclusive food! Air conditioning that actually worked! For only a fraction more than the price of the sleeper train we certainly did well with our flights, and I don't think we will be that lucky again for a while!

Before we knew it we had arrived in Chiang Mai, and we quickly noticed the relaxed atmosphere. In our usual style we quickly checked into a hostel and immediately began looking around. I think Matt and I both very swiftly fell in love with Chiang Mai. Unlike Bangkok, you are not constantly hassled. Everything is also a fraction of the price of the capital, and the people far friendlier. In fact, Matt and I liked Chiang Mai so much that we quickly worked out which dates we needed to be where to prolong our stay.

In total we spent a week in Chiang Mai, which is actually quite a bit longer than we originally planned. We were going to move from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai, where we would do a trek. However, as Matt developed a chest infection whilst in Chiang Mai, we decided to delay the trek to later in our trip, and stay an extra night in Chiang Mai.

I must admit that we spent a lot of time in Chiang Mai relaxing, simply watching the world pass by. However, we did do a couple of active things during our trip, both of which will stick in my memory for the rest of my life.

Firstly, we arranged to do a cooking course. It was great fun, and you had to choose an appetizer, a soup, a stir fry, a desert, a noodle dish, a curry and the paste for the curry. I can confirm I am now an expert at making spring rolls, coconut milk soup, sweet and sour, sticky rice and mango, pad thai and penang curry. I particularly enjoyed the pad thai, and I was surprised at how easy it was to make everything. With a cookbook of all the recipes we learned safely tucked in my bag, I am sure I am going to be practising my new found Thai cooking skills on every unfortunate volunteer.

The second, and more incredible, excursion was a trip to an elephant sanctuary. We had considered going on a day hike that involved an elephant trek. However, one night we were sat in a bar in Chiang Mai and someone walked past on an elephant. I had read about this elephant begging, and it is bad for the elephant for a variety of reasons. You can hardly blame the mahout; they probably made a living using the elephant for logging in the past, but after the government made this illegal, both mahout and elephant found themselves out of a job. However, it was such a sorry sight. Such a magnificent animal has no place on the street like that, and the elephant looked incredibly unhappy. I was quite upset by the sight of it, and I was very proud of everyone around us – not one person went out to see the elephant, and therefore encourage the begging.

At the beginning of our trek the man who runs the sanctuary spoke about such begging, and he explained that anytime he sees this happening he tries to buy the elephant. I was incredibly touched by this, and it was at that moment I was pleased that we had chosen the far pricier option of going to the elephant sanctuary rather than the trek. When he spoke of his ambitions I genuinely felt for him, and I really hoped that he is able to make them come to light. In particular, he has to keep the elephants on chains at the moment as he doesn't have enough land for them to be free without fighting with each other. He hopes to buy the field next to thesanctuary and build a high wall so they have lots of space and no longer have to remain on chains. In addition, he has two pregnant elephants, and as the Asian elephant is in severe decline, this is certainly to be encouraged.

The Baan San Elephant Park provides an amazing day. The mahouts must think we are completely mental – to them, the elephants are life, but to us, they were incredible, and we will pay a lot of money to be so close to them. Matt and I were quite fortunate, we were the only people at the (very) early morning session, so we got an in depth training session as well as a good walk with our elephant, Manoi.

We got changed into our rather fetching mahout outfits, before feeding the elephant bananas. We then got trained on some basic commands, as well as getting used to climbing onto the elephant bare back. Initially it was really scary, but you soon get into it and start enjoying it. The walk was amazing, so nice to see the elephant being able to eat when she wants, and they even let her wander into the jungle for a bit. The highlight however was when we bathed Manoi. She was in her element, and was clearly thoroughly enjoying us bathing her. She was a complete sweetheart and obviously very happy. I really do hope that the owner and all the mahouts are able to buy the field, and I will make sure to remember them if I ever find myself with a small fortune!

As well as cooking and elephants, we found ourselves in Chiang Mai for the annual Loi Krathong festival. The festival celebrates the river goddess, and many people place candles in the river to say thank you for the life the river provides. People also fly paper lanterns to wish for luck over the next year.

We were there for the first day of the festival, and it was great fun. There was a giant parade which led to the river. Matt and I let off a lantern, before wandering amongst the thousands of people that had arrived to celebrate. We did avoid the main crowds for one big reason though – the fireworks. As always, safety first in Thailand! The Thai guide to fireworks:

1. When lighting fireworks, ensure that you are in a crowded place.
2. You must be holding at least twenty fireworks about your person at anytime. If you are struggling to find places to hold your fireworks, consider placing them down your trousers or in your baby's pushchair.
3. Light as many fireworks as possible at one time.
4. Light the fireworks in your hand, throw them up in the air and then hope they explode before they start falling to the ground.
5. As a joke, throw lit fireworks into the crowd. Extra points for setting fire to people's hair.
6. The louder the better – if it doesn't sound like a war has started, it isn't a celebration.

Needless to say, I only had to see one woman's hair get set on fire before I insisted we stay a safe distance from the crowds! It was a truly amazing sight though, and I am sure that if it had been in the UK bureaucracy would have ruined it and it would never have been the same.

After a week of relaxing and enjoying the chilled atmosphere, Matt and I decided to move onto Chiang Rai before crossing the border into Laos. I won't go into any details – Chiang Rai was distinctly unremarkable, but it was an enjoyable enough place to spend time before an early morning start to cross the border. The best part was the market which was aimed at Thai people. This meant there were prices everywhere (no haggling!), although the clothes did tend to make me feel like a giant. I still managed to pick up a few cheap bits though.

I cannot believe it is already time to leave Thailand. Thailand has been a great place to start properly, but I am looking forward to moving on. I am pretty fed up of everyone trying to scam us; it feels like a constant battle to get a fair deal. Thailand is beautiful, although I can see that it is developing at an almighty pace. I will definitely come back, but I would be extremely surprised if it is anything like it is now.

Time to move onto Laos, and then Cambodia. I hear Laos is incredibly beautiful, and I am very much looking forward to our visit. Goodbye for now Thailand, see you briefly in December.

Chiang Mai

Hong Kong

Thursday 11 to Tuesday 16 November – Hong Kong: Concrete jungle where dreams are made

It was time to go slightly off the backpackers' trail by visiting Hong Kong. Matt and I had good reason to go there – Matt's oldest brother Michael is currently living and working there. Initially we were not sure we would make it due to the flight prices, but fortunately good old AirAsia had a deal on which meant we managed to get there from Bangkok for a very reasonable price.

We decided to visit for a long weekend, however we managed to fit so much in it felt like far longer. We certainly made the most of our time in Hong Kong, although I am certain there is still so much of it to see.

Michael lives on Hong Kong island, so we were centred around there and spent much of our time on the island. We stayed with Michael, and he kindly gave us his really rather comfortable bed. Initially we thought we would be staying in Michael's old studio apartment, which would have been rather cosy to say the least. After popping over the apartment during our stay and seeing the curtain which separated the bathroom, I sure was pleased that Michael had moved only a few days prior to our visit!

Our first full day in Hong Kong provided one of the highlights of the trip. Whilst in Hong Kong we spent a lot of time with Michael's lovely girlfriend Sandy, who was not only a lot of fun to be around, but also a great tour guide. It was decided that on the first day we would go to the Big Budha by cable car. It was a lovely day, and upon arriving at the start of the cable car we were gobsmacked by the length of the queue. It would have taken at least two hours to get to the front. Fortunately for us, one of Sandy's best friends worked at the cable car, and we not only got to skip the entire queue (much to the disgust of everyone in the queue!), but we also got to go on one of the 'Crystal' cable cars, which has a clear floor.

The view from the cable car was amazing. You go incredibly high over Hong Kong, and can see so much of it. I was a little alarmed when Sandy told me that one of the cars fell off a few years ago, but once I managed to push that from my mind I thoroughly enjoyed taking in the sights. I would highly recommend doing this to anyone visiting Hong Kong – I would argue that it is better than the Big Budha itself!

One of the other highlights of Hong Kong was the food. Again, I think we have Sandy to thank for this. Throughout our trip we have tried tasting all the local foods. This doesn't prove easy when you can't speak the local language (and the words aren't even familiar looking as they are in say France or Gemany) and are stuck eating at places with a picture or English menu. As Sandy is a Hong Kong native we didn't have any problems with this, and we got to enjoy some delicious Chinese food. I particularly enjoyed our traditional dim sum breakfast, however we didn't have a bad meal in Hong Kong. There is such a variety of food at a variety of different prices, it was hard to eat badly.

Matt and I managed to fit in all the usual tourist attractions in Hong Kong. We watched the light show (not sure I “got it”), went up the peak tram for a spectacular view of Hong Kong, and even went to Ocean Park, Hong Kong's theme park. Ocean Park was a great day. It certainly isn't up to scratch with the Thorpe Park or Alton Towers, but it had some cracking rollercoasters next to the ocean. I also enjoyed seeing the pandas, and the very rare red pandas, both so very cute.

My most random spot in Hong Kong happened on Sunday. Michael had told me about the Filipino maids in Hong Kong; they tend to all have Sunday off, and meet in various locations over Hong Kong to eat, do each other's nails and generally chat. Whilst the others were resting, I decided to head to the HSBC tower, the most notorious spot for the maids meeting. Well, seeing is truly believing in this case, and I don't think I can put into words what it looks like! On every spare piece of concrete there were Filipino maids, all surrounded by make shirt cardboard box walls, doing all sorts of things. It was completely surreal, and something that anyone in Hong Kong on a Sunday should witness.

I think the ultimate highlight of my trip was the Lan Kwai Fong carnival. Matt and I had wandered through the carnival earlier in the day, and we suggested to Sandy and Michael that we checked it out in the evening. What started with a yard of beer each ended up being a really good night, and it didn't end at the carnival. I think perhaps the evening took a turn for the worst when Michael suggested playing Mallet's Mallet, and many hours later it ended with Michael cutting Matt's hair... I think Matt has learnt a valuable lesson there. Indeed, bye bye mohawk, hello skin head! Don't ask me how it happened, Sandy and I were fast asleep!

Hong Kong truly is a phenomenal city. I prefer it to Singapore as it has slightly more personality. Like Singapore, everything works perfectly. Everything is so smooth and slick, and there are Western expats everywhere, most likely drawn by the low tax rate. The buildings are tall, the people live a life of luxury, and designer shops are everywhere. By the end of my trip, Chanel seemed more common to me than Primark. I can see why people would want to move there.

Overall though, as far as mega cities go, I think my heart still lies in London. Yes, most of the underground doesn't have airconditioning, it breaks down all the time and you can't use your phone on it. But on the other hand, some parts of our underground are well over 100 years old and every station has character. We also have the West End, a wide variety of cultural influences and some cracking food. This isn't the time for me to list why I love London, more to say that although Singapore and Hong Kong work perfectly, I still prefer London. We'll see if I am still saying that in a few years' time though...

So, to end, a great time was had in Hong Kong. Thanks again to Michael and Sandy for their outstanding hospitality and generosity. It wouldn't have been the same trip without them, and I am extremely grateful.

Time now to move on the north of Thailand, should probably decide how we are going to get there...

Island hopping in the south of Thailand

Thursday 28 October to Tuesday 9 November – Island hopping in the south of Thailand

Before Matt and I embarked on this trip, I made it clear to him that as I hadn't had a holiday in a while, I wanted to head to the islands in the south of Thailand early on for some beach action. Originally we had planned to do this starting with the Full Moon Party in Koh Pha-Ngan, but we had to change our trip at the last minute and consequently missed the party date. Instead, we decided to head to Phuket, the biggest of the Andaman islands.

To get to Phuket, Matt and I decided to take the sleeper train to Surat Thani, where we would get a coach to Phuket. Lonely Planet failed me with advice on the sleeper train, and Matt and I were stuck with two top bunks, rather than my preferred one bottom, one top. Still, I heard that the sleeper train was a pleasant enough way of getting around Thailand, and that it incorporated the best of both worlds – it is nowhere near as expensive as flying, but nowhere near as uncomfortable as an overnight bus.

I had no preconception of what the train was going to be like, but my first opinion wasn't exactly a good one! Upon boarding I first noticed that a load of children were in our seats. A few hand gestures later, we managed to free up our seats. We then noticed we had no space to put our bags, as some woman down the other end of the carriage felt the need to store several large boxes on our shelves. Never mind I thought, it will be ok, it is all part of the experience!

At around 8.30, they changed the seats into beds. Matt and I climbed into our bunks (which isn't easy being taller than 5 foot!), with no option other than to put all our stuff in the bunks with us... Comfortable! I had really had enough of the sleeper train by this point, when Matt saved the day by pulling out the two mini bottles of Jameson that we had taken from our flight to Singapore, thank you Emirates! Needless to say, after drinking both of them I was feeling far more agreeable, and was quickly asleep, the worries of earlier in the evening out of my mind.

The coach journey to Phuket was very pleasant, and after an expensive (no meters in Phuket!) taxi ride later, we were at our hostel. For the price the hostel was amazing, but there was no time to sit around, I wanted to see the paradise beach!

After listening to advice and doing some quick research, Matt and I had chosen to stay near Kata beach. The most touristy beach is Patong, which is described simply as sleazy everywhere I looked. Kata and Karon beaches are further south on the island from Patong.

After a short walk from the hostel, we stumbled across Kata beach, and it was oh so picture perfect. In the late afternoon sunshine, the sea was glistening and the sand a perfect yellow. We strolled along the beach, very much looking forward to spending the next day there. It was truly beautiful.

Spending the day at the beach is what we did the next day, and everyday we were in Phuket. We stayed there for four days, and left truly relaxed. Out of all the islands, it was by far the least exciting. However, for the first island this was perfect – at the end of the wet season it was quite quiet, but we were blessed with lovely weather. Still, by the end of our four days we were ready to move on to somewhere more exciting.

Koh Phi Phi was our next stop, and after reading that it gave Koh Pha-Ngan competition in the party department, I was very much looking forward to it. First though, we had to take the boat from Phuket.

This particular boat journey will always stick in my mind. On our last night in Phuket, the heavens opened and it rained all evening and all night. By morning it had shown no signs of slowing down, and I was dreading the boat journey. Matt and I managed to find a seat on the bottom level of the boat, and having got up early that morning, I was quickly asleep.

Halfway through the journey, I woke up and decided to get up for a wander. Well, tried to get up, and promptly tripped over due to the violent swaying of the boat. I persevered, got up the stairs and was faced with the sight of the angry sea, viciously throwing the boat about, and making most people on board violently sick. I wish I had never got up, because I was then absolutely petrified until we got to Koh Phi Phi!

Upon arrival in Koh Phi Phi, we tracked down the hotel that Catherine had suggested. We were once again quickly out the door after dumping our bags, off to explore the island, and I was more than pleasantly surprised. Koh Phi Phi is so incredibly laid back. The beaches have a different vibe to Phuket and any of the other islands. Bob Marley plays from every beach bar, and this sums up perfectly the vibe along the sand. Wherever I went, I was more than happy just sitting and enjoying being on the island, feeling completely and utterly relaxed.

Matt and I had a couple of very enjoyable evenings in Phi Phi, where we met some really nice people. A particular highlight was the first night, which involved a bar that offered 'The Burger Challenge'. For 500 Baht (£10ish, or free if you can actually eat it all!) you got an 800g burger (three meat patties, three pieces of bread), a big bowl of coleslaw, lots of thick potato wedges and plenty of onion rings. The plate was massive, and I am told someone has completed the challenge in 16 minutes. After seeing the size of the plate in all its greasy glory, I have no idea how anyone could do that. It was HUGE. The guy we were with tried it; he managed two thirds of the burger, and about a quarter of everything else. Still, Matt and I didn't turn down the late night snacks of the remaining wedges.  I also got to see my fireshow I had wanted to see since we first arrived in Phuket.

We had only planned to stay in Koh Phi Phi for two nights, however, upon waking up on the third day, I was immediately sick. I couldn't keep anything down, even water, and there was no chance we were going anywhere. I have no idea what was wrong with me, could have been something I ate or perhaps a bug, but I wasn't impressed that I spent a day in Koh Phi Phi in bed, trying to actually keep some water down.

The next day I was feeling mildly better. I had stomach ache, but all my food was staying where it should so we made our way to Koh Lanta. I knew absolutely nothing about Koh Lanta, so I had no idea what to expect. After checking into our hostel, we went for a walk, and I noticed that this island was, for the most part, the least touristy place we had been. In most places it seems to have avoided the eye of the developers, and there is still a lot of originality about the beaches and the restaurants that I really enjoyed.

For our full day in Lanta, we decided to rent a moped. I read that this is the best way to explore the island, and as it is relatively flat, it is reasonably safe too. Matt obviously had to drive (ok, he let me try to drive once, but within about two second I nearly killed us), and we made our way to Old Town. Riding on the moped was initially terrifying, but once I got used to it, I really enjoyed everything I could see. We drove past sea gypsies, original wooden stilt houses, monkeys doing all sorts, a snake (horrific) and my particular favourite, a herd of elephants. For originality, Koh Lanta certainly wins. It is beautiful, and certainly a contrast to Phuket and Koh Phi Phi.

The final island we visited was Koh Samui, situated on the other side of Thailand. It was one lonnnnnng trek, and as my stomach ache was still in existence, not a particularly pleasant one. Throughout the journey my stomach ache was getting progressively worse, and then I began to feel sick.

On the boat I began feeling so ill, I had no choice but to go up the top and get some fresh air. I hoped to sit there quietly concentrating on not being sick, however, a group of Chinese tourists had other ideas.

After a couple of minutes, a few of them came over to me and started chatting. Despite the urge to vomit, I politely answered their questions. Upon finding out I was from England, they were overcome with excitement. Next thing I know, they are dragging me across the top of the boat to meet their friends... Their, roughly, forty friends. I had to be introduced to each one with a hand shake, and then they insisted on having their picture taken with me. One by one. They kept shouting ENGLAND! in my face, and pulling me to a variety of different settings for the picture. About twenty minutes later, completely dazed and confused, I managed to escape.

I almost made it to the hostel in Koh Samui without being sick. Almost. In the taxi to the hostel, Emirates saved me again. First the Jameson, then the sick bags. Thank you Emirates!

Unfortunately, it rained nearly non stop for the time we were in Koh Samui. It was the rainy season, and we only really went because we needed to get the sleeper train back from Surat Thani, so figured that we might as well. The rain did stop for one afternoon though, and we had a very pleasant time lying on the beach, reading. It was incredibly relaxing, and I was beginning to feel myself again.

By the time the day came to take the sleeper train back to Bangkok, I was feeling very well and full of life, ready to head back to Bangkok and then Hong Kong to visit Michael. Only a minibus, a bus, a boat, a bus, a minibus and a train stood in the way of arriving back to Bangkok, and I was ready for it.

I was not ready, however, for the scum that stole from me, and to a lesser extent, Matt. Since the beginning of this trip, whenever Matt and I are moving anywhere, by any mode of transport, we keep all our valuables separate from our main bags. This effort paid off when I got on the sleeper train, went to get something out of my bag, and upon peeling off the rain cover noticed that one of the straps were undone. Anyway who knows me will know that I would not have left this undone. I instantly knew what had happened, and dreaded looking in my bag to see what was missing.

In total, they stole: a quarter of a bottle of perfume (which I only bought to make myself feel better if I was feeling a bit smelly!), my belt, an (empty) handbag, a pair of socks, and a pair of pants. I was so angry – I worked really hard to be here, to buy the stuff to go on this trip, and some idiot feels the need to steal from me. On the one hand, it made me so thankful that I do keep my valuables separate. On the other hand, I really liked that belt, and I was going to be angry about someone stealing it! After half an hour of Matt patiently nodding at me and rubbing my back as I explained exactly how I was going to kill the person who did this, I tired myself out and fell asleep. Interestingly, the thief made my second sleeper train experience very bearable.

We arrived safely in Bangkok , and it is a relief to be here. I am still bitter that I have had to spend the day looking for cheap replacements for my belt and bag, and Matt has since discovered that they stole his tiny sample bottles of aftershave too – pathetic. Nevertheless, it is time to move on and look forward to going to Hong Kong to visit Michael.