Pha Ngan - Phuket - Phi Phi - Railey - Ton Sai - Ao Nang (the end of Thailand)

Wow internet is really expensive on these litle remote Thai islands, who would have thought that eh? Apologies again for the lack of blogging over the last month but there is a fair amount of banter to share with everyone.

We stayed on Koh Pha Ngan for another four days after I last wrote on here which was really chilled during the day and having a party in the evening. Made really good friends with some leds which was nice after three weeks of travelling with girls. The night before Full Moon was amazing and we stayed up and watched the sun rise on the beach and had the most amazing night. Probably meant we werent masively in the mood to party on the night of full moon but it wasn't really our crowd anyway, mostly posh private school 18 year olds who were very excitable and the night itself wasn't that different to the other beach parties just more people. Beki described it perfectly as "a rave for kids whose parents never let them go to raves". The week itself was still really cool though hanging out with really nice people.

After that we needed some time out so headed to a really quiet beach called Nai Yang on Phuket island which had huge waves and we stayed in cottages in a gorgeous national park with Nina, Liva and Jada and just chilled out and definately didn't drink for a couple of nights just chilled out on the porch playing cards - really quality relaxing couple of days.

Next up we went to Koh Phi Phi which is one of the most beautiful places we have visited on the entire trip. A really small island with no motorised transport it had a much nicer feel than Koh Pha Ngan. With enough nightlife to keep you going but not feeling like you have to drink to an excess we had some really good nights out here (the fire throwers are the best we had seen in Thailand) especially with Nina's friend Joe and his two American friends Derry and Suze. The best thing we did during the daytime was a day trip round some of the surrounding islands which included swimming in clear turquoise bays, cliff jumping off a cliff over 20m high and watching the sun set on the beach where 'The Beach" was filmed. Was really sad on the last day as we said bye to Nina, Livia and Jada who we had been travelling with for between three and five weeks. Still, friends come and go but good times will always be there as that very evening as I was walking down the main beach I bumped into two of our really good mates from Vietnam, Ashley and Lee who we hadn't seen since we left them after a drunken night out in Saigon. Ended up going out with them and having a quality night.

The next afternoon we got a boat over to another beach, Railey. Connected to the mainland but only accesible by boat as it is surrounded by huge limestone cliffs, making it the climbing capital of Thailand. We had three days here and it started pissing it down with rain which meant the beach wasn't that fun. We were staying in a bungalow next to our friend Will and the first two nights we just chilled with a couple of beers/ Thai rum. It was on the Thai rum night that it was firmly decided it would be a good idea to get some Taking Back Sunday lyrics tattooed in Thai on my foot (more on this later) For three days Will became a major conversation factor in travelling but due to the embarressing nature of the story for my travelling companion I feel it might be better left up to her to explain the nature of our friendship with Will if she chooses to on her blog: http://bexstravels.blogspot.com - click here for more Will related news. Anyhow on the third day we went through Taking Back Sunday and Brand New's lyrics for things we could turn into Thai to make cool tattoo's. I decided I am going to get "We're just protecting ourselves from ourselves" from Taking Back Sunday's One Eighty by Summer and Beki is going to get "We sleep inside of this machine" from Brand New's Jesus Christ (more on this later). On the third night Ashley and Lee and Ross turned up and I sepnt the night out with the lads drinking beers, being shown magic tricks and almost winning the pool competition. Generally good night though Railey is a bit quiet due to it being low season.

Next up we went to Ton Sai which Kate had raved about the entire time on Koh Pha Ngan. She stayed here for two weeks, getting herself a Thai boyfriend in the process. On our first day we had to go visit him to drop off a letter in Thai from Kate. He seemed really nice and the bar he worked at was exactly what you expect it to be given that he went out with Kate - chilled out stoner bar with hammocks. We stayed the afternoon having a beer with the staff and a couple of American Medical Students who were really cool as well as some old traveller guy who was nuts. Had a problem when they told us there was nowhere on Ton Sai to get tattoo's done and a bit confused as it seemed like a really chilled hippy little village by the beach but just was a bit to small. On the second day we got our phrases translated into Thai by the nicest Thai travel agent lady in the world, who also let Beki play with a squirrel(?) and she informed us that Ao Nang, where we had to get the bus to Malaysia from anyway had tattoo parlours. We booked our ticket there and then. Second very chilled night in Ton Sai - didn't really go out drinking as it seemed a waste as there were so few people about.

This morning we got a longtail boat across from Ton Sai to Ao Nang and after the best pizza in the world got our tattoo's done as a fitting way to say goodbye to Thailand. They look absolutely wicked, hopefully Beki can get some photo's up on facebook as I may have lost my camera lead. Malaysia next - quite looking forward to doing some cultural stuff now as lying around on beaches has most definately been done. Crazy to think in six weeks we will be home, but I am looking forward to seeing so many people you can't imagine. Hope you are all well I mis everyone lots and lots. xoxoxo