Thought it was about time I got to a computer to update you guys on where we are as we have been to a few places since I last wrote!I was pretty sad to leave Ko Tao as where we were staying became pretty much like a temporary home as there was a little community there and the best thing was was that they were all divers! So the talk in the eveing mostly revolved around diving which I loved! I am totally and utterly addicted to diving now!!On the night boat over, which took about four times the time it does usually, we bumped into the same friend from uni we had bumped into on Ko pang yang..it really is such a small travelling world! after Ko Tao, we headed over to the other coast to Phi Phi island. I had been there a few years ago with my family but it has totally changed now. Toursim has become really major there and since the tsunami there are big hotels which have replaced what used to be wooden bungalows and there are tonnes more tourists and alot less palm trees which is a big shame. It was amazing to still go there as it is still a beautiful island! While Hannah remained fairly inactive as she couldnt go in the sea much coz of her cut from the motorbike accident, I didn't really care and thought there was noway I was passing up another opportunity to dive in some of the best dive sites in the world and so tried to cram in as much activity as I could on Phi Phi. I went on two dives which were absolutely awesome! saw a turtle, loads of puffer fish, loads of eels and tonnes of other amazing fish and coral!absolutely loved it! We also did a snorkelling day trip to several surrounding islands. The islands were literally paradise...white sand, swimming pool coloured water and palm tree after palm tree. Hellie and I went snorkelling which was incredible! I took a stick of pineapple into the sea with me and before I knew it I was surrounded by hundreds of fish!I tried putting it in my mouth to see if they were daring enough but none of them plucked up enough courage to come closer. One of the islands we went to was called monkey island and as the brighter of you might just about guess, the island was home to hundreds of monkeys. They were so cheeky...they would come up to people and rip the corn on the cob they had just bought right out their hand and if they didnt give it to them, they turned evil! The baby ones were soooo cute though! As if snorkelling wasn't enough, we also decided to take it up a level and go snorkelling with sharks! This meant getting up at about 6am but it was totally worth it! They were black tip reef sharks, about 1-2m long and we saw about 20 of them! I had been determined to see a shark before I left thailand and so it was fantastic to see some at last! We only stayed in Phi Phi for about 3 days but we just about managed to pack everything in that we wanted to.

Next we headed straight to Railey. I loved Railey (Im sure my friend Jo will be pleased to hear that!) as it is alot less developed than Phi Phi with less hotels and alot more palm trees. The beaches are also surrounded by massive looming cliffs which makes them even more beautiful! for this reason, Railey is one of the best climbing sites in the world. Everyday whilst having our breakfast we got to watch the climbers which was great fun! Hannah actually tried it but Hellie and I weren't too fussed as we kinda got our climbing fix when we decided to try and make it to the lagoon, which everyone told us was very hard to get to. It was literally a case of scrambling up these really really steep paths some of which had ropes to help you up (don't worry mum, I was fine and havn't had any more accidents...yet!). It was such good fun! The two south african guys we went with did in barefoot! The viewpoint was awesome as we could see right across Railey. The lagoon wasn't too far from the viewpoint, however, Hellie and I never actually quite made it all the way down to it as we had about half an hour till our boat left back to Bangkok! We only saw a bit of it from higher up. We were soooo gutted! especially as the guys got to see it! We saw a postcard of it after but it wasnt quite the same :). Relaxing on the gorgeous beaches was just what we needed...felt soo good and definately helped the tan along :). I wish we had had longer than 3 days there but it was def worth going for those few days.

Now we are in the neighbouring country of Cambodia. We are in Siem Reap at the moment. The car ride here was a tad scary to say the least..I was hanging onto the seat for dear life! But we made it here safely :). Cambodia is a really beautigul country, alot less developed than thailand and clearly alot poorer. The people are so lovely and friendly. We went to see the Angkor temples..something which I have always wanted to do. They were pretty impressive! We got up at 4 o clock (you would have thought that the postying over the summer would have made this slightly easier but it was still a killer but worth it) to go and see sunrise over the biggest temple...the Angkor watt. That was awesome! Then we spent the day looking around the other temples so are all kinda knackered now (aplogies for any spelling mistakes) and templed out (apparently spending only one day there is sacrilage but one day for us was more than enough!). Tommorrow, we are catching the bus down to the capital, Phnom Penh where we hope to go and see the killing fields to understand more of Cambodia's past and we also hopefully take a cruise down the Mekong river at sunset and I also wana shop at the cheap markets!! I will let you know how it all goes in my next update. Hope things with all of you are great and that you are all in the Christmas spirit! take care xxx