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Koh Samet was the perfect way to balance ourselves back to being normal, respectable people after the debauchery of Bangkok. A week of solitude before we headed back to Bangkok to celebrate Songkran (the Thai new year) and bid each other farewell as Lauren headed to Bali and I headed down to Koh Pha Ngan for the April Full Moon Party, was exactly what was needed. Jamie, of eight-trips-to-Bangkok, tubing and Spicy Thaiger fame, joined us for a week of relaxation.
The island has a fairly chilled out night life, with the option to have a big night out if you want or have an early one just as easily. In the late afternoon, the bars lay out cushions and little tables with hurricane lamps on the beach, lighting the candles just in time for sunset. The BBQ smokes away while a group of fire jugglers make their way down the beach, leaving diners with mouths agape at the tricks they pull, many of the them children who have been practising their moves daily. Thai boxing is shown a couple of nights a week - an entertaining spectacle with as much drama as WWF/WWE wrestling (or whatever they are calling it these days).
Koh Samet and the surrounding islands boast deserted beaches strewn with rocks, fulfilling one of the classic mental images of Thailands' islands. We spent the majority of our days lounging on the sand, reading books and eating amazing meals at Jep's in the evening under lanterns hanging in the trees. A quick note on books - for anyone who hasn't read 'One Day' by David Nicholls yet, go out and get it and start reading it tonight. Ironically, I read it in a day. It's easily one of the best books I've read and I wish I'd written it myself. Alas I didn't, so go and support David Nicholls' hard work and boost his profits instead.
After a week of lazing around, I headed back to Bangkok a day earlier than Lauren and Jamie to meet up with Kara, who I haven't seen properly since graduation, which is a bit ridiculous seeing as we've been travelling around the same area of the world since January, constantly narrowingly missing each other. And what better place to catch up than in the Thai capital, during Thai new year, where the tradition dictates that the population engage in a three day long water fight? Can you imagine the health and safety restrictions/court cases/fights that would ensue at home if this were a British tradition? Thailand once again proves that it is nothing short of amazing.
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