Hello All, it has been a pretty hectic couple of weeks since i last updated so have apologies for the delay in this update.

On my first night in Bangkok i met up with Sam and Tess who Sam was travelling with and we went out for a drink and planned the next days activities. This ended up consisting of lots of shopping in the huge Bangkok weekend market. I bailed out early though and had a bit of a stroll around the park nearby then got the sky train and then a boat back to the hostel. That night me and Sam went out for a meal and a few drinks before heading back to the hostel. Next morning Sam was up early as she was leaving for an island in the south so I had a lie in then walked about Bangkok for a while before i had to take refuge in an internet cafe due to a torrential downpour and some very spectacular thunder and lightning. I then went out for a meal before staying up and watching a very dissapointing French Open tennis final. The next morning i visited the Grand Palace and then did a bit more shopping before heading to the post office with all my purchases and sending them home in a big box!

I then left Bangkok and stayed in Phetchaburi for a night before heading down to phuket on a 12 hour bus journey! It wasn't fun, but the hostel i checked into in phuket was very good and i managed a pretty good nights sleep after that. The next morning i checked out and got a bus to the place Sam and I would be staying for the next 2 nights. It was a very posh hotel and had a pool that we could access through a little gate from our veranda. I spent the day relaxing by the pool before i got a taxi to the airport to pick up Sam. We then spent the next day relaxing by the pool and having a short walk around Phuket which seemed to be a spanish beach resort in thailand! We decided we didnt want to spend any more time in Thailand after Phuket so got a bus down to the thai side of the thai malaysian border on another long bus journey (8hours). We stayed in the border town then made our way by boat to Langkawi in Malaysia and chjecked into a brand new hotel that was only minutes walk from the beach. We headed staright down to the beach (after buying a frisbee) and spent the day relaxing and trying to get a bit of a tan which i seem to still be lacking! The next day we went on a bit of an adventure and hired a canoe which we then paddled to an adjacent island. When we finally arrived at the other island the beach was deserted and we played a bit of frisbee before realising we better head back or we would be out of time. It ended up being a lot harder than we expected and we were pretty tired by the time we got back to sure so we went back to the hotel for a nap. From Langkawi we then boarded another boat to Penang but that will have to wait for another report as I have to go check in to my hostel and go shopping for winter clothes as i am now in New Zealand and it is freezing cold here!