5/7/06 - Everyone leaving today!!!!!! Soooo sad! Caitlin, Zoe and Kat leaving tomorrow to Australia (coincidentally on the same flight!) and Dougie not going until late tonight, so still have some company. I checked out and Caitlin and Dougie came with me to Kho Saon Road to check into the Buddy Lodge for 2 nights. Zoe and Kat checked out and went to their hotel. After checking in we went shopping down the Kho Saon Road. Dougie and I went and chilled in my room until 4pm and left Caitlin to carry on shopping. We then went to see Tracey at her hotel and ended up having someting to eat together. We then caught up with Zoe and Kat in Gullivers. We all then piled into my room and watched movies all afternoon/early evening. A really cheesy movie called 'The Presidents Daughter' with Katie Holmes and then 'School of Rock' which was just fab! Jack Black is soooo funny! We all decided to give in and have a Macdonalds, as there was one just downstairs!!! Later said a very sad farewell to Dougie. Everyone left eventually and I was all on my own for the first time in 30 days, it felt really strange. 6/7/06 - Had breakfast and met Caitlin on the stairs around 10am. She left her luggage in my room, as she didn't need to leave for the airport until 3pm. We spent the day together, more shopping and eating. We were expecting Kat and Zoe around 10am or 12pm, but didn't see them. When we got back to the room around 2.30pm they had been and left a message, we had not long missed them!! I was sad to have missed them, but I know I'll see them again when I visit them in Edinburgh! Caitlin left around 3.15pm, boo hoo! So I filled my time by going for a pedicure and manicure, cost me 3 quid! Had dinner that night from a street stall, Pad Thai, yum yum, cost me about 12p!!, then went to bed. 7/7/06 - Yippee, Nikki is arriving today! I checked out of the Buddy Lodge at 12pm and got a tuk tuk to the Asia Hotel. Checked in and Nikki arrived about half an hour later. It was great to see her. She was tired from travelling, which I fully understood, but bless her she kept going and we went to a TAT office (travel agent) and booked a day trip the next day to Kanbanachuri and our bus/ferry ticket and accom on Koh Phangan. I then took Nikki to Kho Saon Road to show her around and we had dinner there. Oh My Buddha! We both accidentally ate some chillies, I thought they were going to be sun dried tomatoes and our mouths were on fire!!!! It seemed to take forever to get back to normal!! We won't make that mistake again! We then tried to get a taxi back to the hotel. We jumped in one and told him where to go, I showed him on the map and we'd only gone a little way down the road when he all of a sudden decided he didn't want to take us!!! he said 'No', so we got out and found another! Bizarre! Spoke to Denise later on for her 40th birthday! Mike Greenwood had emailed me to arrange for them to call me, so I could wish her a happy birthday, which I thought was a lovely gesture, it was lovely to talk to her and it sounded as if the team were giving her a fabulous day! Thanks again Mike! 8/7/06 - Breakfast at 6am, as getting picked up at 6.30am for day trip to Kanchanaburi. We couldn't get the safe open in the room, so manager had to come and let us in. The day trip was fab. We went to the WW2 Cemetery, then the WW2 Museum, Bridge over the River Kwai, took a train on the Death Railway. Had a lovely lunch, then went for an elephant ride, which was fab, our elephant was a lady one called Duk Dik and we fed her bananas afterwards. We have a great souvenir photo. We then went for a boat ride on the river. It should have been bamboo rafting, but the river was too high for the sticks. Finally we went to Saiyok Noi waterfall, which was lovely. As it was the Buddha Bank Holiday weekend, there were lots of families there, all splashing about. It was a shame we were only there for 20 minutes, as it would have been great to have swam and climbed up and stood under the waterfall. Our guide today was a very funny, witty man. He lived in the hills and he made us laugh talking about his wife and how after 3 children she is now quite big, so much so that she has to ride their moto with him on the back now, otherwise it tips up and then no one can see him behind her! It was the way he said it, it was hilarious!! Lisa's birthday today, so sent her a text! Met a lovely couple, Matt and Michelle who were from Hinckley!!! and a couple from France/Brazil. The French girl was poorly, kept getting a really sore throat and feeling like she couldn't breath, so we dropped them off at a hospital when we got back to Bangkok. I think it must have been an allergic reaction to something. I was feeling a bit groggy, had a cold, so my throat was a little sore and a bit bunged up! When we got back we were soooo tired, so we had room service for dinner, then went to bed! 9/7/06 - Checked out around 12pm, left our luggage in the hotel store room then took the Skytrain to the weekend market. Nikki bought a bag and we both bought some t-shirts and some face cloths, which have been a god send for wiping sweaty top lips! It was very hot indeed and after a few hours decided to go back to the hotel to cool down. We got picked up around 6pm to go to our bus for the overnight ride to Suran Thani, where we would then get the ferry over to Koh Phangan. It was a very weird set up. We were taken to one of the TAT offices, unloaded all our bags into the office, then had a hour's wait for the big coach to arrive. We eventually set off at 7.30pm. 10/7/06 - Oh my god what a loooooong journey! It took 20 hours in all, the ferry journey was the worst, it seemed to take forever!!!! We finally got to the Golden Light Resort on Koh Phangan around 1pm today!!!!! The people who run it are very nice indeed. The lady is soooo pretty and always smiling. Their wedding pictures are on display and their litte boy is sooo cute! Our bungalow is very basic, but fine, only has a fan, but there is a nice breeze that comes in off the sea, so not too bad. Nikki slept most of the rest of the day/evening, I found a book and started to read. Nice to just relax!!!! 11/7/06 - Relaxed and did nothing all day, except read! 12/7/06 - Ventured into the town. Went to Post Office so Nikki could post her trainers home as she doesn't need them and they are taking up alot of space in her backpack. Found a lovely little clothes shop and bought a little bag. The owner was lovely and the shop floor was sand! Went to Full Moon Party around 8pm (main reason for coming here) and it was just FABULOUS! About 8000 people on a one mile stretch of beach, atmosphere was fab, everyone in good spirits and spirits flowing nicely too! We had buckets of vodka and red bull with lots of straws, we danced alot, watched fire dancers, splashed around in the sea and out of all those people we met up again with Matt and Michelle and the French/Brazilian couple, bizarre!!!!! I had a half moon and stars painted on my arm with illuminous paint and Nikki had a dancing Geko! We bought some illuminous arm bangles and Nikki got a flashing rubber fish, which she is going to give to her Mum. Went up to Mushroom Mountain, which looks like a temple but it's covered in neon lights and it's a bar where they serve magic mushroom shakes, I expected to be greeted by Big Gay Al!!! Didn't partake in the shakes, could see the reaction in other people, I'm not curious enough, have never been bothered by things like that, prefer to be in control, especially as needed to fathom out how to get back!!!!!!! We got back safely around 3am, we had had an absolute ball! 13/7/06 - Relaxed all day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IF YOU ARE READING THIS ENTRY, THEN DON'T BOTHER! FOR SOME REASON THE SYSTEM HAS DOUBLE ENTRIED FOR 5TH JULY, YOU NEED TO GO TO 2ND 5TH JULY ENTRY TO READ ENTRIES PAST THIS DATE - DON'T ASK ME WHY - I DUNNO???!!!