We had long delays for the bus to Bangkok from Siem Reap, we had to wait until after 4am for it to turn up and even then it transpired they had overbooked it so I didn't get a seat! I actually managed to sleep pretty well on the floor for a few hours until the roof hatch fell off! It was freezing after that but it was only a few hours until daylight and the boarder. We had to take our heavy, souvenir laden bags and wait for ages to get our passports stamped out of Cambodia, and then into Thailand, the wait was made longer by the fact that Asian people don't know how to wait in line! Eventually we got through, and to be honest, the whole journey was actually pretty funny as we shared it with some friends we had met in Vietnam. Once through the boarder, we were crammed in a minibus to take us the final stretch, but the driver was a lunatic, speeding and weaving in and out of the traffic which made sleeping impossible, and it was really nerve racking. We had all planned a whole day of pampering and shopping together so when we finally arrived in one piece we grabbed a beautiful McDonalds, quickly showered and met in Khaosan Road Road to go straight to the Spa where I got a very painful facial where they remove all of the impurities like blackheads with a needle, my eyebrows tinted and waxed and a massage, and Ben got a haircut and a massage. We all headed to the MBK shopping centre where we had Christmas Coffees from Starbucks which made it a little more festive. We lasted until midnight before the tiredness really set in after a long night and day of travelling so we sad a sad goodbye to our friends who had finished their travels now and headed back to our room. The next day was a whirlwind of posting our souvenir's back home for a bargain price of £50 and taking 2-3 months, claiming back a lost travellers cheque, arranging onward transport to the islands, doing some feathers for a fellow traveller, eating the amazing street food and soaking up the electric atmosphere of the Capital city, before getting on a bus to Koh Samui. The "sleeper" buses here are not nearly as comfortable as the other countries we've visited in this trip plus I had the most annoying Russian girl behind me so it was another night of no sleep, followed by a long day of travelling until we finally arrived at the gorgeous KC Resort in Koh Samui. The room was great, very big, modern and comfortable, the bathroom was amazing with double sinks and a huge jacuzzi bath, and the view was looking over the huge sitting Buddha that the island is famous for. We did have to move rooms, as our first view was of a derelict building next door, but it was no hassle as after some food in a nearby restaurant we were asleep by 10 o'clock.

The weather wasn't so great the next day so we spent the day exploring the town, which was pretty touristy and every other shop was fake handbags and copied DVD's. Ben lost his phone as it slipped out of his pocket on a Tuktuk so we did look around for a new one but it was all fake phones too! The 5 days over Christmas just flew by, on the actual day we had a wonderful BBQ dinner and went to the Ice Bar with some Irish friends, a good night but just not the same as home. Boxing day was a night at the Muay Thai, with some Scottish friends. The ancient art of Thai boxing really was a joy to watch, we were treated to 4 knock outs in 6 games so it was really exciting, and in the halftime show, this little Thai guy did some amazing balancing acts including juggling while sitting on a stool with one leg balanced on a tight rope!!

After our 5 days of luxury we headed by boat to Koh Phangan which is only the next island along but still took a whole day to arrive! Our accommodation here was simple but comfortable and really close to a nice quiet beach and we killed the time up until New Years with beach walks and amazingly cheap Thai Curries. The "New Year Countdown" at the full moon beach of Haad Rin was quite an experience! It rained giant golf ball size drops on us on the way while we were in a open back jeep which wasn't the best of starts and the beach was packed already! We met our Scottish pals in a bar we had been to before called Mellow Mountain, and I ran into my old Ibiza pal Rachael just before midnight! We watched the firework display all together and it was really out of this world, I've never seen fireworks that big before! The customary Thai buckets were flowing and it didn't take long for the whole place to get messy, people from all over and of all ages were smashed all over the place and it was a bit much to be honest. The buckets have a whole quarter bottle of whiskey or vodka plus just one can of lemonade, coke or Redbull and ice so they are super strong, plus magic mushroom shakes are widely available so by the time it got to 5.30 it was just zombies left roaming around and it was no fun anymore. Our Scottish pals turned out to be on the annoying side after a few buckets but were throwing cash at us all night and left early too so every cloud had a silver lining. All in All, it was a New Year we won't forget in a hurry! We had a full day to recover before another full day of travel, starting at 5.45, to Malaysia, and the tourist board posters claim it is " the heart of Asia, the essence of Asia, the soul of Asia and the crossroads of Asia"!!! Quite a tagline, and quite something to live up to...