After 2 weeks of paradise we've been a bit slow with the blogging!! After our 3 nights in Bangkok we boarded our train to Surrathani. Our tickets said we had a sleeper but when we got on the train there were no beds to be seen. In China the trains had pre made beds, that we walked past on our way to our stinky seats! So we were a bit confused. After asking the guard, he told us that we were to share a seat until 7.30pm were they then make the beds up for you. Relieved, we took our seats. A waitress came along and asked us if we would like to have dinner on the train, she passed us some menus and for 150 baht we could get a kind of mini thai banquet each with fresh fruit too! Yes please! We ordered different things so we could try each others. Matty ordered menu B which he got chicken thai green curry, beef in oyster sauce, with steamed rice and a fragrant soup with ginger, corriander and tofu ( a little bit like miso soup). I ordered menu D which had duck in red curry, chicken cashew nuts, steamed rice and the same soup. It was really nice, they clipped a little table in between our seats for us to eat from. Very posh! While we were eating they started to make up the beds, a man went round flipping down the beds that were attatched to the celing of the train, and put on a fresh sheet, a duvet and a pillow, and clipped on curtains! We were well impressed!! We finished our dinner and went to get nice and cosy when the guard told us that one of our beds was at the other end of the carriage. Not again! We tried to ask him if we could stay put as no one was using the bed but he said no, that someone would be getting on at a different stop and this was their bed. So he told me too move and my bed was half way down the carriage! It was around 9pm and we had to get off the train at 4.30am so we called it a night and got into bed. I couldnt sleep for coughing it was driving me insane so i went the loo and checked if Matty was awake on the way back, he was so i jumped in his bunk and we sat chatting for a bit before i went back to try and sleep.

The train was so rocky but the beds were quite comfy, we were both on top bunks and as the train swayed we thought we were going to fall out, there were only 2 straps attached the the bed about a metre apart from each other keeping us in! The train was going all the way to Trang so the guard told us he would wake us up before we had to get off. I tried sleeping again but I couldnt and then my curtains opened BOO!! Matty couldnt sleep either and come to check on me, so he climbed up and we had a game of cards before he headed back. We eventually got a couple of hours sleep when the guard pushed me from outside the curtain shouting "Surrathani Surrathani!!!" I jumped out of bed and grabbed my things and walked down to Matty. We thought he'd wake us about half an hour before to give us some time to wake up and get our things together so I thought I had plenty of time to go the loo, when I got in there and locked the door, the train stopped and the window was wide open at the station! I ran back out and we grabbed our stuff in a hurry, Matty did not look too happy and we jumped off the train!

Blurry eyed we followed the crowd and ended up in a small cafe type of place on the side of a road where a man checked our tickets and told us to wait for our 'bus'. 5 minutes later our first experience of a truck taxi! Most of the taxis - we've now seen - are like toyota trucks with a roof on the tray at the back, with 2 benchs either side that you all climb in! So we jumped in - there was us 2, and 6 other people and all our luggage all in the back of this truck. We had no idea where we were going! One of the guys who was american joked that the driver was going to pull over and sell our organs - nice!! ha. We pulled into this dodgey lane and we all looked a bit scared but soon we saw loads of other travellers and we were dropped off at some kind of small bus station were we waited for a bigger bus to take us to the pier.

Around an hour later a huge coach appeared and a guy shouted Koh Samuiiii, Koh Phangannnnn.. we loaded on our luggage and after an hour and a little nap we arrived at the pier. The sun was up by now and the views from the pier were amazing. Loads of little islands and clear blue sea, what we had been waiting for, Yes!! Our boat arrived around 8.30am, it had been the full moon party the night before so there were loads of people getting off, still drunk, wearing illuminous clothes covered in paint, staggering off the boat. There were quite a few injuries aswell! Everyone waiting to get on were all laughing their heads off! We got onto the brewery smelling boat and within an hour we arrived at Koh Samui. We went up onto the deck to get off and we were amazed by the views! It was like a postcard, white sand clear blue sea and palm trees - gorgeous! We had organised a minibus to take us to our hotel on the boat, which would work out cheaper than a taxi so we found the guy and after 10 mins we got to our hotel, we were first to be dropped off. We were greeted with a welcome drink of cold fresh orange! We felt like we were on holiday! We checked in but our room wasnt ready for an hour so we had a quick look round, found the pool - with a swim up bar!! We ordered some food at the restaurant we were soooo hungry! I got some spring rolls and chicken satays with a peanut dip and Matty ordered a tuna baguette! Mmm! Everyone was so nice and friendly here! A Spanish couple from our boat arrived while we were eating our lunch - they were staying here too! Around 2pm we got into our room - it was a bungalow made out of bamboo it was huge - it had a fridge, mini bar and an outside toilet and bathroom which was cool! Also it had top of the range air con too - NOT! Only half of it worked and as the bungalow was made from wood weaved together it was like a sauna in there! We stuck our cozzies on and headed straight for the pool!

Aaaaa! Heaven!! There was a sign with the cocktails of they day with a different one each day for 99 baht!Yes!!! That day we just sunbathed and swam all day it was amazing! Just what we'd been waiting for! We went and had some tea and got some sleep. The next day consisted of pretty much the same, sunbathing and relaxing enjoying the time to chill! There was a couple of german lads who just sat at the swim up bar all day and made their way through the cocktail list, not speaking to each other much - we laughed saying they had come to Koh Samui on a lads holiday and ended up here in one of the quietest places! ha. We wanted to rent a bike the next morning so we were up early and went to get some breakfast. We had eggs on toast, fresh orange, coffee and fresh fruit, we really did feel like we were on holiday! While we were shovelling our brekkie down our gobs we saw the spanish couple from our boat hiring out a bike. We watched them trailing the bike down the path towards the road. The girl got onto the bike and started the engine and as she pulled the accelerator she sped of and couldnt control the bike. She skidded and fell off with the bike landing on top off her ontothe gravel! Ow! We rushed down to help her and walked her and her boyfriend back up to the hotel. She had huge grazes and cuts on her knees hands and elbows, she was in a bit of a shock! The thai ladies from the hotel came and helped clean her cuts up while we grabbed her a can of coke! Bit of sugar!!! ha. The girl was fine but just in a bit of shock, so we left her and her boyfriend to it and finished off our brekkie before we went to rent our bike!! haha We were a bit put off so Matty decided there was no way I was going near the bike! We got the keys and walked the bike down to near the road making sure we wernt on the gravel! We headed off slowly down the road, I was petrified at first but after Matty re-assured me he used to ride his mates scooter down the 'monny' i felt loads better!! hahaha I was in safe hands!!

We rode to the nearest beach opposite which was a small fishing village and took some pictures, we didnt stay long we were too excited to explore! So we headed off towards the right of the island. Koh Samui has pretty much one big road that goes right round the island so it wasnt hard to drive around. As we were driving round there were some gorgeous views so we stopped a few times and trekked down some hills and steps to take some nice photos! We needed gas not long after so we stopped at a small shop, there were loads of places like these were they have a shelf on the side of the road with a 'gasoline' sign. They have glass spirit bottles filled with petrol that you pay for and they empty into your tank. About an hour or so of driving later we ended up in Chaweng - quite a touristy part of Koh Samui so we stopped off and had a look around and bought some essentials - mozzie spray and a foot scrub for Amy even though she needed more of a chesse grater! We headed off again and ended up stopping in Lamai beach which was lovely. We swam and sunbathed for a few hours before heading back to our hotel!

When we arrived back we jumped staright into the pool and ordered a cocktail of the day. We started chatting to a lady we knew from Bristol who was in Koh Samui with her young daughter and she told us a few places we should visit and pointed them out to us on our map. It was getting dark so we went back for a shower and got some tea! Our second Masaman curry off the week mmm! We went out for a drink to a bar down the road called Lucky Lips and had a few games of pool. 2 of the girls who worked there, Wan and Kip, were watching us play and seen Matty beat me twice and asked us for a game. They won the first game, they were putting Matty by shouting ooo woahh everytime he took a shot ha but we kicked their arse's the next game and then we sat and had a drink and a laugh with them and they were telling us where to go on the island. We said goodbye because we were tired and it was getting late and headed to bed.

The next day we got the scooter out again. The plan was to visit the Big Buddha, Mummified Monk and the funny shaped rocks but once we eventually found the safari park after getting a bit lost, we ended up spending the whole day there as it was soooo good! We didnt pay for a thing!. At the hotel there were tours you could book that took you to all the different sights but cost quite alote, so we just thought we'd follow the map and save ourself some money by doing it ourselves! As soon as we drove into the park there were elephants just standing around eating and resting. It was amazing already. We'd never been so close to elephants before, they werent tied up or chained they were just roaming around! As we headed inside there were small tigers and a leopard, you could have your photo taken with and then behind a bush was a huuuuge tiger that we hadnt notcied! Amazing! We got a drink and wandered through. We bought a couple bunches of bananas to feed to the elephants and fed them while they were resting from trekking. You could do elephant trekking here but it seemed abit like a production line with a big que of people waiting to get on, someone had told us about a place in Chang Mai which sounded amazing so we didnt want to do it here. There was loads to do here anyway,we headed up to go see the waterall which was a bit of a mission away. We got there and it was really quiet with people having a little kip on the rocks next to it! it was dead chilled. We climbed up and already had our cozzies on so we jumped in, it was FREEZING!, we had a little swim and a mess about for a bit then decided to jump out it was starting to get a little bit busy by then. So i tried to climb out and lost my footing because of the slippy mossy rocks. and fell back straight into the water Amy was laughing her head off and so were about 30 other people waiting to get in gutted! ha!.

After we got changed we went and got a couple of cokes and sat in this little hut when something came over Ame, probably had something to do with the penang curry we had for tea the night before. Long story short she had to go drop the kids off in a nearby bush!! She was a little embarrassed but i reassured her that everyone has to s**t in a bush once in there life hahaha!. After that bombshell we decided to walk up the top, we took some photies it was really nice and on the other side there was a small waterpark with slides that went into the pools of the waterfall! Pretty cool! We started to walk back down to the safari park doing that fast walk were you cant slow down, down a hill walk. haha!! Back at the park we played wih the elephants some more, it was really quiet by now and the thai men were washing the elephants so Ame stood next to them watching and stroking them. We then decided to get a pic with the Big daddy tiger! It was fast asleep when we saw it last but now it was wide awake and was walking around and playing with the fella who trains them.

Matt went first and the guy told him to sit behind the tiger while I took pictures, he seemed really calm and not scared while I was snapping away right in front of the tiger. He started growling and opening his mouth and I got a hilarious pic of Matt pulling a face as the tiger threw his head back towards him! It was my turn next and I was so scared now!! When your taking the pics its ok, its when your sat behind him you realise how big and powerful he was and he could move suddenly at any moment! But it was so fun and we got some really good pictures! Makes me want to work with animals even more!!

After our drive home and an amazing day, we jumped straight back in the pool because we were feeling a little bit minging with the weather being so hot and maybe the water we swam in we were startin to get a bit itchy. Cocktail of the day was mai thai so ordered 2 sat at at the swim up bar chatting to our new holiday mates!! haha Showered and dressed we grabbed some tea before heading to one of the bars down the road which we could here live music from - it was only a bloody german elvis tribute yesss!! haha It was the funniest thing, he didn't know half the words and just made them up as he went along. We had a few drinks and went round the corner to Idah's bar were we sat and drank chatting to the owner Idah - a thai lady, who was on skype to her english boyfriend who lived in Bristol. She was really funny, she had us in stitches, she used to be a thai boxer and told us that nobody mess's with her in Mae Nam because one time a thai lady from one of the other bars had been gossiping behind her back, so she tied her to a tree, beat her up and let her pet monkey jump all over her - what a nutter!! Idah told us she lived in the bungalow just in front of us and told us some goss about the 50 year old swiss fella who owned the hotel and the 18 year old thai pool barman at our hotel - enough said!!! Urgh!!

The day after we sunbathed by the pool again but the weather was slightly overcast, so in the afternoon we went to get our 2nd thai massage. It was in a place just down the road from our hotel called lemongrass, it was really clean and smelt amazing! Their choice of songs were funny during the massage like - Celine Dion, 'I drove all night', James Blunt 'Three wise men' and Bryan Adams 'Summer of 69'! ha! We were given some ginger tea afterwards aswell - which she gave me a couple extra sachets of to help my cough! They had a 1 week old puppy to it was teeny and they fed it milk through a bottle!! Nice and relaxed we went back and got showered and dressed and decided, as it was our 2nd to last night we'd go out in Chaweng. We went for a drink in Lucky Lips and chatted to Wan who told us there was a wet t-shirt competition on in one of the best clubs in Chaweng. Matty was pretty sold on the idea! We went next door to Idah's and Wan told us to wait until she finished work and we could all go together to save money! So we sat in Idah's were her boyfriends mates were all sitting having a drink and smoking sheesha, so we joined them. There were a couple of lads from New Zealand and a random thai girl - who Idah also had history with! ha!! You wouldnt want to get on the wrong side of her!! A couple of sang soms later and Wan came to join us with Kip! We jumped in a taxi together and we arrived soon after! They took us to a club called 'Sound' which was packed! The wet t-shirt competition had already started and there were loads of girls on the stage dancing with a million lads crowded round the stage like dogs on heat. Matty volunteered to take some pictures - haha!! So off he went while we got some buckets! About an hour or 2 later the club was raided by the police and everyone scattered. Wan told us not to worry they were just kicking out underage people, everyone panicked though and not long after the club was empty. We went out in search of another bar, but everywhere was closing and by this time we were pretty drunk. We grabbed a taxi and bargained with him to take us back for 200baht! We were made up! On the way back we were laughing our heads of chatting to the taxi driver who could only speak a little bit of english. He was telling us about his girlfriend called Tme and he later told us his name was Tyu. We asked him if he had ever heard of the chuckle brothers - not a clue!! we found it hilarious though hahaha!!

The next day as per usual the heat from our room woke us up about 8oclock, we felt rough!! We went straight to the pool to try and get some sleep in the cool. In the afternoon we booked our boat to Koh Phangan as we were leaving the next day. We were too hungover to do anything so we got an early night and thought we'd pack in the morning. We got up shoved our stuff into our backpacks, the boat to Koh Phangan was only 20 mins so we thought we could sort everything out once we got there. We got our last breakfast and said our goodbyes before leaving for another beautiful island!