On touchdown at Ko Samui airport, I had to laugh. It was an airport worthy of a small island, but it was the setting that amused me. It was only a short ride from the plane to the baggage collection area but this was of an open-air arrangement, covered by a thatched roof, with palm trees all around. Although I was still tired, it felt great to be there, the warmth of the evening sun nourishing me back to health. I arranged a taxi to take me to the north pier to get the evening boat across to Ko Phagnan. I received an SMS back from Gill, one of the trekking girls, telling me where they were staying on the island. After the boat ride, I took what turned out to be the right taxi to the guest house by the beach.

After checking in and freshening up, I walked to the beach but met the trekking girls on the way. We all had dinner together, and it was nice to sit and relax, regailing stories during our time apart. The girls told me Karl, the guy from the Wirral, was also staying at the resort. Karl and I got on well together and it was good to have some male company again.

We ventured to Hat Rin town that evening, and it was a let-down. It's got bars and some reasonably cheap restaurants but it has the feel of an 18-30s holiday resort. That's not what we were there for, we were there for the beach parties.

The next day, Friday, was lots of fun. Karl and I began drinking early on Karl's hut porch and met a few more people as they were walking past. One guy was from South Africa, who we met a few more times on the way round, and a group of Irish girls. We had heard there was meant to be a pool party starting early at one of the guest houses a short walk along the beach, so we headed there in the evening. There wasn't a pool party as such but there were loads of people in the bar area, with a movie section, playing Team America. All the more amusing to Karl and I as we had only just been quoting from the movie. So, we felt it necessary to have a beer or two whilst we watched some of the movie.

On the beach we met some of the girls Karl knew and had some drinks whilst watching the locals do their thing with the fire nunchaku type weapons on the beach. The drinks available were usually sold in buckets, a combination of Thai Sangsom whisky with Red Bull or Coke, for about 150 Baht, or just over 2 Pounds. We sat on mats on the beach in front of the bars that lined the shore-front, chatting away and soaking up the atmosphere. Where we were sat gave a great vantage point for the very impressive fire shows a little later on when there were more people on the beach. One such event included a 'ring of fire' if you will, challenging the onlookers to hurl themselves majestically through the hoop-set-alight, to the backdrop of the baying mob of tipsy tourists. Of course, I don't include myself in that description, but still had a go myself, which a friend managed to video on my camera!

After venturing along the beach and being introduced to some new people, my conversation was interupted by a couple of American guys who stormed out of nowhere, pointing, and wide-eyed at my Karate Kid t-shirt. "Dude, how much can I pay you for that t-shirt? He said enthusiastically. "Me and my buddy saw you earlier in town, and I was like, dude, how much do I have to pay to get that shirt?", he continued. Seems I wasn't the only one raised on a diet of 80s movies and tv. His exuberant nature was likeable and several high-fives later, the original group continued along the beach. The rest of the night was a haze of going between the various bars and dancing, until we went home in the small hours.

The next day was more of a recovery day, chilling out on the beach, swimming in the sea and reading. More of a prepation, ready for the big one the next night, the Full Moon Party. Much of the Sunday was the same as Saturday, and we went out to join the party in the evening. When we arrived at the party on Sunrise beach, we arrived reasonably early, so after a couple of hours chatting and watching the fire shows, we'd lost each other. I was walking with some guys I'd met the day before when we bumped into Gill. She introduced me to a girl called Milena she'd been talking to, and as a group we began wandering along the beach, via the different bars. Before I knew it, Milena and I had lost the others, so continued to party the night away anyway. The Full Moon Party was great fun and was definately worth getting there a few days before to fully enjoy the area.

The next morning, I met up with Milena on the beach. She always carried her volleyball round with her, which came in handy for meeting new people, asking people to join in the game. There was a volleyball net close to us, so along with a couple of guys we had met, we played for a while on the beach. After some more sunbathing, reading and swimming in the sea, Milena and I freshened up and headed into town. For dinner, I chose something random on the menu I hadn't tried before, but it turns out it was far too hot for me. Well, if you don't try, you'll never know!! After dinner, we headed to a chilled out cafe / bar at the north end of Sunrise beach, where we each had a go of one of the practice nunchukas (tennis balls on the end of the wires)!!

The next day I was to head to Ko Tao with Karl and one of the girls he knew, Hayley. We'd decided to do a PADI Open Water SCUBA diving course there, so had to leave early. I told Milena where Hayley had told me the resort was, "Gold Palm Resort, see you there" I said, as Milena would be travelling there the following day. So, luggage in tow, we jumped in our taxi bound for the pier that would take us to the small island of Ko Tao.