Hello everyone!

Sorry for the lack of blog updates but we have been fairly busy. We finally got to Koh Tao (or as its otherwise known 'Turtle Island' as it looks like a Turtle on the map!) and checked in to a rather nice resort called Sairee Cottages...air con room, huge bed, you know the deal!

We spent a couple of nights at Sairee Cottages before signing up for a 4 day PADI course at the 'Seashell Resort'. For those of you that dont know, its a Scuba diving course which gets you a worldwide recognised qualification that allows you to dive to 18m anywhere in the world! Our instructor was a french guy called Julien who was really nice, Cheryl had a MASSIVE crush on him! lol The course consisted mainly of watching a few videos, reading a hefty book and then quizes and an exam (just for the record, I got 100%, Cheryl only got 88%). The next day was spent in the pool, getting used to the Scuba equipment and trying to breathe underwater, such a wierd experience!! I was petrified at first and kept coming up to the surface to breathe 'properly' but I finally managed to get over my fear in the end. In the pool, we did loads of exercises including removing our masks and then clearing them of water, and one where the instructor turns off your air supply and you have to use your buddys air to breathe (rather scary at first!!). The next day was spent in the sea, practising the skills we learnt in the swimming pool. The first dive was terrifying, especially as the waves were huge! Visibility was quite bad but we managed to see a huge Sea Turtle and some clown fish amongst other things! The dives the next day had even worse visibility, but it was great to see some underwater life and to experience weightlessness whilst breathing. We are hoping to do some more diving before we return, maybe the great barrier reef if we can afford it (ie if Dad's credit card works in Australia- sorry dad! ;] )

After our PADI course we spent a couple of days relaxing in Koh Tao, mainly eating, drinking and hanging by the pool. We headed back to Bangkok on Sunday (a journey which took 11 hours!) and have spent the last two nights here. Yesterday we visited quite a few temples including the 45 metre Buddha, the Lucky Buddha, Golden Mountain and the Grand Palace (which is home to the infamous Emerald Buddha, which is actually only 2 foot tall and made of Jade not Emerald!)

We are heading to Cambodia tomorrow morning which will be another long journey (10 - 11 hours) and should involved quite a few forms of transport. Hopefully we will get there ok, we are doing the journey ourselves as opposed to a 'package ticket', its common knowledge that tourists get ripped off through travel agencies. When in Cambodia, we aim to spend a few nights in Siem Reap which will allow us to visit the Temples of Angkor Wat (unofficially dubbed the 8th wander of the world!). After that, we will head to the capital Penom Penh for a few nights before we venture into Vietnam.

Hopefully we will get some pictures uploaded before the next update for you all to see.

Speak to you soon, and fingers crossed to England finally winning a football match.

Much love,

Rich & Chez xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx