Hello everyone, it's Tracey here this time. Following on from Lindsey's last blog, we arrived on Koh Phangan 12 days ago with not much of a clue where to start looking for accommodation. We were picked up by a room tout who showed us a couple of not so great beach bungalows right by the pier at Haad Rin where the beach wasn't very nice. He could tell we were looking for a slightly better quality of accommodation and so sent us in a taxi up to Baan Tai to Power Beach Resort. We weren't too keen on their huts either (the bathroom roof had plenty of gaps for creepy crawlies!) so I stayed at the beach bar with our backpacks, while Linds traipsed up the beach to see what else was on offer.

We ended up in the resort next door which had a nice pool and the room looked OK. However, there was absolutely nothing going on in the area, very very quiet. We walked in to the next town past all the girly bars (they were quiet too!), but not much happening. That night we didn't sleep too well due to the fact that something was running all over the roof of our hut. In my mind I could only picture the Tasmanian devil (don't ask why!). And there were also strange noises coming from the bathroom door frame! We wondered if the hut was infested with termites!

The next day we decided to go and look at Haad Rin, and discovered a beautiful beach and lots going on - especially with the build up to the Full Moon Party happening in a few days. We found a hotel (bit over budget, but very nice) and decided to go and pack up our backpacks and stay in Haad Rin. Much better! Although we were surrounded by teenagers.

Quite a few of the restaurants show movies in the evening, so we picked our restaurants depending on what was showing, and not what was on the menu.

Come Full Moon Party time we decided to splash out on a bottle of wine to sip before heading out late (so we could try and last the night). We were brave and bought buckets to drink - only needed the one each for the night. They were very strong, and once the ice had melted, not very nice at all. But we danced, watched all the fire skipping ropes and tricks etc. Then sat on the beach and watched people falling over drunk. We of course were sitting on the beach from choice, and not because we'd fallen down drunk. Time flew by, and before we knew it the sun was coming up. We were pretty proud of ourselves :-) And glad we were there to experience the famous full moon party.

Since then we've been beach hopping around the Island. We did spend one night in a very cheap hut with only a ceiling fan. But again, the heat and the creepy crawlies got the better of us and our next move was to a nice air con resort with a pool. We've now been to most of the beaches around the Island. We went on a boat trip snorkeling with 'No Woman No Cry' boat trips. Saw lots of fish which has given us a taster for diving once we get to Koh Tao.

We're also getting much more confident at travelling and haggling for cheap cheap rooms. Although we have come up with a list of our ideal set of standards for a room/hut, and it's safe to say we are definitely flashpackers, and not backpackers. But we're doing alright.

Now we've almost made it full circle around this Island, so we'll be back on the boat soon to Koh Tao... catch up with you again once we get there!

Lots of love, Tracey & Lindsey

xxx