After the assault on the senses that was Bangkok (I fear I may never eat Thai food ever again), we headed to the Islands to chill and shake out the last of the stresses and strains of London life before continuing our journey. Having not even started to work on my fear of public toilets (bad enough in England, never mind Asia) even BG realised it was too soon to tempt me onto a 8 hour bus or train ride (using concern to mask the reality of being totally unwilling to listen to me whinge and hop from one foot to another for eight hours) and we booked a flight from Bangkok to the Islands (budgets, like rules, made to be broken). BG got inordinately excited about the fact that the logo of our airline was a bird, "Do you think our plane will look like a bird? I hope our plane looks like a bird. OH MY GOD our plane has a beak...", and happily spent the next hour taking a hundred photos of the bird / plane - small things.

Having sucessfully cleared security (biscuits disallowed, knives and explosives good to go) we crossed the tarmac towards the plane to the dulcet tones of BG '...a beak... do you see the beak' and took off. One kitsch bus ride later and we were on the jetty waiting for our first boat to take us to the islands, bags thrown onto the front of the boat (mine precariously balanced Kate and Leonado style right at the tip) we took a seat and prayed our luggage would still be there upon arrival whilst bizarrely being subjected to two hours of Mr Bean at full volume.

Arriving at Koh Phangan, we were jostled into a truck (sorry, taxi) and taken to 'Lime n Soda' (grrr pet hate, really is the word 'and' too much trouble?!) our abode for the night. For £12 a night (between us) and a missing a and d, our expectations were low. However, we were taken to a circular pod just steps away from the beach, a pool with bar (also on the beach). Next morning we trucked it back to the jetty and took an amazing catamaran ride to Koh Tao, aka paradise.

Being here really is like stepping into a postcard (or a cross between 'The Beach' and the S/S Jack Wills catalogue, I've never heard the word 'university' said so many times in such a short space of time). The sand really is that white. The sea really is brilliant turquoise and just tipping your head below it's surface reveals a tropical aquarium that you don't get told off for swimming around in.

Having spent the first couple of days chilling at the beach we decided to rent a motorbike and go further afield. Yep, me on the back of a motorbike. Obviously as I was involved it didn't run that smoothly, BG getting cross with me for hitting my helmet on his, BG getting cross with me for not 'leaning into the corners', basically behaving like the motorbike virgin that I was. We decided to head to a more remote part of the island (Hiwong Bay) notorious for excellent snorkelling. Having zipped along the roads totally drama free for about ten minutes we then started to head up a reasonably steep hill. I say started because it quickly became apparent that the bike wasn't going to make it to the top with both of us on it and BG, torn between being a gentleman and knowing this would mean me driving the bike unsupervised, suggested I get off and walk while he chugged to the top. Gah, Penelope Pitstop had never had this trouble.

Once we got to the beach in question we saw that we weren't gonna make it down the hill either so abandoning our bike, we started the almost vertical walk down to the water. Getting to the bottom revealed a tiny beach with only two other people on it and one bar built into the cliffside. Renting a snorkel, we headed straight for the water where there were literally hundreds of fish swimming around our ankles, amazing. It seemed so beautiful and peaceful... until a pesky black fish made a beeline for BG and bit him! Sympathetic as I am, unfortunately I was too busy laughing to watch where it was heading and promptly got a sharp bite myself. Evil. BG was ever so excited about his new David Attenborough role in life and I had to contend with some genius comments such as 'I need to get braver, I need to go deeper' and 'I'm not sure I want to go fishing anymore, now that I've been at one with the ocean' ( he had tofu for his supper that night)...

Another great thing about this island is the super chilled, beachside dining that ends every day. Having learnt early on that sticking to Thai food really is the way forward (lots of 'western' food on the menu that really doesn't resemble anything we've ever seen in the west), each night we head to the beach each night for some sunset, sand and supper. One of the new roles in life BG has since meeting me is fire safety monitor (once your house burns down with you in it you get a little nervous around the naked flame)... a role that got put very much into practice when the beach flame throwers that seem to be everywhere, literally decided to set up right in front of me, and I'm talking stretch my legs and I can touch the bucket of petrol with my toes. BG went into panic mode, 'oh my god, you're going to be fine, why do they have to do that here, don't panic, don't panic...' while I tried to breathe at regular intervals and not run screaming into the opposite direction. You can see from the photos that we're not talking about a gentle flame, it really was quite terrifying, and exceptionally close to us but once I'd got through the panic, also quite entertaining...

In response... I thought I'd add a little section to respond to any recurring comments we're getting, and by far the most popular topic has been BG's gay leopard print t-shirt and when we're going to see him wear it. Bad news kids. He took it back (possibly due to the amount of grief he got from me and everyone I showed the photo of him wearing it - and I showed a lot of people). However, don't dismay. There has already been talk of wanting to purchase some Thai fisherman's trousers (the kind every GIRL is wearing over here) and a sarong, and here I quote 'because David wore one' (yes, he does mean Beckham. I know). Rest assured that these demented suggestions are being whole heartedly encouraged for all our amusement and photos will be published as soon as the purchases have been made...