Next stop Myanmar (Burma)

We've had a great stay in Koh Samui despite some initial teething problems! The first accommodation that we checked into, a place called Relax Resort, wasn't great . . . No lets be honest, it was dire! We only checked in there because we were really struggling to find somewhere that matched our budget. I mentioned in our last post that Koh Samui is much more of a package resort and so there's not a great deal of choice at the backpacker end of the market.

Our room was in a dingey single storey block on a driveway down to the beach. It was surrounded on all sides by larger buildings so that we were permanently in the shade. The permanent darkness meant that the room stunk of damp . . . am I selling this one to you yet? To make matters worse the dividing walls looked like they were made of rattan and had the soundproofing properties of wet string. As we found out much to our joy at three in the morning when our Cockney wide boy neighbours returned and serenaded us with a choice selection of hits from the early 80's. Including most of Squeeze's back catalogue, and what probably is the best song for a drunk to be singing at the top of his voice - Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights.

We've since moved to some much better accommodation, a place called the Green Guesthouse. Which is not only a third cheaper than our last hole but has solid walls, no damp and no Kate Bush at 3a.m. Perfect.

The beach at Chaweng is our main reason for being here. It's a lovely 6km long stretch of white sand dotted with hotels, bars and restaurants. It's a great place to hang out in the day and the sea is really calm here too thanks to a reef about 50 meters off shore.

We even saw the ideal way to keep your kids safe on the beach . . . tethered to the shore in a plastic bubble!

At night most of the bars and restaurants convert their sun loungers into makeshift dining tables and string up lights across the beach, giving the place quite a bohemian feel.

You can get just about anything from the hawkers on Chaweng beach; fruit, ice-cream, t-shirts, balloon lanterns, really dangerous fireworks, a real hawk and even a monkey (or two).

Later this evening (Tuesday 5th) we fly up to Bangkok, where we are staying overnight at an airport hotel before our early morning fight to Yangon (Rangoon) in Myanmar. We're really looking forwards to Myanmar because along with Laos it's the country that everyone who's been to says is really different and interesting to visit. We're not sure how easy it will be to update the blog though as we don't know what restrictions are placed on the Internet. E-mail access may also be a bit hit and miss.

Happy New Year 2009

Even though we are a few days late we just wanted to wish everyone a happy new year for 2009.

The week between Christmas and new year has been really relaxing. We've mainly been just lounging by the pool or on the beach to recharge the batteries.

New years eve night was fantastic. There was an absolutely massive party on the beach, far bigger than the one for Christmas Eve. There must have been somewhere between ten and fifteen thousand people there and about 20 different sound systems and clubs set up.


For some strange reason the most popular way to have a drink on the island is from a bucket! For your money you get a small plastic bucket full of ice, a hand full of straws, a couple of cans of mixer and a quarter of a litre of spirit . . . oh plus the obligatory can of Red Bull! It's not really what you would call a subtle drink, but 6 quid for a bucket of gin and tonic (and Red Bull) is certainly good value for money!



On new years day we had a little visitor to our bungalow garden; this lovely little bat who hung for the day on a palm leaf outside of or door. Probably nursing a hangover too!



Yesterday (2nd January) we caught the boat over to Koh Samui where we'll be spending the next few days. Thankfully the half hour crossing was a lot calmer than when we caught the boat over from the mainland to Koh Phangan. We're staying in a resort called Chaweng which is the main town on the island and has a completely different atmosphere to Hat Rin on Koh Phangan. Over there it was definitely a more rough and ready backpacker type place where here it's more of a package tour resort . . . which means that everything is twice as expensive - no more buckets of gin! We may even have to resort to ordering drinks from an old VW camper van . . .