I take off with three other "family" members and head towards Samui on a long tail boat. As we round the tip of Had Rin, I see the beach getting set up for a soccer tournament I had heard about a few days earlier. I consult the powers that be (me, myself and I), and quickly find myself looking for a room so I can play in the tourney. I find the ...

In an attempt to ease our way into this whole back-packing thing, we booked ourselves into Haad Yao Bungalow View Resort for 4 nights. Hung out on beach. Bought trinkets, had massages, early morning yoga on the balcony. Eating by candle light along the beach. 750ml Chang beer for $3! Blown away by how genuinely friendly and happy all the locals ...

Sorry about the lack of updates lately; doing nothing takes up sooooo much time. Right, so, it took us 2 days to get to our next destination, Thailand's Southern islands. We got chastised at the airport in Bali for 'irresponsible booking', because we only gave ourselves less than 2 hours between our Bali-Jakarta flight and Jakarta-Bangkok flight...

A 2 horas al sur de Ko Tao, se encuentra Ko Phanghan paraiso con mas playas bonitas, mas palmeras y mas relaxxxxx, donde uno se puede peder en una de las tantas playas que esta isla tiene. Si uno quiere puede unirse a la fiesta y al ruido que tiene lugar al sur de la isla. Yo por el momento me quedo en el norte....

Well, we got out of Siem Reap without a hitch, and we quickly settled in on the beach at Ko Phangan at a seafood barbecue stand for dinner. As we were sitting there, we said "Let's review: Cold beer in hand?: Check. Palm trees overhead?: Check. Bare feet in the sand?: Check. Waves lapping at our feet?: Check. Beach puppies playing on the shore?:...

And here starts phase II of my trip. Phase I was nature, culture and local people. We travelled around the north and northeast of Thailand, seeing beautiful scenery, experiencing the local culture, and interfacing with the local people. We distanced ourselves as much as possible from the hordes of Israeli (and other) tourists, and were pretty mu...

After the first night out, had a chilled out day. Chatted to loads of people in my bungalow complex. Met a couple from manchester - Paul and Danielle Met a group of people from ireland - Patrick, Martin, Paul, Jen, Ciara and Louise. Plus a group of girls from sheffield, and some more from Ireland and Manchester All sound people and went out with...

Out of bed really early and went to the beach for a swim (usually makes the cold showers not too bad). Bon (a Thai guy from the family who are looking after us) chopped down a coconut and put straws into them with a little sugar (will put photo on later). Tasted O.K. but would have been nicer if it was cold. Tried to take picture of a huge spide...