Baan Talay Resort Samui Chaweng

... com and www.teflworld.org).
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In Ko Samui I had the powerful feeling that I was a part of something that was growing. TEFLworld’s training took place at the recently opened Panyadee elementary school, which follows the British National Curriculum and is officially accredited by the Ministry of Education (allowing it to formally issue internationally recognized certificates with registered numbering). Panyadee is a bilingual school that provides education to ...

... to mainland. We all crashed on the ferry to Surat Thani. When we arrived on land, there was a bus waiting to take us to the airport. We got back to Bangkok by mid afternoon. It is really nice to be home and have most of the afternoon to unpack, catch up, and relax, especially when I have work the next day. 3 more weeks of school...I know I've said it before, but I can't believe how fast this school year has gone.

So we got off the afternoon boat and it was...raining. Not too bad, but all the taxi drivers had cottoned on and driven right to the front of the pier and obviously chosen some set price for transport. We ended up in a taxi to take four of us (Me, Pete, and a Danish couple Mikel and Sandra...?) to Chaweng beach. I did really want to stay on the ferry side of the island and see Ang Thong National Park [seriously, Google it, looks amazing. Next time.], but we had little choice ...

... then it was back on the boat to get dry, cut your knee or whatever you wanted to do before moving on to our next stop, the emerald lagoon at Koh Mae Koh. The simple walk up to the view point required moutaineering gear and oxygen but was worth it for the view. After another average traditional thai buffet we went to our final stop of the day for kayaking at a lovely beach also on Phaluai Island. All in all the marine park ...

... more about their lives... It's a great way to meet people, and even though we were members before, we never got round to trying it... Mike always raved about the people he met doing it, so we thought we'd give it a try... We had a search for available couches on the island and came across a Canadian guy called Ryan, who was house sitting for someone else... we sent him a message, and hey-presto! He came and met ...

We eventually arrived at the party island that is Koh Phangan. Once on the pier, we had to collect our wristbands The preferred drinking method at the Full Moon Party is a bucket (literally a small child's bucket), which is advertised on market stalls the length of the route to Haat Rin beach as a small hip flask-sized bottle of spirit with 2 cans of mixer. We had Vodka and lemonade, as we both drink it (me at a push ...

... of 2 square meters. With cheerful Thais serving you extremely hot food, real prik nam pla and always serve you delicious ice cold fruit for dessert: free. Heaven! Right, Girls?!?!?! AND: while walking there, the Tomcat found us a jeep for a decent price. Well, really cheap in fact: 16 Euro/day. We only took it for tomorrow because the day after, we go diving. To Koh Tao. See: we did more than eating and drinking. Sort of.

... just before sunrise...... 01/01/08 This day was a non starter really, Laura came and woke me up at around 3pm, followed shortly by Saff at 3.30 they made me get up and shower, and then 3 us fell asleep on the bed again, until we were rudely awakened by Paddy, calling for us to go for a swim in the choppy sea!!! Sod that, but we went to watch for laugh!!! They were in and out within 5 mins, knackered! So we took a walk up serenity hill, for a drink etc ...

... the water with us. We then went to visit a turquoise-coloured saltwater lake (Thale Nai) in the middle of one of the island. A steep climb took you over the mountain to look down into the beautiful lake below. Well worth the climb despite the searing heat. We then went for lunch in a tiny fishing village where the people lived in very primitive shacks and lived off the land and the sea. The tour boats provide the village with additional income by ...