Koh Phangan and beyond...

Hello, after Koh Samui I caight a ferry to Koh phangan..and it all gets a bit hazy from here....just kidding. I stayed for 6 nights in a bungalow on a hill in haad rin beach, which is where the full moon parties are. I went on a snoop dogg cruise one day which was cool, met some nice people and went to a waterfall and climbed through this cave thing to come out on the other side of the waterfall. we also had lunch at bottle beach and went snorkelling. on the 5th of june i met up with about 7 other friends from home and hung out with them for the last couple of days. some of us hired scooters and rode up to thongsala - me and sophie both crashed our bikes... i only got some minor cuts on my knees. we went out one night to the reggae bar and then to the beach dance party thing and had a midnight swim in the sea. the full moon party was ok but i had heaps more fun the other nights. bit of a letdown. the next day after the full moon party (8th) Jarryd and I caught the ferry back to Koh Samui at 2.30pm and then got a cab to the airport, i flew to bangkok and then stayed near the airport for a night. my flight to canada left at 8.15am on the 9th so had to be at the airport very early and then flew to Tokyo, stopped for 2 hours then straight to vancouver. it was weird arriving at midnight canadian time. i went straight to a hotel and slept most of the night. i think im still a bit jetlagged though. i spent 2 nights in vancouver just sightseeing and sorting myself out, got a cell phone etc. went to a stand up comedy gig the 2nd night with people from the hostel which was so funny! i then caught the greyhound bus up to whistler yesterday and stayed last night at a hostel in creekside. today im looking for a room to rent and i think ive got a good one lined up in a sharehouse. then i just need to get a job! will update soon!! nat

The Islands

Hi all, I spent 3 nights in Phi Phi and it was very beautiful, despite the fact it rained for 2 of those days. On the second night there was a crazy storm, it was so windy. I stayed in a fairly dodgy place for the first 2 nights and got sick of it and moved to a nicer one for the last night. I went on a boat tour to see 'The Beach' and went snorkelling and kayaking and had dinner on the boat at sunset. I met some cool people, and hung around with some english guys and aussie girls I met for some of the time. I had a beautiful seafood dinner at one of the restaurants near the beach one night and another night stayed up until the sun rose at the Ibiza bar. I think I liked it so much because the island doesn't have roads, just paths. You could walk around the island in a couple of hours. A lot of the buildings are still being rebuilt after the Tsunami in 2004, which is quite devastating that its taken them 5 years. I then caught a boat to Phuket for 1 night. I knew I wouldn't really like it there because I'd heard it was really busy and touristy. And I was right. Patong Beach is like Surfers Paradise but crazier and stinkier. I caught a bus the next morning to Suratthani and then a barge to Koh Samui, where I am at the moment. It is more island-like, and I'm staying in a beautiful little bungalow right on the beach in Lamai. The water is really nice and warm and it isn't very busy or crowded being low season. Tomorrow I am off to Koh Phangan where I will stay for a week until the Full Moon Party on the 7th and then back to Bangkok!
Natalie