Friends in Koh Samui

We arrived in Koh Samui on December 22 and were greeted by Ryan Luft and 2 of his friends (Adam from Texas, and Jonni from Finland) and their scooters. Andrew and I jumped on the back of the scooters and we drove to our hotel.

Soon after checking in, we had a drink at a bar overlooking the valley. Even though it was cloudy it was still beautiful.

Next, we went out for dinner, and then to a sauna. The guys twisted our rubber arms to head down to an Irish pub in Bo Phut (the village we are staying in) to grab a pint of Guinness.

On December 23 we went with Ryan to see his school and watch some Christmas plays his students were putting on. The kids were CRAZY.

After Ryan was done at school, Andrew, Ryan, Jonni and I went to a really nice hotel to enjoy its pool and grab a bite to eat. The pool was huge and had an amazing view.

Next, we went to a place they called "Sunset Mansion", which is an abandoned house from which Ryan and his friends have seen many beautiful sunsets. Unfortunately, the day was a bit cloudy, but we still enjoyed the view.

On December 24 we went "hotel shopping" to find a hotel for December 26-29. After scooting around the island for the afternoon we went for dinner at Fisherman's Village, for drinks at a restaurant Ryan and his friends frequented called Addy's (where we ate 90% of our meals), and to "Jack Bar" to play pool and hula hoop.

On December 25, Andrew, Ryan and I caught a ferry to Koh Phanang, an island 1 hour away from Koh Samui that is known for its full moon parties. In Thailand, tourists order "buckets" of alcohol, which consist of 1 mickey of alcohol of your choice, 1 can of pop, and 1 can of Red Bull, all mixed in a plastic bucket with at least 4 straws and some ice. Since we hadn't had a bucket yet we each decided to order one.

We had a really good time, to say the least. Here are a couple of pictures from the evening:

Here are fire spinners.

I declared it my mission to steal something glow in the dark from somebody during the evening, so I danced up to this poor guy, took his glasses off his face, and danced away.

A picture of Andrew and I... and my glow in the dark glasses.

On December 26 we went back to Koh Samui and met up with Jonni and Adam to go to Mission Impossible. After the movie, we went for a pint at the Irish pub.

The morning and early afternoon of December 27 was spent sunbathing at our hotel. After that, we met up with Ryan and Jonni. We went for a cruise and had a beear at "Sunset Mansion". This is me and Jonni up on the deck. As you can see, I am laughing. Jonni was hilarious, and had us cracking up all the time.

Next, we had a drink at Friend Bar in Mae Nam village. Here is a group shot of us (the only one we have I think). From left to right: Rue (a South African teacher at Ryan's school), Andrew, Ryan, Adam, Me and Jonni.

After that we went to a beach in Chaweng (the touristy part of Koh Samui), had a hookah, and lit candle lanterns into the sky.

On December 28, we spent some more time around the pool, hung out with Ryan for the day, and did some shopping in Chaweng.

It was really nice having people show us around in Koh Samui and being able to scoot around the town. We had a really good time with Ryan, Jonni and Adam, and wished we could have spent more time in Koh Samui with them.

My Birthday

We spent half of my birthday on Railay lazing around the pool, and half in Krabi Town, which doesnt appear to be too geared toward tourism.

After arriving in Krabi via longboat we checked into our hotel and found out that we could use the pool of another hotel just around the corner. We dropped our bags off and went for a dip.

For dinner we went to the hotel that had the pool and ate on their rooftop patio.

The patio also had 2 for 1 cocktails, and Andrew and I tried a few, which were surprisingly delicious.

I'm trying, as always, to celebrate my birthday for as many days as possible, and since Alberta is 14 hours behind Thailand, I will be celebrating my birthday again on December 22 (because it is really December 21 in Canada).

The Party Island - Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

December 14, we boarded a plane from Hong Kong to Phuket, Thailand. It was late once we landed (12am), so we hired a taxi to take us to Phuket town to check into our hotel.

After a quick sleep in Phuket (the hotel was a little dodgy), we boarded a ferry to Koh Phi Phi. The first day we arrived we checked into our hotel and hit the beach. The beach and cliffs were beautiful.

After dinner we wandered down to the beach and watched some fire throwers perform, which were super impressive. We wandered back to our hotel and got a drink at a pub across the street from an Irish Pub (Jordan's) where there were 10 English guys outside trying to lure customers into the pub. We found out later that these Englishmen were "working" for free, we weren't sure why they would do this but we assume they received alcohol in payment of their services. The later the evening became and therefore the more alcohol they drank, the funnier they became. They were so entertaining Andrew and I watched them as they tried different techniques to get people into the pub.

Next we went back to the beach and saw that it had transformed into several HUGE nightclubs.

December 16 was another beach day. The evening was similar to the previous night, watching the Englishmen try to lure customers into the Irish Pub and going to the beach party.

On December 17, while waiting for our favourite restaurant to open (La Mamita, where we ate 90% of our meals), we went on a small climb up to the island's viewpoint. Even though it was 10 am we were sweating like crazy by the time we got to the top. The slight exertion was definitely worth the trip.

The weather while we were on the island was not the best, it was very cloudy and rained for a little bit each day, but this suited us just fine as it prevented us from getting burnt.

Koh Phi Phi was definitely a party island filled with "kids" (mostly in their early 20s). During the evenings and our "supervision" of the beach parties, Andrew would shake his head and say: "What would their parents think?" I'm inclined to think that what their parents don't know won't hurt them.