Well I felt better the day we headed to Ko Samui, so the bug must have been a 24 hour thing! (relief!). We got a bus and ferry to the Island and as soon as we arrived at our hotel (Sandy Resort on Bophut Beach), which was about 4pm we got ourselves straight to the restaurant (which was overlooking the beach!) and ordered some hearty club sandwiches - I don't think I've ever been so hungry, as hadn't dare eat since I was ill - this sandwich went in about 2 minutes and I wasn't poorly afterwards so all smiles for me! James seems quite a bit better now too, so we were ready to indulge in the fantastic Thai food from then on! The first night a group of us went to a Thai Kickboxing competition in Chaweng, which was an experience! The first lads up can't have been much older than 8 or 9! They were tiny and very good at fighting, but I wasn't overly keen on seeing them take punches and kicks to the head - I know that's what the sport is all about, but it's not easy to watch when they're so tiny - these guys weighed 4 stone! The worst part about the night though was when one of the guys got knocked out cold and they couldn't bring him round for what seemed ages! When he finally came too he could barely stand himself and was virtually carried back to the dressing room, whilst gagging the whole way - not sure I'd like my son to do it (if I had one that is!).

The next day James and I got up early and had breakfast at 6.30, then all of us went on a boat trip to the Ang Thong National Marine Park. We stopped to snorkel after about an hour but due to the backlash of the Cyclone in Burma the sea has been stirred quite a bit over here and was really cloudy. We did see quite a few fish, but it wasn't the spectacular Thailand snorkelling you'd expect. Plus the place we stopped was packed with other boats and tourists so it wasn't the tranquil paradise you may have in your mind either - apart from that though the surrounding scenery was amazing! (I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything!) Next was a stop at Mae Koh Island where we climbed a load of man made steps to get a look at a fantastic lagoon - this was beautiful and after the climb it would have been really good to have a swim in it, but it was out of bounds for some reason? Our boat took us to Mue Koh Angthong National Park next, where we had an included Thai buffet lunch, which went down a treat after the swimming and climbing (it's a hard life travelling you know ;-)). We had a few hours here, so simply sunbathed and swam before it was time to go back to the hotel . . . really a great day - and no sea sickness! I think this trip has cured my motion sick problems; I can even read on the bus now where as I used to even struggle looking at someone else read - weird, yep that's me!

The second night we all went out together in Chaweng, which is the busiest area in Ko Samui. We had dinner at the Ark Bar, which is a British run party beach front bar. Not ideal for dinner as the DJ was busting out the tunes (busting? is that the lingo?) but a great place to get in the party mood. The food was fantastic though and I finally had my Thai Green Curry which, although not as spicy as I'd like it, was probably the best one I've ever had - yum! Following the meal and a few more cheeky drinks we went to an amazing ladyboy cabaret show - it was brilliant. I think James was shocked how beautiful some of these guys are!! Seriously, you can't tell at all with some of them. We all had a ball here and afterwards some of us went on to have a few more drinks before heading back at about 2ish.

The last day in KS was spent doing what most people come here for - pretty much nothing! We sunbathed, swam, ate and read until we were ready to do something active! Then we hired a jet-ski for 25 minutes and taking it in turns to drive we zipped around at some stupid speed! It was such a laugh, that was until we realised we didn't really know where we'd started and stupidly hadn't looked for any landmarks when we excitedly set off! Anyway, we found the guy waving a yellow flag to signal for us to come in and all was ok! Some of the guys went into Chaweng again this evening, but James and I stayed and had dinner at the hotel with Sam and Sam (the Welsh couple) and Andrea (the Auzzie lady). It was a really lovely chilled evening, just chatting and a few drinks to wash down yet another Thai Green Curry!

There's no denying we loved Ko Samui and it was really good to just chill out for a bit, as it does get tiring being on the road all the time. The place we stayed - Bophut Beach - is a pretty quiet resort and I think that's why people come here, but the sea isn't the best (a bit muddy) so if you're after crystal clear waters this isn't the best choice. It's stunning all the same though and cheap enough to get taxi's to anywhere else on the island. A definite if you're going to Thailand!