Thailand | The Islands

Our next stop was Surat Thani, where we jumped into mini buses to take us to the shore. All our luggage was put into black sacks and we climbed into the longtail boats to take us to the floating bungalows. The views were stunning, think clear blue water with a few scattered clouds - that. Before reaching the bungalows we stopped for some swimming, making sure the boats didn't capsize!

The bungalows were beautiful, along with the canoes and some freshwater swimming, it was so idyllic. It was called the Smiley Lake House, they had food and a bar ready for us too. They fairly basic but we didn't spend much time in them. Bryony and I joined some of the group on a very muddy hike up the mountain to the cave, which involved wading in waist deep. I did manage to fall over twice on the way up, which weren't some of my most gracious moments! We got back to the bungalows and had a quick shower before meeting everyone else for dinner, it was fresh fish on the menu, which was great! We watched a fire show, had some drinks and a late night swim under the stars.

We had an early morning and met some of the group to go on a wildlife trip - I particularly enjoyed watching Bryony trying not to fall asleep! We saw some monkeys and a huge lizard catching some fish too. We got back to the bungalows for some breakfast before having our last sunbathe and swim. Once we were all packed up the boat took us back to shore and we made our way to the new accommodation, stopping of at the monkey temple on the way. The monkeys were very interested in the food we had, so we had to be careful when giving them nuts. It was lovely to see the babies clinging onto their mothers. Our new hotel was lovely. Once we'd arrived we went tubing down the river - it was so funny, I'm not sure I had laughed so much for ages! Tubing involved sitting on a rubber ring and floating down on the river - with the added party member of Coffee the dog jumping on our rings, it made it a real memory!

After breakfast at the hotel we got on a mini bus to Krabi, to then get a ferry to Koh Phi Phi. We walked up to the hotel, which was the hottest accommodation as it didn't have aircon. We had a pool just outside the rooms which was great, particularly with the pool bar. We had chips and spring rolls for a snack before taking a stroll down the beach. We had Mexican food for dinner before heading back to the beach for the beach party.




















The following morning we got on a very rocky boat to Maya bay, where we did a bit of snorkelling and climbed up the rope ladder to get onto the beach (which lots of us weren't happy about!). Getting off the beach was equally as tricky, with the choice between climbing down the ladder or climbing through sharp rocks with a dangerous snake snoozing away... Despite this the beach was beautiful and we could have spent a lot more time there if it were possible. To end the day, the wolf pack went out for a very tasty dinner.

The next day we got a ferry over to the mainland to then drove to Koh Pangan to our accommodation at the Shirlea guest house. Bryony and I were in a shared dorm with the rest of the wolf pack, and we enjoyed chilling out at the pool and the bar. On our last full day we hired a car and explored more of the island. We visited the full moon party beach and the 360 bar, which had wonderful views.

We really enjoyed the tour and loved getting to know the rest of the wolf pack group. If we'd had more time out in Thailand we'd defiantly explore some of the islands a little more.

Read the next post to read about our adventures in Chiang Mai!