We made it to Thailand...just

We made it to thailand after a few hiccups and I have left the blogging till now as I needed a couple of days to cool off. As Chris said to me - he had expected all of this to happen the minute we arrived in Asia so we should be happy we have had 2 weeks of easy travelling in Malaysia where the people and country are beautiful, friendly and welcoming.

The first hiccup was going throught the thai border where I had expected some trouble due to the fact that we didn't have any proof of onward travel of which is required. The scary guy at customs was more concerned about the fact that they hadn't actually stamped my passport at the Malaysian borer and we were told to run back - past all the guards and officers with guns and around the soldiers who were out for their morning run. And the border wasn't just a few metres away either - we were running a few k's in the 30 degree plus heat praying that our bus wasn't going to leave without us and with our bags! Anywho it was all sweet and the malay guys were amused by the whole charade and even the scary thai officer at the border let me push in once we got back.

After 10 hours of travelling (by now we should have been at koh samui - the island) we fianlly made it to surat thani where we were to get a ferry to samui. Anyway to cut a long story short after paying more money and then more money again (even though the whole trip to samui was pre-paid) and another 5 hours later we finally made it. exhausted and with little faith in these new people and this new country.

a few hiccups happened the next day but then we decided to learn from our mistakes and get on with it so since then its been great!

It was my birthday today and we hired a scooter and hooned round the island to find secluded paradise beaches. After finding none we settled on the second main beach - Lamai - where we swam and had some well deserved beers. As drinking is heaps cheaper here compared to Malaysia (Malaysia being mostly Muslim) we decided to scoot back to our beach (chaweng) and have a beach bar crawl in honour of my bday. Had some delicious cocktails and enjoyed singha (thai brand) beer at various places. Very touristy here - some fancy as places with cushions and candles on the beach.

Chris and I have a new game that we will continue playing until we leave here. Its called - spot the old whitey with the rent- a -bride. At the moment its 8 - 5 to Chris. but I still have 3 days to beat him.

Another cool thing that happened was that I was given a random scratchy card and won a week in a resort in Phuket! And on my birthday and all! Yes things are definitely looking up!

After our dinner and drinks this evening we walked back along the beach and watched a lightning storm - there have been a few, being monsoon season, but so far the rain has only come at night.

In the next few days we plan to: Go kayaking, jet skiing, get a massgae on the beach and a thai lady today told chris he needs a pedicure so we'll try to fit that in too! Then we are flying to Bangkok. Ten times more expensive but a hundred times less hassel than catching ferry then overnight train we figure!

Thanks for the birthday wishes!