KO PHANGAN ISLAND

I took the ferry from Ko Samui to a beautiful island of Ko phangan . I shared the bus to the resort with a young couple from Aukland and they gave me their details and told me to look them up when I am in New Zealand and they gave me lots of ideas of places to go. That is one of the reasons I am enjoying this travelling, the generosity of people around you. But the flip side of the coin, there are those who want to rip you off ,so I have to be on my guard as well. The roads on this island are so scary , they are just steep hills up and down and there are big pot holes, so it was a scary bus ride. Eventually we arrived at our rooms..they overlooked the estuary of a river and the sea. They put me in a de-lux bungalow set up on the hill side. I loved it. I had to walk through some woodland along little dirt tracks to get to the main road.




I got lost.But then a man on a motorbike came and gestured for me to hop on, he did not speak any English. And I just got on and he took me to the main road, which was so kind of him. I would never have found my way!
Then I got a longboat to bottleneck beach which is beautiful. You can only get there by boat so it is not too full. I spent a few hours there. I then got a motorbike and headed for coconut beach which I had heard so much about. Well the steep roads where difficult to negotiate, and then they became dirt tracks. I have to say my heart was in my mouth and I just held onto the brakes and slid down on the bike. I thought I would figure out how to get back up later. The beach was worth it. There were hardly any people and the bungalows were set back. I chilled under a coconut tree for a few hours reading my book. Then I looked up and saw the big coconuts looming down. And I remembered that Sammie had told me that a large number of people die each year from being hit on the head from coconuts falling from the trees. I thought it will not happen to me and tried to get back into my book. But I just kept looking up and thinking"what are the chances?" and I decided with the way my luck goes at times it would be better if I moved along.
When I got back on the motorbike I decided to just go for it! and I managed to scrabble up the steep hill , slipping and sliding all over the place. But I was thrilled when I got to the top alive and in one piece!
I then went exploring on the bike.



I saw where the poor elephants are kept for the trekking and it made me realise that I did not want to ride the elephants there because there were so cooped up. I have got details of a place in Chang Mai in norther Thailand where they look after the elephants and you can help to wash them and care for them, so I am going to check that out when I go up there.
I then went and visited a waterfall. which was very atmospheric with the sound of the sicardas and crickets, it was so deafening. But I could have sat there for hours soaking up the atmosphere it was quite hypnotic. Getting back into my resort on the motorbike was frightening.It is the steepest hill I have seen and I had my heart in my mouth again until I got to the bottom. I thought it was just not worth it all the stress with the bike and I gave it back in. The next day I have to say I enjoyed walking around and exploring . I went to a great bar at the top of the hill overlooking the bay. The view was breathtaking.
Today I am getting the ferry to Ko Tao and staying there a couple of nights. I am meeting up with the girls from Ireland who I spent Christmas day with. They have got me a room where they are staying. So I am looking forward to a good night out tonight.
My visa runs out soon. so I will be getting the ferry to mainland Thailand ,then bus to Bangkok and then I have a flight on the 1st to Cambodia.I am going to visit Phnom Phenh and Ankor Wat. so really looking forward to a change of country. But then I will head back to Chang Mai in northern Thailand.

CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS EVE
I got up early to watch the sunrise.

SUNRISE

it feels so strange being in the heat when it is Christmas eve. To be honest I have not given any thought to christmas other than hoping that Sammie is having a good time and likes the presents I have left at her fathers.
I was so excited because my fast ended later today so I could eat. The menue here is full of really healthy food which is good.
At the end of the day went upto the steam rooms in the village in the hills and had a lovely steam with some friends to get rid of any remaining toxins.

TEA AFTER STEAM SESSION

So being thoroughly cleansed I felt I was ready to party. It was the full moon and all over Thailand they have full moon parties. I had made friends with a group of Irish girls. One of them Lisa was not fasting so we decided we would check out the local full moon party.
And we got home at four thirty in the morning and we consumed quite a lot of red wine! I know! I know! what about all the detoxing I hear you cry. But It is christmas!!!


CHRISTMAS DAY
Woke up with a thick head and vowed not to do that again in a hurry. I had been feeling so good with the detoxing.

FISHERMEN'S BOATS AT LAMIE BEACH



Sunbathed and read for most of the morning. Then I had Christmas dinner on the beach with the Irish girls, Lisa, Maive and Joanne.

CHRISTMAS MEAL ON THE BEACH

I had fresh orange juice and a Thai green curry with veg and brown rice. So back to the healthy options for me!!
The Irish girls are moving to the top of the island today. I am getting the ferry tomorrow to go to a small island off Ko Samui called Ko Phangan for a couple of days.It is supposed to be beautiful.

Thank you for all the Christmas messages from everyone. And from those of you who were concerned because I had not put anything on the blog for a while!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE AND LOTS OF LOVE XXX

DETOX FAST AT SPA SAMUI ON LAMIE BEACH

VIEW FROM THE SAMUI SPA ONTO THE BEACH




I have not been onto the blog for a while.That is because I have been undergoing a DETOX FAST!!! yes me the woman who cannot stop eating. I decided for some crazy reason to deprieve herself of food. And to top it off I paid two hundred dollars for the privalage. And this is what I looked like just at the end of day one.


FEELING LIKE DEATH AT THE END OF DAY ONE ON MY DETOX FAST

I had to take to my bed with my carrot juice! They get you to eat raw foods and fruit for a couple of days to get ready for the detox. You also have to drinkd some liver flush drinks. These are made up of olive oil, some kind of pepper and loads of garlic and orange juice. I actually quite liked it in a strange kind of way.
The night before the fast starts I took two capsules to kick start things. Every morning I went to the detox counter and had a detox drink.This looks, and I am sure tastes like, wall paper paste. I glugged it down and got my days supply of capsules which I had to take every couple of hours. I never did find out what was in the capsules !Every few hours I had to have things like broth,which was the WATER left over from cooking the veg. Liver detox drinks, carrot juice, and coconut water.

COCONUT WATER



and lots of capsules. Then the highlight of the whole thing is the daily enema!! for those of you of a nervous disposition I will not go into detail, but suffice it to say, the whole set up is hilarious and I still cannot believe I did it, but hey ho, this trip is all about taking myself out of my comfort zone (and i certainly did that ) and learning more things in life.

I went to meditation every morning ,which I loved and I intend to look into it further and read up on it. Then I did Yoga. Well, that was hilarious at first, I could not even cross my legs for long, but after five days I could feel myself getting more flexible. It is fantastic. I am going to do lots of Yoga on this trip and when I get home. I loved it. And luckily for me the teacher made everyone feel as if they could do it, no matter what level they were at.
And I have been swimming like a madwoman in the spa pool. I feel very healthy and cleansed now. But the first day I had the mother of all hangovers. Everyone kept telling me very knowledgeably that it was because I was so full of toxins. I wanted to tell them they were full of Sh.t, but of course they were not!!! but by the end of the fast ,which incidently was only three and a half days, I could tell that it has been good for me and I feel that I will seriously look at what I put into my body from now on.(we will see how long I keep that up!)
There are a lot of strange people here. Some with obvious eating disorders and there are lots of things to laugh at.The topics of conversation you overhear are so funny. People are discussing their bowel movements and what day of the fast they are on. The hard core, who have been many times, do it for about seven,ten or even fourteen days .It is maddness to do it that long.That is just showing off!
But I have to say I have met some very nice people here as well. And there have been some good chats.


TEA CEREMONY


Especially at the TEA CEREMONY. That is at the spa village up in the hills. A fella makes up lots of different types of tea over a three hour period and everyone sits around trying the teas and talking about all kinds of things. Some local expats pop in as well to chat to the foreign tourists. I stayed the full three hours and loved every minute of it.Some of the teas had a special kick to them so I was buzzing by the end of it. I even took a book about Chinese medicine back to my room so that I could read up on things we had discussed.