The final update, then, as I spend my last full day in Thailand. We have come back to Koh Samui this morning, and checked back in to the Tawee Guest house we were first in when I arrived. It feels like The Ritz compared to the last few places we’ve been – the last, in Koh Pha Ngan, was even more… shall we say, ‘rustic’, than the previous ones! Up on the side of a hill that required 57 stairs to get to (even more fun with a backpack and rucksack weighing you down!), the view had potential to be good. However, unlike Adam, who had a nice clear view of the sea, I had two great trees in front of my shack meaning I could see sod all. Shower barely worked, the fluorescent light in the main room flickered and strobed like some kind of rave disco but never actually lighted up completely, and on more than one occasion there was a lizard in the room. Still – cheap!

Couple of days ago we took a trip over from Koh Tao to a little island called Nang Yuan (I might need to check the spelling of that) – nice little island with great views (once you’ve done the now obligatory climb) and a nice strip of beach with deckchairs and such like. It’s tourist-geared, costing 100Baht to enter and closing at 5pm – however, at 5, the taxi boat that was taking us back got about 500 yards into the sea before the engine started to have difficulty and eventually cut out. We limped back to the island and then kind of sat in the boat for an hour or so whilst the guy attempted to fix it. You could almost feel the ten people in the boat willing with all their might for the boat to start each time the guy tried it. Eventually it did, and we got back before it got dark – but only just.

So onto Koh Pha Ngan from there, and the main reason for being there was the Half Moon Party on the 9th. Koh Pha Ngan is famous for its Full Moon parties, which basically take place on the beach on the night of the full moon (shockingly enough), and generally go on until the sun rises and beyond. Seemingly, people travel far and wide to attend these, so the expectation was that the Half Moon one might be the same. It was different in the sense of being in the jungle (the mighty jungle) instead of the beach, and having a fee to get in, and a fee to use the toilets, and generally very commercially-geared, but it was a very good night out all the same. The staple of these events is, I have discovered, “the bucket”, which, as its name implies, is simply a smallish (probably 2 or 3 litre) bucket of alcohol and mixer for about a fiver. Great idea, as it helps disguise the fact that you are actually knocking back a whole small bottle of whiskey… Despite copious amounts last night, I am remarkably fine today, which I think I might owe to the late night kebab visit before going to bed.

So that’s it. Heading out for a quite one tonight and then up early tomorrow ready to fly back home.