Well, I have managed to sort out my bank woes so I have money to spend now, hoorah. Thanks to Adam for loaning me some cash in the meantime. I'm sure I will be able to rant at anyone interested about the whole situation when I return, plus I have already mentally composed my letter of complaint, so I will leave that subject there for now...

Today has been a really cool day.

We were picked up early (well, by my standards) and taken to a boat to head out to Angthong National Marine Park, which is basically a collection of islands amongst loads of water and greenery. Loads of stunning views - and I've managed to upload a few photos at last so you can see for yourself. We took a trip to the Emerald Lake, and then on one of the islands we climbed to a view point that gave an absolutely amazing panaromic view of the whole Marine Park. I'm not sure the photos I've uploaded quite do it justice but there are plenty more of them here.

Anyhow, the view didn't come without cost, and to get to this vantage point we had to do some serious climbing up a hillface - no steps or anything traditionally useful like that, just a sturdy rope and some handily (and not so handily) placed rocks. It was roughly 260m upwards across an actual distance of 500m, so you can work out the sheer gradient we were climbing! Took about 40 minutes of upwards motion before getting to the top, and suffice it to say I can't remember the last time I was so pleased to reach the end of something. As I said, though, the view was amazing and totally worth it. Getting back down again was no easier, and in some places felt quite treacherous. There's nothing quite like the morbid but ever-present thought that a wrong footing could very well be your last to make sure that every step is completely calculated! The rope is not quite so handy when you're going down... On the way back down, though, we did see some monkeys, which were bloody difficult to photograph but very cool to watch. We did a bit of snorkelling in the small area that was available, and then headed back.

Tomorrow, we up and leave Koh Samui and move on to Koh Tao, so I'll update at some point over the weekend, hopefully.

Hope that you're well.

A x