Damn spam to my blog...

I just got spam as a comment on my blog :( Something about a guy on his way to Houston, oh and do you want to buy electronics? Go to my store...

I remember reading somewhere a couple of weeks ago that Blogger started using word verfication (as an option) to fight this. I've now turned it on - hopefully that will be the end of it :)

Photos from Thailand and Vietnam

I finally got around to putting together two slide shows of photos from Thailand and Vietnam.

Bangkok to Samui to San Francisco

The last section of our trip was just as crazy – but crazy in a more conventional way :)

So we took off from Phnom Penh and landed in Bangkok. We went straight to the Bangkok Airways ticket office to see if there where any more seats on the flights to Samui that night... No luck, so we had to go to plan B.

Last year myself, Conor and Alan took an overnight “VIP” bus to Samui. It is basically a really big bus with about twice as much room per seat and the seats recline further. These buses leave from central Bangkok so Mel and I hurried ourselves there. All seemed to be full apart from one agency that said we could have a good seat for the first 2 hours of the 10 hour journey but then we would have to sit in with the driver... We looked at each other, and without having to say anything we said YES! (Better on a beach tomorrow morning then ass'in around Bangkok for another day)

We got onto the bus, chatted to some people and fell asleep quite quickly. Everything was good :) Then two hours in, a guy tapped us on our shoulders and said that we had to move. Reluctantly, Mel and I grabbed our things, went out the door and headed for the drivers area. We poked our head around the corner and what did we find but a double bed just for us. :) Apparently, the driver cabin also includes a huge bed – so with smiles from ear to ear, we lay down and got ready for a good nights sleep.

The rest of the time in Samui was basically spent, sitting on a beach, driving around on a moped, doing various touristy things, getting lots of oil messages and going out. The last week was just amazing. It was so relaxing and cool not to have to travel all the time!

One day in Samui, Mel and I went to climb rocks - this is one of the starter ones.

And this was another we climbed later. Seconds after Mel took this picture she was clambering up the crack to the left of where I'm sitting!

Mel and I at the start of a day in which we drove around the island

Mel on a deserted beach later that same day

This is Mel outside the hut that we stayed in on Lamai Beach

After my week there I decided to fly to Bangkok (with Bangkok Airways again) instead of taking a bus – it basically meant a lot more comfort and an extra day to spend with Mel. Following that was a fantastic nights sleep on Bangkok International's finest marble floors, followed by about 19 hours of flights. Getting home took about 36 hours from leavings Mel to meeting my brother in San Francisco. It was grand, but heading straight into a week of work was a bad idea. By the time Friday came, I was mentally and physically drained. But it was an amazing holiday with the best possible person beside me and I'd advice everyone to travel to that region of the world.