Budding & The Doctor As we potter off around the globe for 6 months we thought some of you might like to keep tabs on us to a) check we're still alive and b) shout "jammy bastards" at the screen repeatedly. Please feel free to do both

Our trip to the south began with a gruelling two day journey by train and bus from chaing mai in the north, down to koh tao. the only highlight being the chance to see england disgrace themselves on the way out of the qualifiers at 4am in some dodgy cafe in chumpong. we then caught the catarmaran from the mainland to the island, braving some seriously choppy seas along the way (sitting at the front felt like free falling - sick bags were in high demand).

we rolled into coral grand divers resort at 10am feeling less than fresh and spent the rest of the day on the beach, save some cheesy american videos to begin our PADI openwater scuba diver course. the course began in earnest the next day with some introductory dives in the pool. all went well and we were set for the real thing on day 3.

word to the wise now - do NOT go diving on koh tao in november. espcially at full moon. apparently the moon generates lots of current and this prompts the fish to start spreading their seed. not a nice thought when you're swimming through this muck.

the visibility was less than 5m and it's fair to say that descending for that first time down the buoy line was like entering the abyss. this was all a bit much for erica and her PADI was postponed until a clearer day on koh phi phi. I managed to soldier through and completed my - not entirely memorable - PADI course. I could probably count the fish I saw on one hand. Not to worry though as better was to come...

we moved on from koh tao - gracefully sidestepping ko phan ngang and the hordes of full moon revellers - to arrive on koh samui for some r&r. the 2 months of living the dream in london at the marriot paid off as i cash in my well earned points for some luxury at the marriot koh samui spa resort. all 5 stars of it.

east coast done, the west coast beckoned. it was a pretty immediate contrast with the east coast being slightly out of season with the monsoon coming in, whilst the west coast was well and truly in season. we stopped over in krabi (bit of a shit hole) for one night before heading out to koh phi phi, location for the film "the beach".

the throng of chavs and pikeys that greeted us was at once both homely and disconcerting. we quickly jumped on a long tail boat from the main beach to the slightly more relaxed hat yao beach (aka long beach). a rather cool bamboo hut made do for accomodation on the beach front, ravenous mozzies included free of charge. you could make a dot to dot of a turtle on erica's back by the end of our stay.

we took the opportunity to get some more diving in and erica had a chance to complete her PADI course. conditions were significantly better than koh tao and we spotted an octopus climbing a reef like a monkey, a lone turtle (the mozzie bites must have been a sign), and most impressively a group of around five black tip reef sharks (a couple as big as me) circling us in a rather disconcerting way.

our last few days in thailand were spent out at the hongs around the coast line of krabi. think james bond style islands set in crystal clear seas and you've got the jist of it. we paddled around the lagoons in a couple of seas kayaks - stopping along the way to rescue some capsized koreans who weren't too hot on swimming - before a bit of snorkelling and beach time.

not that I'm any kind of judge, but our tour guide for the day was by far the worst attempt at a lady boy that I have ever seen. poor show.

next borneo...