Day 11 of The Big Adventure according to Sarah. 

We woke up surpringly late (11am!) in our Cheeky Monkey nest. Luckily we didn’t have anything planned for that day except a spot of shopping and lazing by the pool. We headed out into the midday heat and stumbled upon what turned out to the best bikini shop. We had a peruse and tried on a few cheeky numbers and decided we’d take the lot – I needed new bikinis anyway due to a distinct lack of bag and a girl can never have too many bikinis. 

So after a very successful shopping trip we decided it was probably time for some breakfast so we headed back to a cute little cafe that sold a variety of crossaints and Danishes and general pastries. 

After breakfast it was definitely too hot for anything other than lying around in a bikini, and thankfully our hostel had a rooftop infinity pool (it was cheaper than a shared dorm promise!). 

  We arrived at the rooftop pool in our new bikinis to find a bit of a commotion. People seemed to be putting up banners and erecting a mini gazebo and doing general party prep, for what turned out to be… The Reggae Rooftop Party. Yes, you heard right.

We put down our towels unaware of what was about to happen and enjoyed some sunshine and had a few sips in the pool. 

‘One two one two’ came over the tanoy. Oh god, it was beginning. 

  
A trio who called themselves ‘The Cheeky Monkeys’ (original) were up on the stage. One large token black man, one Thai man with dreadlocks and the lead singer who was also the manager of the bar, Doug. They introduced themselves to the somewhat intimate crowd with some bad jokes; ‘a grand total of 5 in the crowd today… Well that’s 5 more than last week’ and began to play some questionable Bob Marley. They then continued to ask everyone in the crowd where they were from and other rather inappropriate life questions. It would appear the large black man had taken a shining to Lauren (as all black men seemingly do) as he shouted out that he assumed she was either a model or an athlete due to her never ending legs. Classic. 

Some very nervous laughter followed on Laurens behalf and we realised because the crowd was so small it would be #awkward if we left now. 

Our solution to this dilemma: cocktails. 

  

We sipped our pina coladas and blue lagoons and prayed the torture would end soon.  And just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse, the band announced they were taking a short break. This ended up with all three of the cheeky monkies descending upon  our deck chairs for a more in depth life story from both of us. They asked us if we liked Koh samui and offered to give us a tour on the back of their scooters. Errr, no thanks, we’d rather lick our own armpist than get on a scooter with you.

Thankfully, our cocktails were low so we had the perfect excuse to escape to the bar. The monkies didn’t appear to be dispersing so we settled in and ordered some potato wedges; which were enjoyably fresh – saw them peeling the potato didn’t we! No frozen foods here. 

After the band resumed playing, we made our way back to our deck chairs for some more lounging. 

  When the band announced they’d be stopping for another short break we made a dash for the door. 

We went back to our room to shower and change and headed out for a spot of dinner. Back to pasta house: now that my stomach was better I could be more adventurous  with my ordering. Hello Burata. Now I like to think of myself as a bit of a mozeralla conesuir. And a burata should look like a ball of buffalo mozeralla from the outside but when cut into, it should be more creamy and only semi-solid but a constant consistency. However, when I cut into this burrata a river of brine flowed out and left the rest of the (solid) cheese behind… Not a good start. It was presented on a bed of rocket and prosciutto which was rather enjoyable, however, after a few mouthful I could tell something was not right. I took a mouthful of only cheese and was greeted with a rather sour, non-burrata taste. 

After this, I decided to leave the rest and have a mouthful of two of Lauren’s divine looking vegetable pasta . When the waiter came to take it away and realised I’d only eaten half asked if everything was ok, I then want on to explain that the burrata tasted off and they didn’t charge me for my meal. Result. 

We went for a little wander after dinner and came across a shop selling backpacks. It had been almost two weeks since Air Asia mislaid my bag and I was slowly coming to terms with the fact that I was never going to see my beloved possessions again. In light of this, it was time to move on and buy another backpack so I could start buying everyday essentials, like a towel. I found one that looked the perfect size (perhaps a little boxy) and haggled for the price. I walked away with the bag for a bargain price of 1100baht (£21). I was no longer bagless – yaaay!

After a slightly delirious trip to savermart to stock up on chocolate and crisps, we headed back to the room for a good nights sleep.