There you have it, the surprise outing for Sam’s birthday was a night camping on Maya Beach (Ao Maya), Ko Phi Phi Leh.  Because of the movie it is now more commonly known locally as ‘The Beach’.

We visited the island briefly a few days previous on a day trip but it was packed with tourists so we didn’t stay long, so I wanted us to be able to experience the island on our own, relatively speaking.  There were 12 of us – Australian, English, Swiss, Irish and a few locals providing the food, cocktails and beer – great combo!

It was everything we had expected and much much more. After setting up camp on ‘the beach’, we had a BBQ dinner, a few cocktail buckets, listened to a few tunes and talked till the early hours.  A great bunch of folks and we enjoyed their company immensely – they made the experience.

At midnight I ushered Sam off for a walk along the deserted stretch of beach and while sitting on a driftwood log I whispered those sweet words ‘WILL YOU MARRY ME’, she jumped for joy and said YES.  It was all very romantic and just how I had imagined it and how Sam would have wanted it.  Like the movie scene, we went for a dip (wink wink) and swam among the fluorescent plankton – it was incredible!

I’m an auld romantic at heart .

So there you have it, we are now officially engaged.  Please don’t ask us ‘when is the big day’, it has taken me 9 years to pop the question and will probably take another 9 to set a date.  It’s kind a hard to save for a wedding when you are technically unemployed. 

This travelling lark is turning out to be some adventure.  Sorry we are not with you to celebrate, but I’m sure you will all raise a glass (or two) in our honour!

Please feel free to leave some comments, slag’n or otherwise!  Or text us on our Thailand sim +66 801444031.