Cont....

It was quite a climb to the top of The National Park walkway. Not unlike our journey to the park. Trev was loving it though behind the wheel of his new toy; a 4 wheel drive jeep. It wasn't too bad. But Jo found it a little difficult as she was just getting over her bout of food positioning but that didn't stop her from moaning about being hungry the whole way up! The noises that where coming from the park where almost deafening, such a high pitched whine we had never heard anything quite like it before. A local guide ahead of us explained that this whine not unlike a test tone on your T.V was all down to a bug no bigger than a fly. There were some other noises that were really off putting and made us wonder what exactly was out there!!!!Along the way we came across hundreds of thousands of termites all going in one long line and in the same direction it seemed to go on for ages it was quite a strange sight. All traveling up and down the same tree as if they where all on there way to and from work! We carried on; both of us nearly ended up on our behinds quite a few times as the path was really slippy and some parts where covered in moss. Well actually Trev did fall quite spectacularly a few times and blamed it on the foot wear! Jo was having none of it though. There were quite a few fallen trees along the way and a couple of bridges that looked like they needed a little work doing to them to hold them up. After about an hour or so we made it back down to civilization along the way to walking back to our sardine can we almost stepped on a rather large scorpion, which we were quite relived to find had been squashed by a car. Nice!!

Another great Thai lunch followed our little adventure and we ended the day on Kantiang beach. It is yet another spectacular beach which is sheltered by an amazing back drop of dramatic cliffs and rocks. The perfect setting for sunset Frisbee! Chuffed with our day we set off for home when the sun went down. The novelty of a CD player and a the open road was not lost on us and cranked up the tunes in our little tin can which had actually become quite comfortable by now and deafen poor Anna and Beth with our terrible singing.

The next day we thought we would make up for missing our snorkeling trip and booked on another one. One thing we didn't realize about Thailand and the full moon was the relationship it has with the sea. When there is a full moon the sea swells and the tide rises quite dramatically and also becomes quite rough. Its almost like the moon stirs it up into a frenzy. We were up early and were lucky to catch Anna and Beth as they had decided to move on themselves further south to Ko Lipe. After we said another farewell we were off onto the beach to catch our ride for our trip, only to find that it couldn't beach because of the sea so we had to chase the speed boat down along the coast road and get on at a calmer part of the shore. Both of us had never been on a speed boat before so we where really excited to see what it was going to be like. We were both quite pleasantly surprised how much fun it was. Our driver seemed to know what he was doing as he powered through the water looking for smoother channels to our destination. It took about an hour to reach our spot and when we got there we were more than impressed. It was so beautiful; lots of different small islands dotted around but close together. The crystal blue water the only thing between them. The only thing Jo did not realize was that we where not going to the safety of the shore but we where getting off in the ocean. The look on Jo's face would be easily described as mild terror. It's safe to say that Jo is not very keen on the open water of the ocean. But after a little coaxing she managed to get off the boat and was well away. The coral is so amazingly bright and colourfull, you get big dips and rises where some pieces are larger than others. The fish can be quite inquisitive and can get quite close if you are not splashing about like a mad man or woman. They ranged from colors of luminous yellow, electric blue, bright orange and purple it almost seems unreal and unnatural that they look like they do. You feel like you are in a totally different world when you are looking through your mask. After about a couple of hours snorkeling we ended up on an island called Ko Rok. We defiantly felt like we had landed on our own deserted island it was beautiful which helped somewhat when Trev found out that England didn't manage to qualify for Euro 2008! We had a great lunch of curried chicken and fruit and went for a swim in our very own large bath!!!

We spent the afternoon doing some more snorkeling in two different sights and fed the fish banana. This was so cool they came in there hundreds and swam around you until all the food was gone. Back on the boat thinking we where going to have a nice leisurely ride back we where horribly mistaken. We quickly got the impression that our driver defiantly wanted to get home for dinner! It was relentless! He pushed the boat hard smashing up and down; on the water so hard it shocked you to the bone pretty much every second. But we made it back in one piece thankfully. The funny thing is that everyone thanked the driver when they got off we where not sure whether it was because they where so pleased to be on solid ground! Trev wasn't in the mood for pleasantries and let the driver know what he thought. Unbelievably he took this as a complement and waved us laughing and giving us the thumbs up (Trev took a second look to make sure they were thumbs up!)

Driving back to Nature Beach we could see plenty of preparations being made for the up coming full moon festivals which are celebrated all over Thailand. Traditionally known as Loy Kratong; the Thai people make offerings to the sea to make peace for all of the pollution and damage they cause to it during the year. The infamous or famous depending on how you look at it full moon parties in Koh Phagnan were enticing but the more we thought about it there wasn't much of a good time to be had for us on a beach in the dark with 10,000 people and trance music. A little further up our beach we found that there would be a much smaller party after the traditional festival which was being held on the other side of the island. Another reason not to leave Lanta! Although we decided this would be the best way to say goodbye.

Loy Kratong was a great night. Different by all means but it was good to see how the Thai people and in particular the Chao Leh people (Sea Gypsies) celebrated the first important full moon of the season. A local talent show and beauty contest was played out on a large stage and judging took place of all the floats that were to be offered to the sea as part of the ceremonies. It's also customary for anyone coming to the festival to make your own float or buy one so that you can make your own offering. When the time comes everyone lights 3 prayer incense sticks on their float and a candle and then releases their float together en masse. It was a spectacular sight along with the paper lanterns that are also released, powered only by hot air. We left the festival zipping along the island roads by moonlight on our moped. We made it back just as the beach party was getting busy and it wasn't long before we were enjoying ourselves as only we know how. It was a late finish to an early start as we had catch a minibus to start our journey to Koh Phagnan. Tired but smiling we said a sad farewell to the Nature Beach family. We set off with heavy heads but happy we stayed for the experience and gave Koh Lanta the fitting end it deserved.