Left Chiang Mai with Irene on sat 14th on overnight bus to Bangkok. It was the best bus in the world with Burberry pillows and a man who kept bringing us loads of food from take-away pork and rice to custard cake and chocolate biscuits. We then flew from Bangkok to Krabi before getting the boat to Ko Lanta. Arriving 24hours after we set off.

Ko Lanta - 15th Oct - 17th Oct 2006

In Krabi we missed the 100Baht airport shuttle into town. After having a bit of a sulk, we coughed up for two private taxis, as apparantly taxis in Thailand cant take more than 3 people at anyone time - but it seems that no-one has told the tuk-tuk men that! Surprise surprise, instead of being taken to the bus station we were taken to a travel agent. Spotting that we had obviously been on the road for a long time, we were yet again taken advantage of by so called non-lying, truth-telling pig-faced travel agent who sent us off to possibly the worst wooden shack ever built in Thailand, not just Ko Lanta. The rest of our mini-bus laughed at us when we were dropped off in the middle of a bog at Coconut Lodge. No welcome drink, no food in the restaurant and no phone available to complain - his mate had taken his phone to Phi Phi. We kissed goodbye to our 400Baht and stomped off down the beach to find alternative accomodation.

Found lovely Lewis of Ko Lanta Pavilion so we stayed there with food, people, swimming pool and fire show.

Spent the next day having a well deserved chill out day on Long Beach.

 Ko Phi Phi - Oct 17th - Oct 20th 2006

Realising there was little point staying in Ko Lanta, we moved on to Ko Phi Phi. Piled into the back of Lewiss truck along with CoCo the Clown - a dodgy tout.

We escaped the touts on the boat and ran for cover in a lovely cafe serving fresh croissants. Over breakfast in Phi Phi we cut a deck of cards to see who would have the luxury of staying on bag watch whilst the other two went hunting for our idyllic beachside bungalow - Jen won. Cathryn and Rebecca found a suitable bungalow with dodgy electrics (plugging in the fan turned the outside light on) and pet lizards. Cathryn spent some time recovering from the previous days sunburn!

After our trauma of Ko Lanta, we decided to treat ourselves to our first Thai massage/torture chamber. Cathryn naturally had the aloe vera all over body massage for her sunburn. Jen and Rebecca had their toes, fingers and hips clicked back into place. All nice and relaxed for our night on the town.

Had another chill out day the next day on another Long Beach! Visited the secluded beach (via building site), but was a little too secluded so we returned to Long Beach for more fruit shakes and swimming. Went to Hippies bar for the evening (Jen had vowed never to return to Apache Bar from the night before) and watched an amazing fire show on the beach. This was the night we discovered BUCKETS!!!!!

Next day, Jen and Rebecca went on boat tour of Phi Phi. Cathryn didn't think that snorkelling in the sea all day would help improve her sunburn no matter how much aloe vera would be applied. Another chill out day for Cathryn. After a near death swim, Jen and Rebecca visited Maya beach(The Beach). Disappointed not to find it to be the paradise beach with Leonardo DiCaprio as promised, but instead more of a port with hundreds of boats and people. Jen and Rebecca almost killed themselves in their quest to find Nemo - Jen decided that snorkelling wasnt for her and that she was now not going to do diving either. Kayaking technique was not much better either. Could not grasp the steering and went round and round in circles eventually beaching themselves on Bamboo Island.

Jen and Rebecca tried to convince Cathryn that they had been on their boat with Prince Harry. Cathryn saw that the photos were simply of a bloke with ginger hair and did not fall for it! See photos in journal to decide who you believe most! Back to Hippies bar for dinner and more buckets.