For Peter's birthday on the 16th we decided to head to Koh Lanta, yet another beautiful Thai island. We caught a quick ferry ride (about 2 hours) to the island and on the boat, met a guy promoting his family's hotel--The Blue Andaman Resort. The rooms looked decent, location sounded good, he was willing to offer us a discounted "birthday price" and it was a free taxi ride to check it out, no strings attached. Most importantly, the guy was nice so we decided we had nothing to lose. Turned out to be a nice oasis so we booked it and spent the next few days lounging by the pool on the beach.

I always said I wouldn't be one of those people who goes to the beach and then sits at the pool--what's the point of that? You can be at a pool anywhere, right? Well, never say never. I turned into one of those people, but for a reason. Althought extremely beautiful, the beach is full of huge rocks and sea lice that make swimming in the ocean not so pleasant. The pool, on the other hand, was warm and wonderful. Even had wifi out there.

We didn't leave the resort except for the last day when we rented a motorbike and met up with Steph and Fin, our travel friends we seem to find everywhere we go! : ) We met them at a viewpoint cafe and were introduced to some stray Germans they picked up at their hotel. We all set off to do some exploring. The streets alone are worth seeing since there's a large Muslim population here, it's a bit different from the rest of Thailand. Although one of the biggest islands, it still has a very relaxed vibe, is not overly populated, and has mostly "mom and pop" hotels and shops. I enjoyed it.

We decided to do some real exploring and set off to find the Tiger caves and waterfall. Found the caves, some large spiders, and leeches along the way...ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Almost all of us had them on our feet as we crossed through the streams and had to stop every few meters to check for more. I saved Peter's life a few times. I HATED them!

On the way home, we stopped at a random beach for a sunset swim and then went home to dry off and change. Peter and I set off to find a massage place I found that could also do chiropractic care. We found it but too late so we made appointments for the next morning and returned back for dinner and drinks with Step and Fin. Had a fun night listening to the music at the resort bar, staying dry from the storm, and watching a fire show (as always). We called it an early-ish night as we were heading off for Railay Beach the next day.

Well, this was a boring blog entry, except for the leeches part. They were entertaining, and sucked. The end.