Of course the wake up call will happen, you tell yourself and after-all, this is 21st century Thailand not bloody Timbuktu but still we awoke, as you do every ten minutes or so from about 3.45 AM. Why do we do that???

The call goes on time as planned and we pack, check out and jump in a tuk- tuk with our 'breakfast snack box' which consisted of a hard boiled egg and a Mateson's meat paste sandwich - cuisine is very BR circa 1978. During the short ride the tuk-tuk driver asks if we want domestic or international terminal, we both say domestic and 10 mins later he parks outside the international entrance??? We check-in for the flight to Bangkok where we change for Krabi, the capital of the Andaman Coast, the home to what we, and lots of you will consider to be the best beaches and snorkelling experience in Thailand if not the world. Both of the flights are 'Smooth as Silk' as they should be, as we are now flying Bangkok Airways a subsidiary of Thai, a subsidiary of STAR ALLIANCE, a global player. Once we land we go to grab our rucksacks and on the way I spot a lady holding a sign for travellers arriving from Chiang Mai asking them to follow her..... so ... we did ...as you do. After travelling seamlessly with 'Kan Air' and their propeller planes twice, we were not expecting the news that Bangkok Airways had decided to take off without transferring our luggage! To say we were fuming is an understatement (we had no change of clothing or toiletries and were about to catch a long tail boat (the 2nd last of the day) to a tropical haven i.e. sweaty and full of insects, so we wanted at least swimwear and mosi spray! We were firmly but politely insistent that our bags had to arrive on the last ferry but decided that there was not too much to be peed off about. An episode which brought to mind, a truer perspective. We recall a friend who loves diving but got lost in his own paradise for day after day by US bureaucrats at TRUC LAGOON in Guam, the South Pacific when all he wanted to do was dive and then leave.

At this point I said to Suzanne that this is globalisation in practice, where the poor minions like us suffer, but the giant corporation avoids a taking off penalty. I don't think that would happen on KAN AIR. Anyway, we get a move on and as I said we had a long tail boat to catch so we left ourselves in their hands and jump in a cab to the pier, whilst mulling over the quote of £50 for a speedboat transfer. As a few of you will know I am from Yorkshire, fewer will know Suzanne's mum is also from Gods Own Country. Knowing this you will understand that we decided to opt for sticking with the locals and crossing for £5 instead. Every penny counts towards one more Chang - £45 beer money BOOM!!

We arrived an hour or so later in Koh Yao Noi which is an island that mass tourism forgot. This is primarily because the sea is shallow and the swimming is poor but the bonus of this is that you step ashore into a humble fisherman's village with an atmosphere that is captured by the catch phrase of an 'island vibe'. It's very low key, a bit ram-shackled even, but wide grins and lush forests are now our friends and neighbours. Our place is Hillside Bungalows a 10 minute walk from the pier through the village, along the shore and up what you might expect a hill to reception. We have 1 of the 5 bungalows. After paying the balance and explaining our lack of luggage we climb further up the hill further to a lovely wooden hut on stilts with a wrap around stair and balcony that provides us with our first shot of 'that view'. The view is out onto an emerald turquoise sea dotted with limestone islands. The sky is a mix of sun and cloud which means the light is magically changing the colours in the sea almost every time we look. This is absolutely 'The Room With A View'.

Ten minutes later we head back to the shops around the pier to grab some well deserved Chang Beers. 'David' Suzanne says, 'this shop has no Chang'. 'No problem' says I Singha or Leo, any beer will do'. It has no beer, nor do any of the shops. We are at the pier gagging for some amber nectar and there is something fishy going on? We head back to reception and speak to Don and Raw our hosts, and discover that the island is 99% Muslim and alcohol is not sold in any shops except in the tiny capital town on the other side of the island. We are snookered, so do the local thing and stay sober whilst allowing ourselves to drink in the view. This has been the opportunity that we needed to kick start our sobriety - Island life day 1 - 'my name is David Simmonds and I was an alcoholic'.

Taking in the ever changing amazing views from our veranda we hear the put-put of a tuk-tuk groaning up the steep road towards our bungalow. In unison we both say 'this could be our luggage'. It's a long shot as the plane carrying it landed at 3.30 pm, the drive to Tha Khao Pier to catch the long tail boat takes an hour, the crossing takes an hour or so and the last boat leaves at 5.30 pm. Low and behold our rucksacks arrive seconds later; one ripped but a small price to pay for getting our luggage back. Visions of us going commando and wearing the same clothes for the rest of the holiday fade, and we eagerly unpack feeling we can now truly enjoy this paradise island. Showered and changed we have dinner (and water) at Hillhouse and have an early night as we are tired after a 1,300 km trip.