Hey everyone, so evan left you in Ko Pha Ngan which neither of us can spell.... after this we headed across to the west coast of Thailand, to Krabi ( see picture.) We had intended on doing some kayaking but sadly we arrived in a downpour so instead used our time to head out to Ko Lanta. The weather perked up immediately that we arrived, and we had 5 days of doing blissfully nothing on a beach. Ko Lanta is very sleepy, it doesn't have any package tourists unlike Phi Phi or Phuket, and it does have tourist bars and so on, but they were dead as a doornail. It mattered not as we just wanted to relax on the beach! We stayed at some nice huts where the girls who ran it made nice porridge ( v important) although the stench from strange yellow fruit falling all over the place was hideous! After about 3 days we were caught out on about our 10th visit to the 7/11 shop to buy water and snacks by a thunder storm. When we finally got back to the guest house, birkenstocks soaked through, we ran into Ruth and Ian, from Norfolk! Chatted to them and have been with them ever since! Spent the next 2 days watching free films ( pirates of the carribean 2 which has only made my barnacle phobia 10 times worse, and Eragon - did anyone have the misfortune to pay to see this film?) and eating...

Headed back to Krabi with Ruth and Ian and Evan (can't shake me off) and I went on an island hopping tour of Hong island ( with a hidden lagoon. these are teh islands featured in the James bond film the man with the golden gun for film fans, however to visit the actual island that Nik Nak walks on (that's the actual nik nak not our guide from saigon to cambodia for regular readers) was about forty quid and our trip was more like a tenner...)and some other beaches. We snorkelled and saw lots of cool fishes, and met a lovely couple from hull who made us a bit homesick... I got bitten (i think it's probably 'stung') by an evil jellyfish and got an impressive lump on my leg - an excellent injury as it didn't hurt but looked good! respect. The scenery ( as you can see by the image of Krabi) is amazing, really I think some of the most spectacular landscapes we have seen so far. Everyone else on our tour, including a hyperactive Canadian family with twin girls(who looked like garbage pail kids, prizes for people who can namkes the garbage pail kids...) and loud parents, stayed in rather posh resort hotels so on the drive back we got a glimpse of how the other half live.

Apart from that the highlight of Krabi was the night market. We all ate so well, various nice meats on a stick, duck noodle soup, etc... also getting weighed in the shopping centre ( am now officially the weight of a super model - KIDDING) and getting my fortune told my an automated Buddha for 5 baht.

We're now in Penang in Malaysia, after a very hassle free border crossing ( apart from when Evan's bag got stuck in x ray machine and for one second I worried that it was becuase of all the vitamin C we're carting around with us!) (it was like a magic trick, mine went in and then the next persons, theres came out and mine didn't , like pooh sticks with three people and you only see two sticks. and someone says oh great my stick drowned...)and all 4 of us have spent the entire time obsessed with food. Penang is street food heaven. We are staying between Chinatown and Little India and Ruth and Ian who have just come from India, are teaching us all about all the lovely things we can eat ( that don't have wheat in them) and that centre around pancakes of some kind... masala dosa, ( rice pancake with potato curry inside for breakfast) cocounut milk appom ( coconut and rice pancakes) and I am giving everyone else a lesson in how many rice dumplings from the chinese shops one can eat in a day without actually exploding, we've also eaten lots of BBQ dishes, buffets, claypot meals, dim sum and alll usually for 50p each per meal.

As you can imagine we shall be sorry to leave tomorrow for the Cameron Highlands but will report on the state of dumplings from there....