5:30am..."WAKE UP, WAKE UP!!" Barely awake I open my eyes to find an overly enthusiastic, overly loud Thai man making his way down the carriage. We are told to leave the train and catch a bus (pretty sure that WASN'T in the small print) which will take us on the remainder of our journey to Krabi. Great. Does this man know I haven't slept properly for probably 3 weeks now!!

By 9:30am we had arrived, opting to stay a short distance from the centre of Ao Nang in a quaint complex comprising of large wooden bungalows, cold showers, beautiful gardens and most importantly a swimming pool. Scooter rental was included with the price and being somewhat pros after a short daliance in Pai, myself and Sarah lead the way. The roads were, well for starters actually made from tarmac with road markings, signs, traffic lights and traffic...so the opposite of Pai then. This was going to be interesting.

Ao Nang is a gorgeous beachfront resort lined with copious amounts of bars, restaurants and shops but definately lacking the character, history and charm that most of Thailand has to offer. Being low season the resort was rather quiet which did work to our advantage as both myself and Emma honed in on the several "designer" bag shops within an instant. (What can I say, I'm my Mothers Daughter!!) Hours later and feeling rather proud of our negotiation skills i.e. robbing them blind, myself and Emma had ourselves some rather fetching new bags. Mulberry eat your heart out!!

The main strip of Ao Nang is entertaining and the seafood on offer is unbelieveable but after 2 days a little mental stimulation was required...a boat tour of the 4 surrounding islands complete with lunch and snorkelling. Perfect. After an early departure the first island was in sight...and so were the black clouds. The island was simply idyllic, just like you see and read about in holiday brochures, white sand, crystal clear water, blue sky...hmm not quite. Bearly a toe in the sand and the heavens opened. CURSED!!

After an hour of shivering and hudling together under a small wooden shack it was time to board the boat. The weather a little more chirpier and armed with our snorkles, the 2nd island of the day proved far more of a success and after a short swim we stopped for lunch before heading to the 3rd island of the day armed with our snorkles. We weren't disappointed, fish of every size, shape and colour were in abundance darting here, there and everywhere as we explored.

Hours later, beginning to prune and getting a little chilly as the black clouds once again set in, we climbed aboard to find that on approach to the island the boats propellorhad hit a large rock causing it to completely snap off so unless anyone fancied swimming home we were infact stranded until another boat could rescue us!! Great, just great and to top it off ss if on cue, the heavens once again opened and we were faced with a very cold, very wet 2 hour wait!! You literally couldn't make it up!!

As the sun sets over Krabi our time here is at an end, PHI PHI HERE WE COME....