From Ao Nang we caught a boat over to Ko Lanta. The journey over was just amazing. We were picked up in a little sawngthaew and crammed in with a load of other people all plus luggage. It was a short drive to the little jetty where the boats leave from and straight away we could tell it was going to be a beautiful trip. There were maybe 3 large boats waiting to take people to the far away islans, but next to them were about 50 long tails making a picture perfect scene, each with their brightly coloured material draped around the pointed end and some with flowers as well. Soozie and I found perfect seats for making the most of the sun on the 3 hour journey, which meant we also had amazing views of all the karsts (which I think Michael explained is the word for the funny lumps of rock jutting out all over the place!). I can't do Thailand justice. All I can do is urge everyone to go and see it for themselves. I have never seen anywhere so beautiful. Ever. We got to see the stunning Railay beach along with an island which looks like a turtle, one of a phallic nature and in the far far distance the famous chicken island.

As we neared the pier at Ko Lanta I was quite excited to see restaurants and other buildings standing over the water and propped up on stilts. This is what Thailand looks like in my mind. Once we'd left the boat we were greeted by many many smiling faces, each trying to convince us to stay at his hotel. We chose the Lanta New Beach Bungalows from a particularly friendly looking guy who had been only to Lanta and Bangkok. How strange it feels that we will have seen more of his country than he has.

We weren't disappointed when we arrived at the bungalows. We had a large twin room with a TV and fridge - still seems like a novelty to us after all those dorms in Oz! It was a very easy existence on Ko Lanta. Days were spent lazing around by the pool and watching the kiddies splash around (I have to admit sometimes I did want to scream at them to shut up and stop splashing!). We had a perfect view of the sunset, which was framed so nicely by a little archway the hotel has built. Sunsets over water will never fail to please me. Even when they're not quite as perfect as I'd hoped they'd be. We had four lovely relaxing days of laziness. Each ending in the same way, with an okay meal in the hotel restaurant accompanied by a couple of drinks, and then whatever odd film we could find in English on the TV! It may sound boring and dull, but when you've spent as many weeks as we have moving around and seeing new things every single day it's so nice to be able to stand still in the sun a while!