We didn't up going Ko Lanta in the end. Literally a couple of hours before we were going, Curt said to me and Vic that we should go to Railay instead as its supposed to be nice, and we just said "why not"! So here I am, writing my blog entry, sitting outside on the veranda of my little beach hut in Railay!

We got a ferry from Phi Phi to Railay, then it stopped just off the coast and we had to get onto a small long tail boat to Ton Sai where we were staying. The long tail boat couldn't take us all the way onto the sand (and it's a tiny place so there's no port), so we got our rucksacks on and had to paddle through the water to get to the beach! It's completely different here compared to Phi Phi. As soon as we got off the boat in Phi Phi there were loads of people asking us where we were staying and trying to make us stay at their place. As we got off the boat here, we only saw a few beach bars and no one was trying to make us stay anywhere! We found some cheapish bungalows called Paradise Dream Resort (6 pounds each) so we checked in here and have been here for 3 nights including tonight. Even though Railay is part of mainland Thailand, the only way to reach it is by boat, which is kinda cool.

The past few days I've been mainly sunbathing and swimming in the sea when the sun gets too hot. It's weird as a few years ago I used to go on holiday with my friends and lie in the sun all day and not mind. Since travelling, I've got a bit restless of sunbathing and the sun is so hot it just makes it hard work! Hahaha my life really is unbelievable right now! It's really pretty around here though. There are cliffs everywhere so the backdrop is really nice. The past couple of evenings, a group of us have been having nice food, then just chilling with a Singh beer by the beach listening to chilled out tunes. Last night, we met this one lady who was 61 and travelling for a month in Thailand alone. She said her husband didn't want to go with her so she just went on her own! She was a bit of a hippy and she was talking about Glastonbury and how she went to the 2nd ever festival! She reminded me a bit of Stuart! Imagine Dad next year going to Thailand for a month and slumming it in cheap bungalows! Hahaha. Recently I've seen to have met loads of people who are travelling for 3 months only. I've been travelling for nearly 3 months and don't feel like I've even started travelling yet, yet alone go back home already! Thought I would miss everyone and everything more than I actually do, which has got to be a good thing, right? I sometimes laugh at myself, as this time last year I had so much, and now all my belonging that I need are in my rucksack (and I've sent over 5kg home already). I would never imagine that I could have done this a couple of years ago, but I'm so glad that I have! J

I was sunbathing today and heard a noise above me, and there was a few grey and some black monkeys swinging in the trees, right above my head and I wasn't even scared! I also saw a few yesterday when I was walking back from the beach to the resort just swinging in the trees, and then walking along the bamboo fence. One of them was drinking from the top of a bamboo cane - was so sweet! Obviously another Kodak moment!

Think the plan for tonight is to go to the beach and get some BBQ seafood. I saw the menu the other day, and you can get squid for like 40 baht (80p) and a free salad, so I am def going to get involved with that!

Nothing else funny has happened in Railay, as it's more of a chilled out place. I saw a couple today by the beach and thought of Ant and Yvette, as I remembered that Yvette said when Everleigh gets a bit older they might take her backpacking over Thailand!

I've just booked the boat to Ko Lanta for tomorrow so should be there for mid day. Travelling around Thailand is not cheap. Even the 2 hour boat ticket is nearly ten pounds, that's before accommodation, food, drink etc. Hopefully Ko Lanta will be a cheaper island