We arrived on the beautiful island of Koh Lanta and sat on the front porch of the very bohemian, Lanta Lantern watching the heavy downpour and tried to muster the courage to head out exploring. After seeing some passing monks who seemed to be braving the elements with big smiles we headed set out to check out the local market.

Whilst on Lanta we visited a local animal shelter which was home to lots of stray cats and dogs, most of which had endured some horrible ordeal at the hands of humans (most having hot oil poured over them) and were there to recover. We headed to the beach to walk one little dog that I fell in love with named Mai Tai. She had been abandoned in a bar that the owner had sold and moved on from and was rescued by the shelter.

We managed to cover off most of this laid back hippie island in a couple of days on our scooter and discovered that our hotel, with its buzzing Freedom bar, was in the best spot. Khlong Khong beachfront is lined with driftwood reggae shack bars where we snoozed in hammocks, sank numerous piña coladas and truly chilled out after the hectic sights on Phi Phi.