Sat 18th - Sat 25th January (Week 17)

Sat 18th - Caught the 11:30 ferry from Ko Phi Phi over to Ko Lanta, arriving at 1pm. Our hotel was meant to collect us, but once everyone had left and we were the last ones there, we realised they had forgotten, and had to get the tourist info to call them ! Finally arrive at 1:30pm and quickly appreciated that our hotel, and Lanta in general is very much family-orientated, and lots of kids everywhere ! Spent the afternoon wandering back to Saladan (where we arrived on the ferry), checking out restaurants, shops and dive schools. We had our hearts set on diving Hin Muang & Hin Daeng - meant to be world-class dive sites, but they are an hour away by speed boat and the wind is too strong this week to get there ! Typical - thats the main reason we are here for 7 nights ! Watched sunset with a large Chang beer, and had a lovely thai meal on the beach, looking at all the restaurants with their twinkling lights.

Sun 19th - Brandons 35th birthday !! Hired a moped and took the ocean road all the way down to Kantiang - the best beach on the island. Once you get out of Saladan, its a pretty quiet island and lots of views of the turquoise sea, white sandy beaches, and jungle behind. Spent a couple of hours sunbathing and swimming, then carried on South until we spotted a sign for some caves, so parked up and walked 25mins into the jungle to see a bat cave (with cute tiny bats) and a waterfall. Spent another hour at Nui Bay - similar to Kantiang, but much smaller and quieter - if thats possible. Then back to Kantiang for sunset, before heading home for showers, and then back out again for a Greek meal (beer and kabap!). Not a bad place to spend a birthday!

Mon 20th - Tried to rein in the money we're been spending on food, and had cereal on our balcony for breakfast. Spent the morning sunbathing, went out for a nice sandwich lunch, then back on the beach until 4pm. Wandered down the beach looking for a nice massage place, and both had an open-aired Thai massage which was a nice mix of really hard, and relaxing - and all for £6 each !!

Tues 21st - Walked 20mins for a lovely breakfast of juice, toast and fruit, muesli, yoghurt, then packed up and checked out at 11:30. Walked 20mins with our 18kg bags + 5kg daysacks in the midday sun to our new, cheaper accommodation at Clayzy. We were expecting basic as its only £8 a night, but wow is it basic ! Tiny bamboo huts/shacks with big gaps all around so everyone can see in, mosquitoes can fly in, and no lock on the door ! But then we were shown another room that was larger, even had shelves (!) but no door so everyone could see you and all your stuff ! So we opted for the slightly more private hut with a door ! Luxury !
Walked up and down the street and beach checking out the new restaurants etc, then booked a dive with Dive & Relax for Friday. I treated myself with an hours foot scrub and the poor lady worked wonders with my very dry and neglected feet! Sunset with a Chang, then had a cold shower in a bamboo bathroom with more gaps and overlooked from other rooms ! Went out for dinner and had a chicken & cashew nut, and a Red curry beef dinner, then reluctantly went back to Clayzy at 11pm. Unfortunately, Tuesdays are party nights, so the bar was rammed, the music was deafening and our little hut was right next to it all ! Even our industrial strength earplugs did nothing to block it out. The banging music continued until 2:30am, then the French guy in the next hut decided that was a good time to Skype home until 4:15am despite us asking him to keep it down at 3am !! By which time, the roosters decided it was time to get up, and the local dogs started barking. You couldn't make it up !

Wed 22nd - After a few brief hours of sleep on the most uncomfortable thin mattress and pillow, we went out for breakfast then spent 1.5hours walking up and down the beach looking for anywhere better to stay. As much as we would love to be under budget, and hardened travellers, there is no way we were staying at Clayzy another night. Found somewhere with a fridge, tv, aircon, and ensuite so took it, and quickly moved out. We have never changed our pre-booked accommodation before, so it shows how bad it was ! Spent a well needed afternoon sunbathing and swimming on the beach to calm our wracked nerves, and booked our return transfer back to Krabi airport for Saturday.

Thurs 23rd - Spent the morning on the beach, then hired another moped at 11:30 and headed off for an early lunch. Decided to have a bit of a beach-hopping afternoon, so drove south and stopped at Klong Khong, Klong Nin, Klong Nui, and Kantiang beaches. All really beautiful - long stretches of white sand, with calm, crystal clear waters, and just a nice gentle breeze to keep us cool. Amazing how relaxed we've become riding about on a moped - Brandon weaving in and out of traffic and me sitting on the back in shorts and top - carrying bananas, drinks, icecream and towels etc ! Changed things up a little and had an icecream and a corn-on-the-cob on the beach for sunset, instead of the usual beer and nuts ! Had a powercut at 7pm so out came our headtorches so we could still carry on until it returned at 8:30. Had another lovely dinner of Pad Thai, Massaman and Sweet & Sour - yes we are ordering 3 mains as they do small portions here - normally - however tonights were huge, but we made a good effort to finish it all !

Fri 24th - Went to Dive & Relax at 8:30 for our briefing, got kitted up and left about 9:30. Headed over to Ko Haa islands and the waves are still pretty choppy which is why they still can't get over to Hin Daeng. Dived around Island 5 and 2 and pretty good vis. and quite a few fish, but still nothing extraordinary, and we both got really cold just diving in 3mm shorties. But we did go into a cave and swam through a window which was pretty cool looking out into the turquoise sea beyond. Back by 2pm, sunbathed until 4 - trying to soak up the final few rays, and having a final swim, before we leave for KL then Vietnam tomorrow. I know I say this at the end of each country, but I really can't believe how quickly time has gone and the Thai Islands are already over, so goodness knows when we'll be sitting on a beach again. We have loved our beach time, exploring on a moped, and especially the thai food - we're going to miss it.

Sat 25th - Got a transfer minibus at 8:45am to Krabi airport which was really squashed and baking hot in the direct sunlight. Had to go on 2 car ferries which seemed to take forever, and finally arrived at Krabi airport at 11:15. Took the 1hr 15min flight to KL, arriving at 4:45pm local time (+1hr). Somehow it seemed to take us until 8pm to get to our hostel near Masjid Jamek metro station which included a 1hr 15 bus to KL Sentral, 30mins in Air Asia office to find out the cost of possibly changing some flights, and then 2 stops on the metro. Headed straight out to find the amazing restaurant we went to last May when we were in KL, and found it pretty quickly. Had a table full of food for £7 including a jumbo Mango fruit juice, Roti, Kasmiri naan, nasi lemak, nasi goreng and Tandori chicken ! Wandered around the area and Chinatown to see all the lanterns, money trees and other decorations for Chinese New Year tomorrow, and headed back to hostel for midnight.