Met up with new tour group in Bangkok where we have a day before heading South. As I'd already done the sightseeing I went to Khao San Rd again for some last minute shopping "essentials" & spent the afternoon by the pool with some of the group that had also already done Bangkok. It's a really mixed bunch of ages and nationalities this time which makes it interesting, ranges from 18 - 45 yrs with English, Irish, Scottish, German & Italian!

After overnight train ride we arrive in Krabi and spend the afternoon on beach topping up tans, next morning we've booked a boat trip which takes us to 2 open water snorkelling spots & 3 islands including Maya Bay - setting for the film The Beach.

Snorkelling was great as provided life jackets for less confident swimmers & about half the people on the boat put them on so i didnt feel like an idiot putting mine on and was able to jump in, floating about snorkelling completely carefree. Was 1st time i've been able to do it properly as normally too busy trying not to drown! Was so much fun & saw so many fish that swam all around me & came right up to my goggles! Also saw loads of sea urchins and the captain dived down to pick one up and show us up close.

Maya Bay was so ridiculously crowded, it was hard to imagine what it would look like minus the tourists & our captain said as it's low season there was only half the amount of people that would normally be there!

Back out at sea again the next day, this time on a longtail boat, destination Railay - the next bay from Aonang Beach where we were staying. Much more picturesque here with soft white sand, green sea & Phranang Caves as backdrop with monkeys swinging about in the trees.

Went to explore the caves a bit first, clambouring about getting photos then went off in search of a viewpoint shown on our maps. Followed a path a little way and found a sign for the viewpoint but it was pointing up a sheer rockey mudding hill, after asking a few people we realised this was the route we had to take! So oh so prepared in our flip flops and bikini's we set about rock=climbing up the hill! It wasn't as hard as it first looked as the rocks and tree roots made it very easy to climb & when we reached the viewpoint after about 20mins it was definately worth it with views over both the East & West beaches. Climbing (or falling) back down was slightly harder and by the time we reached the bottom again everyone was covered in orange mud, dripping with sweat & beginning to feel the aches already! We cooled off in the sea and rested our weary bones on the beach before catching a longtail back to our area and having a chilled evening all piled into one room watching The Beach which was pretty funny having just been to all the places.