....Heading for the Beach - no really, 'The Beach'

Another blog, another beach to add to the tally. But this one was a bit special, becuase it's the one where The Beach was filmed, and it's pretty gorg.

I should clarify that I wasn't actually staying at The Beach beach, this is on Ko Phi Phi, I was actually staying on Ko Lanta which is kind of down the coast from Krabi and only a 5 min hop on the ferry. I decided to stay here because I was a bit sick of island hopping to be honest so I thought I could kill two birds by staying on the easily accessible Ko Lanta and taking a day trip to Phi Phi.

Was a bit annoyed when I first got to Lanta because the minibus driver dropped us at a resort one down from the main one on the island (where I'd specifically said I wanted to go) because he wanted to try and get us to stay in a certain accomodation complex. But it was too expensive for me so I said no thanks and did the beach trudge looking at places until I scored a bargain bungalow - cheapest room yet. In your face naughty minibus driver!

Decided I would simply have to love the fact this resort was deadly quiet rather than resent it. But I quickly booked onto the Phi Phi snorkelling trip anyway so I wasn't exposed to too much 'me time'.

The omens weren't good on my first night because there was the most almighty thunderstorm... it started off as kind of silent - lightening lighting up the whole sky and beach but no thunder at all. Was kind of cool sat having dinner in little individual hut things watching it all unfold. But when it came close later that night I was terrified. Alone in my bungalow, it was waking me up through my earplugs - not nice... But it was kind of like a scene from a film (I like to think) because I had put my mosquito net up for the first time and everything! (no protective panels on the windows) Very Out of Africa...

Anyway, the next day was rain too, so off we headed for our snorkelling trip under cloud cover... quiet wierd snorkelling in the rain, but the sea is honestly like a bath, I have never been in sea so warm. In fact the next day I went in the shallow waters off Lanta and it was making my legs sizzle it was so hot...

Still the snorkelling was fun - saw loads of cool fisheys - and there was kind of a funny spirit between us all on the trip, persevering against the elements!

Thankfully the next day was sunny - boiling in fact, I've acclimatised to a fashion but still can't get over the intensity of the heat when the sun is beating down. Still, a good tan boost, and I'm racing through the reading now which is pleasing me no end. How cliche am I? I read The Beach last, cos tragically I've never read it. I was kind of trying to hide the cover because I was a bit embarrassed, not that I needed to hide it well seen as though there were so few people at the resort. It seems that the high season is over now. Apparently most of Ko Lanta shuts down over the next few months so I was there for the tail-end of it.

Fully chilled out and finally appreciative of Thainland's lovely white sand I have made my final Thai journey to the border town on Had Yai, ready to bid farewell to the land of smiles and say hello to - whatever they call Malaysia.

Erm, they're kicking me out of the internet place now, so will continue this next time.

Goodbye from Thailand!