We couldn't leave Thailand without visiting some islands and having some much needed chill out time on the beach so we thought since we're going to be flying out from Phuket we would go there via a couple of islands to just relax and work on our tan.

We travelled for 27 hours solidly (buses trains planes Tuk tuks etc) so I think it was fair to say we were knackered by the time we got to Trang town. Since we arrived in the evening we had to stay overnight here before catching a boat to the island. I was desperate to have a shower after all that travelling and it was luxury to be able to have a hot shower. However I turned the nozzle right round to "H" and it was ice cold. I was literally squealing trying to get myself under the water! Bryan later turned it to "C" and he had a lovely warm shower. Not fair.

We took a bus and a longboat out to an island called Koh Muk. It was so great just to relax on the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. Warm Turquoise water you can see right to the bottom and gorgeous white sand with only 4 other people on it. We spent about an hour sunbathing watching a crab dig a hole on the beach.

Later in the afternoon we decided to get our things and have a wonder to the other side of the island (about a 30 minute walk). Just as we were locking the door to our place we heard what sounded like an air raid siren and a message in Thai over a loudspeaker. A woman nearby shouted there's been an earthquake and we're expecting a tsunami so run for high land. Since we'd only got there a few hours ago we had no idea where high land was so went to reception but the staff were just flapping around like headless chickens and crying. Luckily another English couple staying next door to us knew where to go so we followed them. I've never run so fast in my life. However, I had flip flops on and Bryan was faster than me in his trainers but he kept stopping to wait for me bless him. We clambered up as high as we could where a crowd had gathered and local children were wearing life jackets. Then we just waited...and waited.

We were there for hours, it was starting to get dark. I was being eaten alive by mosquitos and we hadn't eaten all day. We had limited water and had left our passports in our room along with the rest of our stuff. Bryan had found out on his phone that there had been an earthquake 8.7 on the richter scale just off the coast of Indonesia and there were a few countries who had received tsunami warnings. The last tsunami in 2004 was 9.1 and had hit Koh Muk but apparently not as high up as where we had run to. The other English couple had friends who lived on the island and were a little further down at a restaurant. Apparently that hadn't been hit by the previous tsunami either. I was a little unsure about going to lower ground but it would soon be pitch black and there was a thunder storm coming so we went with them. At least we were able to eat some food.

It was quite a surreal experience just sitting there waiting for what might happen. The worst thing was not really knowing what was going on. We heard conflicting reports from different people. One woman said a tsunami had already hit India. Another man said we probably wouldn't get a tsunami but to wait til 8pm to be sure. The English couple said a tsunami was definitely on it's way, due to hit at 8pm but it shouldn't reach us at the height we were at. Some people were crying whereas others seemed to be treating it as a party by having a BBQ and a few beers with their family and friends.

Another English couple next to us, clearly as confused as we were, invited us to join them to play cards. We spent the rest of the evening chatting and playing cards to take our minds off things. We relaxed a little when the owner of the restaurant said he'd been in touch with Bangkok and Phuket who had said we won't be getting a tsunami but advised us to wait there until the all clear siren sounds. I still had my eye on which tree I was going to cling onto just in case. Eventually the owner told us it was safe to go back and the restaurant started clearing out. We hadn't heard an all clear siren but hesitantly made our way back to our hut. Needless to say I didn't get an awful lot of sleep that night and kept one ear open for the siren the whole time.

The next day was almost as if nothing had happened - business as usual. We eventually did take that walk to the other side of the island. It was really nice to see the simple Muslim fishing village that live on the island. We also met up with our "tsunami friends" again in the evening for a drink. When we returned to our wooden bungalow (not as romantic as it sounds it was filthy and full of mosquitos) we found a lovely present waiting for us on the steps in the bathroom. Cat poo! We have no idea how it got in there but can only assume when a member of staff came in to change the toilet roll (not to clean the bathroom which was dirty when we got there) a cat must have followed them in. We eventually got a member of staff to remove it (only to the bin in the same bathroom) but still no cleaning involved. It was revolting!

I was glad to check out of the accommodation after 2 nights. You would think that after all that had happened to us on the island we would hate it. Truth is we wanted to stay longer but there was no availability at the accommodation we wanted. The island is truly paradise. It only has 4 small resorts on there and none of the trashy touristy bars and restaurants yet. It was almost like our own private island. I don't expect it will stay that way for long as it is so stunning. Onto the next place then... Koh Lanta.