For us, Samui optimised the fabled Thai islands, Samui was our Nirvana. It's white powder beaches, it's lush forests that hid tumbling waterfalls, it's nightlife of beach barbecues and bars. We were a nippy 2 hour ferry ride away. En route to the ferry port the driver was surprised that we were going from the Raja port rather than the Lomprayah port. Not even the locals used the Raja port, he kindly notified us. This sent our imaginations into overdrive. The tick...

The journey from Krabi to Khanom was an interesting one. When we say 'interesting' it should read 'long and complicated'. We were collected at our hotel by the minivan (great), that we thought was taking us to Surat Thani. Not so. The minivan took us to a holding pen in the middle of the jungle. There were already a hundred or so journey-makers sulkily waiting for the coaches that would take us to our desired tropical destination. Time passed quickly, a couple of...

A couple of hours on the road and we were in Krabi, we were dropped off in the town centre outside MacDonalds (so much for the tropical paradise we were hoping for). We found our hotel, dumped our bags and went to grab a bite to eat. Krabi is a 'kiss-me-quick' type of resort whose natural beauty has been caked in the make-up of tacky tourism. The main road is lined with souvenir shops, multi-cuisine restaurants, massage parlours (the relaxing kind) and tour offic...

An erratic 2 and a bit hour drive from Trang got us to Koh Lanta, the minivan was full and with everyone's luggage (which is never accounted for with regard to space) it felt a little cramped. But, we had seats and so no real cause for complaint. We were starting our wind down to Christmas, no adventuring, no diving just relaxation intone sun. Bags dropped, we took a wander to the beach, Khlong khong beach is another good 'un. It's clean, long and tranquil. It's ...

Our last scheduled train journey took us from Chumphon to Trang, a small southern town that promised yet more unspoilt beaches and incredible islands to explore. The last hour or so of the journey had us sitting opposite a small group of friends, each in their seventies, all guffawing at each others stories and side comments. It had us chuckling away with them despite not understanding a single word they said. We figured that if they were going to Trang, we were...