"The Beach"

After a very long bus journey (about 10 hours) we finally arrived where we had been looking forward to most - Thailand! We are staying in a town called Ao Nang in Krabi. Unfortunately on arrival we found that the huts we should have been staying in were over-booked for our first night so we were forced to stay in a 5 star hotel just down the road - gutted! We had to suffer with huge rooms with far too comfortable beds, and a pool which we had to go in! What torture! The next night we were delighted to find that our huts (see pic) were now free to move in! They actually aren't too bad and are in a really nice setting, it feels like we're in the jungle, however, theres a few too many creepy crawlies for my liking including the biggest spider I have ever seen - bigger than my hand!!!

On our first day in Thailand we decided to make the most of the beach as its the first one we've seen since our trip started. We stopped off at the shops on the way where the sell really lovely gifts and clothes. The beach is beautiful and it was great to have a relaxing day enjoying the sunshine.

In the evening we went out for a lovely meal consisting of a chinese dish, egg fried rice and a drink all for a bank breaking 1.50 (120 Bahts)!

Yesterday we booked ourselves on a speed boat trip which turned out to be a fantastic day! It was so fast and a really amazing feeling looking across such clear blue sea! After about 45 mins we arrived at Phi Phi Ley, the beautiful island where "The Beach" was filmed (see pic). I have never seen such white, soft sand before! We also swam in the cove where Leo DiCaprio wrestles the shark! Flashback of that scene meant I didn't stay in too long!


Next we headed to an island called Phi Phi Don which was badly affected by the Tsunami. There appeared to be no physical signs of it (apart from everything being so new!) but there was a sadness in the air thats hard to describe.

The next two stops were snorkelling sites. It took a while, and a lot of coughing and spluttering, to get used to it but eventually I got the hang of it and it was amazing. There were so many beautiful fish, I loved it!

We paid one last trip to Bamboo Island before boarding our boat for the last time. Staying in Thailand has been brilliant and I'm really disappointed we don't have longer here but I'm really looking forward to being in Australia next week too! We leave for Bangkok tomorrow where we spend our last two nights before heading to Oz!