Thailand

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We got up late and went down for breakfast. We both decided on the banana pancakes (maybe it was because we'd recently read The Beach!) with fresh fruit, coffee and fruit juice. It was all included in the price of our room so felt like another bargain.

We got our things together and made our way down the steep, dengerous looking steps to Long Beach. It was hectic around the main beachfront resorts and there were people, food stalls and long tails everywhere. We found a section of sand and set ourselves up for a lay and a swim in the cordoned off area that was to protect swimmers from the mass of long tails that were touting for business.

Swimming was superb. It was so easy to float that when I tried swimming on my front my legs kept naturally rising so high that my face kept dipping under water.

Although it was stll busy by our standards, it was much quieter and prettier than Kata had been and it was a relief. The tide was low and the water was a spectacular colour with the coral peeping through.

Matt decided he wanted to go to the main beach for the afternoon, so for £4 between us we got a long tail to take us there. A few minutes later we were browsing our way through the rows of stalls and trying to find a bar to have lunch in. We found one and chilled out in the shade for a while with some cold drinks.

After our late lunch we walked to another of the islands main beaches which had been decimated by the Boxing Day tsunami. It was frightening to think what happened here four years ago right where we were walking. The thin strip of land which was edged by beaches on either side was where the wave swept over killing most of the tourists who died in the tragedy.

I found a quiet bar on one end of the beach and Matt left me with the bags as he wanted to walk up to the lookout point. It was a thirty minute hard walk and I was already too hot to sit on the beach let alone do a walk. Instead, I covered my shoulders with a towel, got a cold drink and sat reading my book while Matt did his trek.

An hour and a half later he appeared looking soaked through and exhausted, but pleased he’d made the effort. He said it was very hard going in the heat and once he’d got up there he hadn’t wanted to come back down, partly because the view was so good but also because he didn’t want his legs to hurt anymore.

We walked back along the beach and cut through to the beach at the other side where we picked up another boat back to our beach.

The walk up the steps to our resort didn’t hurt me but I’m sure Matt could have done without it after his climb earlier. We both really did have sweat dripping off us when we arrived back to the reception. It was almost comical how soaked were - we looked like we’d just had a shower fully clothed.

We were so happy to have invested the extra money in having an air conditioned room. When we got back we sat in front of it for at least twenty minutes.

An hour later I got a shock when I popped out to hang some washing out. It was pitch black and I hadn’t expected it. It felt as though someone had turned the light off outside. The temperature was still so hot so it just didn’t feel like night time.

We went to the restaurant for a beer and ended up both having a curry for £1.50 each!

We sat on the deck drinking beer and listening to the David Gray album playing in the background. Our wedding song even came on which made the evening all the more romantic.

Finally we were feeling happy to be in Thailand.

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