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Published: March 3rd 2007
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The gang minus Charlie
From left, Pete, Justin, Dan, Claire, me & Richmond Elsie, Bob, Claire, Justin & I arrived in Ko Lanta at about 1.30pm on Thursday. We got a taxi from the pier & had an idea where we wanted to stay but when the driver took us to the place there were no bungalows at all, he said it had been wiped out by the tsunami, (we later found out it hadn't). So he took us further down the coast, we stopped at a couple of places & they all said they were full. We got out the taxi & Claire & I walked along the beach & found a place called Fisherman's Cottages where they had enough bungalows for the five of us & for the other four boys who were arriving from Phi Phi.
Each of the bungalows was slightly different & had a number & a name of a sea creature, ours was number 9 Manta Ray, the best bit was the hammock & the fact that the bathroom was outside with no roof so when you showered & looked up all you saw were palm tree silhouettes, the moon & stars.
We dumped our bags & headed straight for the beach which was practically on
our doorstep, where there were millions of little crabs, we had the beach to ourselves it was great, a real paradise island. It was about 4pm when the other boys turned up & it was so nice to have so many of our friends in one place at the same time.
We sat & had a beer watching the sunset & then went out for some food. Charlie, Pete & Justin came home early; as usual the hardcore party animals were Claire, Dan, Rich & me.
We spent Friday on the beach, it was Charlie & Pete's last night so we all had a meal together at Mr. Wee's on the beach & then went to a bar for a goodbye drink, where we had our own private little wooden hut on stilts. Pete wasn't well so went home early, closely followed by Justin & Charlie, leaving the four menaces again. Rich & I came home at about 2am, leaving Claire & Dan in The Feeling Bar on the beach. Dan was sick & they both lost their flip flops, (both had already lost flip flops on previous islands!)
Saturday was again spent on the beach, Justin
& I booked a day trip to Ko Phi Phi for Sunday as Dan & Rich had already been, as had Claire on her previous visit to Thailand. Saturday night Claire, Dan & Rich went to a party with Lap & O, two of the guys that run Fisherman's Cottages, I had an early night to prepare for my trip to Phi Phi.
On Sunday Morning, Justin & I got picked up at 7.30am & got a boat to Phi Phi Don, (Phi Phi is made up of two islands, Phi Phi Don & Phi Phi Lee where the beach was filmed). We got taken by another boat to Maya Bay, (the actual beach where the film was set), & got to snorkel amongst amazing coral & loads of fish. We even swam to a beach where there were only 5 people; that included Justin & I. I was really pleased for him that he had mastered snorkelling since his struggle with diving & he really loved it & didn't complain about being ill all day, (until the boat journey home!)
The boat took us to Monkey Bay or Yong Kasen Bay, where we did some more snorkelling
& went to the beach where there were about ten monkeys just walking around & being fed. Since one decided to go for me of Monkey Beach in Halong Bay I kept my distance.
We had lunch on the boat & then were taken back to Phi Phi Don where we had two hours of free time to explore. We went to the beach & had a cold drink in one of the bars whilst being amazed by the clear blue water & beautiful bay. We saw where the tsunami had hit Phi Phi & where it was being rebuilt, we had a swim in the sea & Justin insisted on doing another one of his videos where he walked into the sea & posed for about five minutes. We had a noisy around the stalls by the pier & got the boat back to Ko Lanta.
Sunday night we had some food then watched the football in a bar. On Monday Elsie, Bob, Claire & I did a boat trip around the islands of Ko Lanta, it was so hot it was too hot for me, I sat on the top of the boat wrapped from head
to toe in my sarong so I didn't fry. We did lots of snorkelling, swam through Emerald cave to a little lagoon where pirates used to hide their treasure.
We had lunch on a beautiful white sandy beach where there were lots of starfish in the shallow water, there must have been about 20-30, I collected some shells & had another swim. On Monday night we had a BBQ at Fisherman's Cottages, it was delicious, as it was Elsie & Bob's last night with us we had a dance & got Bob on the vodka buckets, I think he was a bit tipsy; it was a really nice last night with them.
I had to put myself to bed at 3.30am as I was a bit worse for wear, the others stayed up till 5.30am with our newly acquired pet Alan the cat. On Tuesday morning Claire & I had breakfast with Elsie & Bob & then said goodbye, it was sad to say bye to them as we had such a nice time with them.
I didn't really do a lot on Tuesday, it was too hot to sunbathe, we booked to go to Langkawi on
Wednesday as our visa's expired on 28th. On Tuesday night Lap kept giving us all shots saying "Last night, Last night" I got to bed at 4am & was shattered for our journey the following morning. As Justin had gone to bed early he wasn't tired but at one point Dan, Rich, Claire & I were all asleep on the mini bus so Justin decided to film us, it is a very funny video, Rich has his belly out & his glasses are falling off, Claire & Dan both look dead & my head is flopping from side to side.
I was really sad to leave Thailand, the past four weeks have been amazing; I have had so much fun with the people we have met, I have learnt to dive & seen the most beautiful beaches & islands.
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Mummy No2
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Poor bob
Erica Hayward how dare you print a photo of us loking so irresponsible!! We must thank you both for introducing us to the wonders of Thailand (and I don't mean the Samsong). We both had a truly fantastic time and will definately be returning. Love you both loads. PS you have great friends.