Our original plans of heading back to Bangkok early were scuppered due to the riots. Therefore, we decided to head to Koh Lanta for a few days of relaxation before Singapore and Australia. We're staying in a nice beach resort and the weather is beautiful. We randomly met someone who works in Milton Keynes and Aylesbury last night- what a coincidence! We've done a bit of shopping, Helen managed to leave her cash card in an ATM but thankfully we got it back, and we...

After spending a brief night in Krabi (a bit like a ghost town!) we got over to Phi Phi. Again, we had no idea where we were going to stay and bargained an 800baht room down to 600baht (Clare is definitely her mother's daughter…!) We all celebrated Easter Sunday by tracking down fried ice cream and ice cream Sundaes. The next day we walked 1000ft up some very steep steps to the viewpoint overlooking the island and soaked in the amazing views, of which the photo...

Clare was eventually discharged at about 8.45am (after ringing the bell every 5 minutes and making a fuss about needing to get the boat!) We got on the boat to Koh Phangan to join Kevin, Katie and Jess who had arrived the day before. The sea had originally looked calm but we were soon to find this was not the case as we spent the next hour and a half on the boat ride from hell! We settled into our accommodation (2 double beds pushed together for 5 people!..Hel...

We arrived in Koh Tao absolutely shattered and with no idea where we were going to stay, all we knew is that we wanted to dive. We stumbled across Big Blue Dive Resort and with little convincing from "The Germanator" (German diving instructor, Yvonne!) decided to stay, probably the best decision we've made so far. We had planned to spend a relaxing day on the beach, recovering from our bus journey, only to be told that our diving course started at 4pm.....

After arriving at 9.30am we got a taxi to our hotel, another Centara (one last little bit of luxury!) We chilled out in the room for a few hours, and Clare fell asleep, while Helen made the most of the free movie channel. After relaxing, we walked through the old city and found a hostel, Pha Thai, to stay in for the next night. Walking back to our hotel we discovered a unique little shop selling oil paintings of proverbs on canvas (some more profound than others!...