We arrived at the beautiful island of Koh Lanta which, compared to busy Koh Samui, was a huge relief. We'd read a few reviews about the owners of the hotel we were staying at being off and sometimes rude so were relieved when we were greeted my a seemingly friendly Thai lady with really good English and her Aussie husband. And for the budget price the room was great. We took a short walk to the beach where a blood red sun was just setting. It was beautiful and very quiet with lots of very cool bars which were all decorated with palm leaves, recycled wood, bottles, bits of boats, bamboo, and coral. We later learnt that most of it was salvaged from the tsunami. As night descended the bars were all lit up with handmade lanterns and there were lots of little chill out nooks and crannies with cushions and beanbags to sit on.