South Thailand Beaches & Islands Dec 2011 & Jan 2012

Here we are back in Thailand after crossing from Cambodia.  Wow what a difference coming from the poverty of Cambodia into the developed and affluent country of Thailand...... After nearly getting ripped off twice at the border we finally made it to our 1st Island of Koh Chang where we arrived late and struggled to find somewhere to sleep as it was the weekend of the King's Birthday.  We managed to find somewhere and stayed for 5 nights.  While here we did some sea kayaking, hired a moped for the day to explore the Island and had some beach time yeah.....

Koh Chang

 

Relaxing after sea kayaking

After Koh Chang we cheated a little and got a flight from Bangkok to Krabi on the Southern Andaman Coast.  1 hour scary plane ride in a storm, very bumping like something out of a scary movie, Steve screamed out at one point when the plane dropped a little, what a wuss!!!  Stayed a couple of nights here day tripping to Ao Nang beach before heading off to the beaches of Railay to soak up some backpacker culture...Railay is part of the mainland but is like an Island as you can only get here by long trail boat, and there are no roads you have to walk everywhere.  This place was really cool, we ended up staying in a tree top bamboo bungalow with the birds and the monkeys and Steve ha ha!!!  Oh yes we did some more sea kayaking around the small Islands off shore, really starting to like this activity he he!!!

Oarsome!!!

Let go of the rope Steve.....

Bamboo Bungalow in the trees

Ton Sai Beach, Railay

Now we are heading for the Island of  Koh Phi Phi.  This Island is best known for it's great beaches and and lively party scene.  One side of the Island is quiet with resorts and nice beaches, the other side is geared up for partying until the early hours which we managed a couple of nights partying on the beach yeah hey!!!  We also did some snorkeling off Long Beach around shark point, but we did not see Jaws thank god.  Weather was hit and miss so on a bad day we decided to walk up to the View Point and feed some monkeys, was tough going getting up there but the views were worth it....

Enjoying our bucket

Party Time !!

 

Raving mad....

After a little partying on Koh Phi Phi we headed to the island of Koh Lanta where we will spend Christmas & New Year. Hired a moped and went round the island exploring, although you could not get all round the island we had to come back on ourselves. The south of the island has beautiful beaches and a national park, north of the island is the town of Saladan and mangroves.. we spent Christmas at the Sincere Guest House which was great, they cooked a lovely Xmas eve meal of Trout, squid and prawns, yum yum!! Had a few beers and wine and yes of course got a little drunk, it is Xmas after all...

Merry Xmas Everyone x x x

What a party!!!

What a surprise ended up spending most of Xmas day in bed he he!!! Boxing day was our Xmas day, we went Kayaking on the mangroves, relaxing on beaches and then finished the day with some good seafood. Better day...

Our Xmas Day.....

Moved further down the south of the island for New Year staying in a bungalow on the beach, yeah!! There is an animal welfare centre here where you can go and visit and walk dogs, all free of charge. We took dog tag and mamma for a walk, which was great fun.....

Dogtag

Mamma

New Years Eve party on the beach..What a night, started on the balcony with our own bottle of vodka then moved to the beach with fire shows, fire works, and fire lanterns all along the beach, fantastic!!! We met a Norwegian couple who led us astray partying till 4am at the monkey bar..Oh no another hangover tomorrow, day in bed....

Happy New Year!!!

I love to dance!!!!

Moves like Jagger!!!! Not.

Time to leave Koh Lanta and head to Koh Mook, a smaller island.. Wow, What beautiful beaches definitely the best beach we have seen so far, picture postcard perfect!
Found a cheap room, shed with a bed again, and our own frog who kept coming in our room..The food in the restaurant was fab.  We had lots of fun kayaking and snorkeling here. We kayaked to the Emerald Caves and through them in darkness to reveal a hidden lagoon...

Emerald Cave Lagoon

Koh Mook Beach WOW!

Now heading to an even smaller island of Koh Sukorn, hardly any tourist here, not much to do other than cycling, kayaking again and yes of course relaxing...The island is manly Muslim and definitely not geared for tourists, which in a way was nice for a bit to get away from it all..

Arghhhhhhhhhhh

Extreme biking!!!

Our last island in South Thailand is Koh Lipe, this is a small island again only with more tourists... a smaller version of Koh Phi Phi..No cars on the island only bicycles and local mopeds,  you can walk round the island easily, only takes an hour....

Just another day in paradise..