Return to Koh Lanta

After breakfast we booked a transfer to Kho Lanta with the owner of the place we stayed at (600b for aircon room). Some guy picked us up in his car and took us to the ‘bus station’ (another travel agent) where we waited with a load of backpackers for the bus. minibus comes and they stuff it full of people. Eva is classed as a bay so goes free - she sits on my lap. We set off and stop another 2 times to get yet more people and bags on. We are on the backseat so not to bad, but some people get covered in bags! It is a hellish ride of about 3 hours and 2 car ferries. The kids were great – amazingly no one needed the toilet! I don’t know what we would have done I they did as we were packed in nice and tight with all the bags. We had been forced to decide and pay for a place at the travel agent, so we had gone with their recommendation ‘new beach bungalows’ – family (2 dbl bed) aircon room for 1000B/night. The minibus dropped us off there and 3 rooms later we were in our room (the promised 2 dbl beds turned out to be 1 dbl and 1 single). During the afternoon we explored both swimming pools, the beach and the beach bar/restaurant. Memories flooded back and it turns out this is the place we ate at a few times we were here 7 years ago! There is, what looks like an unexploded WW2 bomb just outside our room

We are in the middle of selecting the décor for our new house in Great Hallingbury. We have been browsing kitchen and bathroom websites in at attempt to make selections. Kerry is constantly unimpressed with our rooms so far on this trip. I think she expects a 2014 designed room with a stylish contemporary bathroom. Instead we get some hideously designed and painted atrocity. Think of 2 colours that clash the most and that is what everything looks like here.

23/04/14 – The New Beach Bungalows

I had a couple of adventures today on top of the usual chilling by the pool and eating. I left Kerry looking at kitchen porn, hired a scooter from the hotel guys and went on a supply mission for water, beers, milk etc. I discovered that prices everywhere else are a lot lower than the prices at the ‘restaurant’ at our place – that’s what you get when you have a captive audience I guess. On arrival home I continued my ‘will not be ripped off’ mission and headed over to the place next door to check out their rooms. They are slightly better and cheaper (800B) so we are moving tomorrow. Plus they have a ladyboy on reception.

On an economy drive. For breakfast I had 2 boiled eggs for 40B ($1.20)

24/04/14 - The Blue Adamn Lanta Resort

We packed up and covertly moved across to to the Blue Adamn Lanta Resort first thing. Rigged the aircon so it’s constantly on and went for breakfast by the pool. No one in their right mind without kids gets up before 10am, so we get 2-3 hours with a private pool in the mornings. Today was no exception. After a bit of a swim I went out on another scooter mission for food and inflatables and then later all 4 of us piled on the scooter (Hannah, me, Eva, Kerry in that order) and found somewhere that has a proper coffee machine! The coffees in 99% of places are nescafe (although the photos in the menus is of a ‘proper’ coffee with coffee art and everything). We also visited a nice little popup market and bought iced gems (the girls were very happy) and some longans - those odd round fruits that look like lyches.