Chilling in Koh Lanta

Two full days in Koh Lanta along with a first afternoon by the pool have been thoroughly relaxing. It very much feels like the home stretch of our SE Asia tour, however we still have another night here, 4 nights in Tonsai and 2 nights in KL!

Our first full day was spent by the beach, not too eventful, although I did have a shave in the morning! I can’t say that it was the best shave in the world, but it helps with the heat. The beach was nice, however there were tiny jellyfish in the water so it was very stingy. The evening was spent by the pool in our resort watching the sun go down and was very picturesque. 

- Poolside view at sunset.

Today was spent on a snorkelling tour of two neighbouring islands, Koh Roc and Ko Ha. It was well organised, with an early pick up from our resort before boarding the speed boat to Ko Roc. The snorkelling was brilliant, over coral reefs, with parrot fish, butterfly fish, star fish and even a moray eel! The highlight was probably seeing a family of clown fish (hey Nemo!) living in their sea anemone.

- Snorkeling with Sophie.

On the bright side we can confirm that the waterproof camera cases that Santa brought (thanks mum) work! On the down side we now have 100 Blurry photos of fish! We shall have to improve our underwater skills if we go to the Great Barrier Reef. 

- Blurry fish.

The lovely folks at Chom Dao resort had a ‘special meal’ lined up for us for our last night, which we have just consumed. Turns out it was barracuda! As a non fish eating person I actually didn’t mind it, (edit from Sophie: he ate three bites and gave up) Sophie polished it off though as it would have felt immensely rude not to!

- Lunch on the beach.

Tomorrow we are heading to Tonsai for 4 nights and some climbing. It should be fun if we can avoid the crowds, but we are armed with our guide book and some early starts should do the trick.

PS: Matthew’s Book Report

Finished ‘The Book of Dust’ by Philip Pullman in Koh Lanta. It is a prequel to His Dark Materials (Northern Lights, Subtle Knife, Amber Spyglass) series and was a very enjoyable read (even though I’m pretty sure it’s aimed at teens). I have however got myself into yet another fantasy series that is not fully released... A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones), we’ve been waiting 6 years for the 6th of 7 books at this stage I think. I’m waiting on the third and final book of the excellent ‘Kingkiller Chronicles’, it’s been 6 years since the last one as well I think. All well worth the read, just need some patience, I have faith that Philip Pullman will come through though!

Since then I have started Star Dust, by Neil Gaiman. I loved the film which is throughly feel good and if anyone is in need of a pick me up I highly recommend. The book is a far more adult affair and almost reminds me of Terry Pratchett with his comedic twist on the conventions of fantasy. 

Afterwards I may pick up His Dark Materials again as I enjoyed The Book of Dust so much, but knew I was missing some of the call backs.

PPS: Sophie's Book Report

I'm not going to write one because I think it's weird.