Island hopping with the Blenches

Bangkok spat us out like a rotten mango - our last day featured a duff market, closed cafe, closing down shop, no barber shops, boring thai boxing, and a rooftop bar that wasn't serving alcohol because it was "pre-election weekend"... what's wrong with voting under the influence?

And so we headed south, to Phuket. Trusting as always in our Lonely Planet guidebook we avoided the crassness of Patong and stayed instead at Kata beach, a bit further south... which wasn't as bad as Patong, but still a bit Costa del Thailand. It was tricky to get any proper local food - but if you're after pizza or swedish meatballs, you're in the right place. We also think we saw a western dude hiring a very young looking girl for the night. How delightful!

Ko Lanta, fortunately, is much nicer. Unspoilt isn't quite the word, but it's easy to get away from the moneyed masses and enjoy the place. We've had a bit of fun here: a short elephant ride on a happy little heffalump to a cave where Debs bashed her head and damaged her sunglasses ("my sunglasses have been compromised"), and a comically inept snorkeling tour around some islands today.

The boat nearly capsized before we'd set foot on it, there was no vegetarian lunch, they almost left someone behind after a snorkeling stop, we paused to help another boat in distress and the engine's battery exploded (loud!)... oh and the chain on our engine snapped. Debs and I declined politely when invited to swim 80m through a pitch black cave to a special beach on the other side. Safety first!

Awesomely, we have also found a great restaurant - Cook kai - which serves a delicious tofu in garlic and pepper sauce. Best washed down with a large Chang :-)

Ben