Koh Lanta, Thailand: Sea gypsies and Sod's law.

Koh Lanta, a pretty island south of Phuket and close to Koh Phi Phi where the Leonardo di Caprio movie The Beach was filmed, was our next port of call. We managed to stay in a cheap, no-frills beach hut tacked onto the side of a more expensive resort with a pool. We had free use of the pool, even if the more wealthy - largely gooey-eyed honeymooning - guests had a slap-up breakfast thrown in, not to mention swanky (and more importantly rodent-proof) apartments. I woke in the night at one point and could hear something furry breathing noisily under the bed as it licked at an empty milkshake bottle of Jacqui's that it had pulled out of the waste paper basket. No idea if it was a mouse or a rat. Didn't really want to know...

We hired a driver to take us to a festival that was happening in town, and asked him to swing by a small village of Urak Lawoi sea gypsies first. I think in our heads we had visions of a quaint ramshackle place and a chance to see people from an ancient culture fishing and going about their business. In actual fact, we just felt like intruders. The 2004 tsunami destroyed many of their old homes and they have smart (but bland) new buildings in their place thanks to international and governmental assistance. We got some lovely shots of the little harbour and surrounding hills and islands, but walking the streets it just felt like we were being nosey. These people are not reliant on tourists and probably have little interest in them poking about and taking pictures. We tried not to overstay our welcome. The Urak Lawoi have an interesting culture though. A display in English at the local ethnic hall told us that they sacrifice a portion of their food - as much as they can spare - to the spirits of the forest and the sea. The sea is their natural home, some even spend their whole lives at sea. I hope I'm not saying anything inaccurate about them, having only picked up a smattering of knowledge. Needless to say, while it was interesting to gain an insight into their culture, they'd probably just as happily be left alone.

As for the festival itself, we spent a sweaty couple of hours wandering around different stalls, had lunch at a beautiful riverside cafe, and cooed over a batch of puppies that a couple of Canadian travellers were doing their best to help the Thai owners pass on to good homes or get sponsored. Random but fun. In the evening, we were heading to a bar to watch the Spurs game and called in first at 7-Eleven store to buy an extra torch (street lighting on Lanta isn't amazing). Having spent about 175 baht on the torch and long-life batteries, we were then immediately presented with a free torch each as soon we bought drinks at the bar - compliments of the bar, to help us get home safe. Isn't that just typical? Anyone need a torch?

Since then we've braved a mammoth 14-hour coach to Bangkok, preceded by a car ferry off Lanta that resembled a flat lump of concrete with an engine. Not sure how it floated. This epic ordeal was unpleasant enough for Jacqui, but nightmarish for me, as I struggled with extremely painful earache for the whole journey. The plan is to head up to Ayutthaya on Thursday if I'm back to normal. Things should get pretty cultural after two weeks of sun, sunburn and cocktails. Time to experience Thailand away from the package tourists before we head into Laos around March 24.