Christmas in Thailand

From Kuala Lumpur we flew to Thailand and headed towards some tropical islands for Christmas. We got a boat to an island called Ko Lanta and it was absolutely jam-packed with tourists from all over the world. It was easy to see why as the islands came into view, totally breathtaking.

As we arrived at the pier, pretty much the whole island had come out to sell us something, either a hotel, taxi or spa. Thailand is now super touristy I guess, very popular with families and older people as well as the standard backpacking crowd. Note for travellers: Pretty much if you visit anywhere in Asia mentioned in the Lonely Planet, it will look like this.

We managed to make it past the hawkers and found a quiet stretch of beach further down the island. For our festive accommodation we checked into a sweet hut beside the beach which cost us about £4 a night!

Christmas on a tropical island really didn't feel like Christmas at all. Lying on the beach in 30 degrees was so far from my previous December experiences that it was just downright strange. This worked out quite well; I didn't miss home too much as my head just wouldn't accept the fact that it was Christmas!

On the big day I just slept late, opened a few presents my family has sent out and then ate a Nutella sandwich and a packet of crisps. I then look the infamous beach photo and stuck it up on Facebook, possibly my most successful post ever!

While on the island we made friends with two couples, John & Laura from Manchester and Shawn & Sam from Sydney. They became our family for the festive season and on Christmas Day we all went out for a big meal. I had a very average hamburger but a great time was had by all.

Then on Boxing Day we rented some scooters to explore the island and pretty found the best thing ever, A MOTORCROSS TRACK!!