We were so organised in the morning that I was surprised. It was almost with military efficiency that we got up, packed and left our room. We were ready and waiting at exactly the time we had been told to be ready and the minibus turned up just seconds later. Maybe I just imagined all that though, maybe it was just my sleepy brain making things up.

We zoomed towards Georgetown in the back of the minibus picking up just four other people on the way. After that, we headed at high speed towards the Thai border.

It didn't take too long before we realised that although we had some water with us, we hadn't really given breakfast too much thought. In the end we had to make it through the morning on chocolate and jelly sweets - hardly a satisfying breakfast for anyone over the age of eight.

The bus wasn't that roomy but that wasn't too much of problem bearing in mind that it wasn't full. The general lack of suspension and ineffectiveness of the air conditioning made us more uncomfortable that the amount of legroom. Fortunately though, we ended up having a few stops along the way. We stopped once before the border and two or three times on the way through and then finally made it to Hat Yai at about lunchtime.

Only just having arrived in a new country we didn't have any currency. While Claire stayed with the bags, I went off to find an ATM. On my way I had a quick look to see if I could see anything for lunch but it seemed that we weren't in a very touristy area and the Thai language isn't a speciality of mine. I also heard an old woman calling me, saying something like "Hello. Hey you!" over and over. I could almost guarantee that she was going to ask for money so I pretended not to hear her, even when she called a bit louder.

I made it back to the place we were waiting about fifteen minutes before I thought our next bus was going to be. Of course, I hadn't factored in the time difference. Make that an hour and fifteen minutes then.

The next leg of our journey was similar to the first one only we were in a different bus with a different driver. We just looked out of the windows and tried not to bang our heads everytime the bus hit a bump in the road. We did see the first signs of a road accident since we left England. That's about five months and many, many thousands of miles.

We arrived in Krabi at about 5pm and the bus dropped us off outside an internet café. We decided to use the internet briefly to look for somewhere to stay and eventually decided that we should stay in the guesthouse above the internet café as we then didn't need to move our bags very far! The room was a bit odd, no window and not much in the way of bed linen either but for one night we weren't bothered. We booked some boat tickets to take us to Ko Phi Phi, an island halfway between Krabi and Phuket, and also a couple of nights' accomodation too.

Quite by chance the internet café had some normal café elements to it and we found a couple of nice savoury items on their menu that appealed, mostly sandwiches and fruit. I also became acquainted with Singha beer. Quite well acquainted actually. It turns out that it's quite strong. I was very happy sipping my beer and keeping an eye on Pirates of the Caribbean at the same time while Claire wrote several long emails.

It was about this time that an English chap started asking a question of one of the ladies who seemed to run the place. I immediately knew what he wanted but he was doing such a good job of making a fool of himself that I just sat back and smiled to myself instead. For starters he wasn't really asking a question, more like making a statement. Secondly, he was using words that a Thai person might not recognise and finally, his biggest mistake, was falling into the usual tourist trap of just saying the same thing but louder when he wasn't understood the first few times. In Thailand, raising your voice or losing your temper just make you look ridiculous in their eyes. He obviously hadn't read his guide book. So, since you're now wondering, what he said, over and over again, was "England. Soccer. Telly. Tonight."

After the beer and emails were finished, we went out on a wild goose chase, trying to find a phone card so I could wish my dad a happy birthday. We eventually managed to find one and then spent the next 30 minutes trying to phone my dad's mobile phone. Claire repeatedly asked if I was sure about the number and I repeatedly reassured her that I was. Finally some doubt entered my mind and I had a feeling that I was dialling a 6 when it should have been 3. Bingo! Well, I got as far as the Orange answering service anyway.

The following day we were up quite early and were picked up at 10.20 by a bus like thing similar to the Le Trucks in Tahiti. We were dropped off near the boat, dropped our bags off at the front and found a seat. It was quite hot and humid on the trip over even though the boat had air conditioning. Unfortunately, some selfish people at the front had opened some windows so that they had a gentle breeze and eveyone else in the cabin roasted as the A/C failed to cope.

Ko Phi Phi loomed into view some 90 minutes later and after the ridiculous mass of people all trying to retrieve their luggage at once had cleared, we grabbed our bags and headed for our hotel.

Ko Phi Phi is very touristy. I suspect that a lot of the people were only there on short holidays as it is unlikely that so many people would all be on longer trips and turn up in the same place at the same time. Most of the shops and stalls on the path / road between the pier and our hotel are aimed at tourists. and most of the tourists seemed to be wearing an average of a dozen stitches each - that both saddened and annoyed me. Granted a lot of people went to Ko Phi Phi to relax on the beaches and get a tan but it's just a shame that they forgot that they were in another country with different customs. On the beaches skimpy bikinis and bare chests are fine but elsewhere people should have more respect for the local customs. Tourists give themselves and their countries a bad name acting any old way that they please. Only two days ago, two tourists were shot in an altercation with a local further north of where we are. Judging by what I have read, one of the tourists was not happy with the attention his girlfriend was getting from the locals. Although I have no way of knowing, that attention could easily have been caused by dressing inappropriately. Anyway, I've had my grumble. It's just a shame that so many people don't show any respect for the culture and customs of the country they're in.

Moving on, our room was pretty comfortable and the scenery was great too. We spent most of our two and a half days just relaxing, soaking up the sun and beer and eating some very yummy Thai dishes. If you don't mind being surrounded by tourists then this isn't a bad place to relax. Our hotel was further away from the nightlife than many of the others but that did mean that we got some good nights' sleep.