2009 in a nutshell and the Lone Ranger

To sum up. The last two days in Koh Lanta it rained; not just little spots of rain but some serious all-dayers. We had planned two days soaking up the sun on the beaches, but instead it was spent dodging rain and swimming in the sea with storms brewing on the horizon. Riding a motorcycle in the rain is much harder too, and made getting around the island a little more difficult.

The highlight of the last two days in Koh Lanta, aside from one last trip to the Corner Bar for iced chocolate and the rainy swim at Klong Hin, was the meal we had cooked for us at Mook Lanta using the fish we had caught the day before. They charged us around 1.50 (pounds) for this privilege and it was absolutely lovely. One curried tuna (incredibly spicy and a slight challenge for me) and one garlic chilli tuna. It was amazing. My only regret on these closing hours in Lanta was that I didn't get one final mango and sticky rice from the street seller in Saladan - I lamented over this for some time before finally letting it go.

Our very last day in Thailand was spent in Krabi. The journey from Koh Lanta was rather hellish. When the minibus arrived it was all but full and I ended up sitting right next to the driver, pratically on the handbreak and with my knees on the gear stick. It was incredibly painful after 2 hours, I was simply glad when some people got out and I could move to another seat and feel my legs again. The Krabi Seaview Hotel was located pretty centrally, right next to one of the night markets, and was a nice enough stay. We only had a few hours in the town and most things were shut (New Years is a 7 day holiday in Thailand). We mostly spent this time eating, although the food here still didn't match up to Bangkok and Northern Thailand despite all we had read.

Leaving Krabi the next morning was a source of nervousness for me. I was headed to Kuala Lumpur where I would begin the first leg of my journey completely solo. As well as this I was leaving Thailand, and I was sad to do so. After a slightly fraught exchange with Air Asia (their baggage policy is slightly confusing and expensive) we were off to KL. Here I went it alone and headed into KL (about an hour's taxi journey which I prepaid at the airport - recommended as there are the usual touts in KL too - and it cost RM61) and arrived at my first destination the Red Palm hostel feeling a little more composed than an hour previous.