Rubber rings, rugby and the hangover from hell.....

At first I thought that there was not a lot to report from our time in Koh Lanta, but upon further reflection it seems that there is a bit to say....

It didn't start off the best - an hour long wait at the port for a second boat load of guests to arrive before we could make the fifteen minute drive to the resort, and it is HOT here! But all is forgiven as our resort is very, very nice, and the staff are very, very friendly :-)

Our time here has been spent either at the beach, which is beautiful and near empty most of the time, or in a cabana at our resort. A lot of reading has been done and a lot of lying in the sea on our rubber rings. So passed our first few days on Koh Lanta - an island seemingly only known to rich sailors and poor backpackers! Bliss!

And then came the event which all English people will be dreading me writing about - the rugby. You may all breathe a sigh of relief though, as the boys in red did all the talking on the pitch and have left me nothing more to add! Needless to say, we had a very drunken night! It began with the Ireland vs Italy game, during which we decided to play a six nations drinking game. Safe to say that by the time Wales vs England began at midnight we were all pretty hammered. So much so that Sarah and I were belting out the Welsh national anthem at the top of our lungs in the middle of the Irish bar! I think we made a fair job of it. We didn't get any quieter as the night went on, and I'm afraid that our ferocity may have scared a few England supporters away, as at the end of the match we were surrounded by Welsh and poor Tam was feeling a little lonely!

But we paid for our fun the following day! Tam was very unwell for 24 hours, which perhaps had to do with something other than the beer the night before, although that can't have helped! Sarah ventured out to the beach at 4pm and I managed to get out for dinner at 7pm! Otherwise, we were bed bound all day!

Whilst no one was feeling one hundred percent the following day, we did make it down to the beach - it was our last day there after all! Unfortunately we did not end Koh Lanta on a high..... Late last night I awoke to find Sarah up and about fiddling with the air conditioning and complaining that she was cold. I ignored her - she is actually a grown up and quite capable of controlling her own temperature. But this faffing continued for the next half an hour, much to my annoyance! Eventually I snapped and stomped over to the aircon device to turn it up, ignoring her protests that Tam and I would be too hot. And then she started crying. At this point it became clear that something was not right - Sarah does not cry! Whilst she was constantly shivering, she was also burning up. Her whole body felt like it was on fire! But it was nigh on impossible to convince her to take off her jumper and pull away some of the covers.

After an hour or so, and a cold shower (which must have been unpleasant for her!) she was a bit cooler, although still in high fever territory and in quite a bit of pain. So the remainder of the night was pretty sleepless for her (for obvious reasons) and for me as I was half convinced that she had contracted some deadly tropical virus and was going to die in the night (thanks for giving me the trait to overthink things, Mum :-) )!

Today, she seems better. Not like she might topple over and die at least!! So we have decided to make the journey to Ko Tao. Whilst it is a long journey (10 hours) and will be uncomfortable for her, we think that there will be better medical facilities there should she get worse! Fingers crossed she gets better soon! So my day consists of helping two invalids (Tam is still not 100% right!) survive the long journey ahead!

Jo xx