![\"avocado](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1246.jpg?resize=1024%2C767\")
![\"Phi](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1264.jpg?resize=1024%2C768\")
![\"Samantha](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1280.jpg?resize=1024%2C769\")
![\"Buddhist](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1288.jpg?resize=1000%2C1333\")
The guys working at our bungalows offer to run our luggage down to the pier on a big trolley (there are no cars<\/span><\/a><\/strong> or tuk-tuks on Phi Phi), and in view of the intensity of the sun and the mild bucket hangovers, we gratefully accept. It\u2019s the usual scrum to get onto the boat, teetering over the water whilst carrying our luggage as we step gingerly from one boat across to ours. This time we opt for the dimly-lit icebox that is the level below deck and the gentle rocking of the boat means we struggle to stay awake, our eyelids heavy as we attempt to read our chick-lit novels (Luke included – he\u2019s one of the chicks, after all).<\/p>\n A couple of hours later and the island of Koh Lanta slowly comes into focus. The pier is busy with locals offering to carry our bags, shouting the names of various hotels and carrying placards bearing the names of guests they\u2019ve been sent to collect. We are approached by one woman offering us a ride to our next hotel about 45 minutes\u2019 drive away, so we negotiate a price of 150 baht (about \u00a33 each) and she leads us away from the throng. Expecting an air-con\u2019d minibus, we\u2019re somewhat taken aback when instead she leads us to…a battered old tuk-tuk. It\u2019s basically a moped with a sidecar which has clearly seen better days. Rightio. We pour ourselves in and pile the luggage on top, and set off shakily along the road.<\/p>\n This thing sounds like a hairdryer and does a maximum speed of about 20 miles per hour, so we settle in for the ride, having resigned ourselves to the fact that we won\u2019t be reaching our destination anytime soon. The wind whips in our hair and the journey is strangely exhilarating. Yes, it\u2019s quite a buzz – not knowing if the next lorry to overtake us on a hairpin bend will be the one that wipes us out…<\/p>\n We arrive at our resort, Moonlight Exotic Bay<\/span><\/a><\/strong>, looking like we\u2019ve been dragged through a hedge backwards. Walking unsteadily up the gravel drive to the grand reception of this impressive-looking hotel, we quickly rake our hands through our hair self-consciously and attempt to subtly extract our now-wedgied shorts from our backsides. The reception staff pretend not to notice our dishevelled state, and we\u2019re led to our room. It\u2019s a \u201cWow!\u201d moment: this place is the BOMB! (Especially compared to the more basic accommodation we’ve just had on Phi Phi.) Woohoo! Nice one, Hotels.com<\/span><\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n I got a wicked deal on this particular hotel, paying a fraction of the regular price. The average hotel cost for this trip has been 25 quid each a night, and this place with the discount is the same price, which is an absolute result when we look around the resort. Our room is facing onto one of the pools and the mangrove<\/span><\/a><\/strong>-lined creek, over which is a bridge leading to a bigger pool, gym, restaurant, bungalows, yoga studio, private beach and uber-chic cocktail bar. This place\u00a0oozes Scandi-style luxe with its minimalist interiors and laid-back luxe. Oooh yeah, we think, we\u2019re gonna like it here juuuust fine…<\/p>\n The room, a large and stylish space in shades of pale grey and charcoal with a huge king-size bed and giant beanbags, proves perhaps a little too<\/em> comfortable and our quick siesta turns into a mammoth kip. The call of our growling stomachs is only slightly louder than the roar of our snores, but eventually we are roused from our sun-induced comatose state by the urge to eat and head sleepily down to the beachfront restaurant.<\/p>\n The resort is stunning enough in the daytime, but by night it\u2019s magical: twinkly lights illuminate the wooded complex, making it look like something out of a fairytale. It is so still, tropical and peaceful – one of the most calming resorts I\u2019ve ever stayed at. We cross over the creek via the wooden bridge and follow the winding lit pathway past the gym (which is always empty), pool and hillside bungalows until we come to the open-air beachfront restaurant. We order recommended dishes from the specials board (the Thai beef salad<\/span><\/a><\/strong> is deliciously tinged with aromatic lemongrass), and chat to the extremely friendly waiting staff, who manage to create just the right vibe: a relaxed yet professional atmosphere. Now fully awake, we become aware of the beat of soulful house music playing in the distance and decide to follow our ears to the source of the tunes…<\/p>\n Hyperion<\/span><\/a><\/strong> is the on-site cocktail bar, perfect for those balmy evenings spent sipping margaritas and gazing wistfully out over the ocean as it laps gently back and forth over the rocks below. The decking is on stilts above the rocks and has cut-out sections covered with nets, so you can recline whilst drinking your cocktail and see through to the rocks below, which is kind of a cool idea. There are tons of quirky props and features all around the bar which add to the experience and which wouldn\u2019t look out of place at a trendy London nightclub. It\u2019s Friday night, and a guest DJ is selecting the perfect ear-candy: an uplifting blend of disco, vocal house and trance tracks that get Mum and I toe-tapping and bopping about on our net-seats…which isn\u2019t easy, let me tell ya. At midnight, after a couple of drinks, including a banana daiquiri (me) and a mind-blowingly strong Irish coffee (De Mama), we shuffle back to our dreamily comfortable beds for some more shut-eye.<\/p>\n It feels like we\u2019ve only been asleep for about five minutes (although it\u2019s actually been five hours) when Mum\u2019s phone starts going nuts and she leaps up, bleary-eyed and sweating Irish coffee from every pore to answer it. The extended family back home are out celebrating Dad\u2019s birthday at a Chinese restaurant, and she\u2019s greeted by about ten very raucous family members via Facetime. It\u2019s seven hours behind in the UK, so it\u2019s 10pm on Friday night for them, but 5am Saturday for us. She doesn\u2019t seem fazed by the fact she\u2019s being broadcast to the entire restaurant with her hair sticking up at right angles and wearing a nightie…but I\u2019m mortified at the prospect and burrow under the covers and back to sleep…<\/p>\n Waking up slightly disorientated, it takes a moment or two to register where I am. Moving from island to island every few days will do that to you. It\u2019s not exactly a hardship though, moving from one paradise island to another, and when it dawns on us that we\u2019ve not got long left at this rather lovely resort we\u2019re eager to get down to breakfast at the beachfront restaurant and then explore.<\/p>\n We lean out over the balcony and enjoy the feeling of the hot sun on our skin (it\u2019s boiling already and it\u2019s only 8am) as we drink our morning cuppa: English Breakfast, naturally. (Are you even British if you don\u2019t take your own tea bags on your holibobs?).<\/p>\n We are surrounded by lush greenery, geckos and huge colourful butterflies. It\u2019s beautiful. Mum even spots a giant Jurassic-looking monitor lizard<\/span><\/a><\/strong> swimming in the creek below….and later a bright green snake as it slithers off into a nearby bush. We feast on a delicious buffet breakfast and select a couple of comfy sunbeds in a prime spot on the decking overlooking the private beach, settling down with our books for a blissful day of sunbathing. (Yep, that\u2019s about the extent of our \u2018exploring\u2019). It is perfectly silent, save for the sound of the gentle music playing at the bar, complemented by the rhythmic motion of the waves.<\/p>\n Suddenly, the silence is broken by Mum\u2019s shrieks, and I leap up from my lounger in alarm. No wonder these \u2018prime spot\u2019 sunbeds had not been snapped up by any other eagle-eyed sun-worshippers…they are positioned under some trees which it has only now become apparent are host to all kinds of weird and wonderful wildlife. I\u2019ve already picked several tiny caterpillars off my body…and now a gliding dragon lizard<\/span><\/a><\/strong> has plopped down onto Mama Bird\u2019s bed.<\/p>\n Paralysed by shock and fear, both Mum and the lizard stay stock still as they eye each other nervously, giving me plenty of time to capture the moment on my phone, sniggering away.<\/p>\n![\"Samantha](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1295-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C768\")
![\"tuk](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1299-1.jpg?resize=1000%2C1335\")
![\"our](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1303.jpg?resize=1024%2C768\")
![\"one](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1306.jpg?resize=1000%2C1747\")
![\"beachfront](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1309.jpg?resize=1000%2C1333\")
![\"Moonlight](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1310.jpg?resize=1024%2C768\")
![\"magical](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1311.jpg?resize=1000%2C1333\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1312.jpg?resize=1000%2C1333\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1314.jpg?resize=1000%2C1333\")
![\"Divine](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1321.jpg?resize=768%2C1024\")
27th January<\/h3>\n
![\"lush](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1471.jpg?resize=1024%2C768\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1307-1.jpg?resize=1000%2C1335\")
![\"collecting](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1480.jpg?resize=1000%2C1250\")
![\"Samantha](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1473.jpg?resize=1000%2C1331\")
![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1478.jpg?resize=1170%2C1560\")
<\/p>\n![\"Draco](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1524.jpg?resize=1080%2C1921\")
<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lifeabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/img_1527.jpg?resize=1024%2C1822\")
<\/p>\n