Koh Lanta is such a relaxing place, that for a moment it is possible to forget that you’re in Asia – one of the world’s most hectic places! Instead of noise, hustle and hassle, we’re in an oasis of peace and quiet. The children have met some others their own age, and have played cards, colouring and all kinds of beach games. But if I have to play another game of Bamse, the Swedish Happy Families, I think I could go mad…to imagine it, try saying this 100 times with the accent of the Swedish chef from the muppet show “Has anybody got Katten Jansen”.

As I was recreating this website in 2022, we realised that we still have a Bamse card deck from the trip, and we still know all the characters and how to ask for them in Swedish. The house currently echoes to shouts of “Har du Skalman” and “Har du Lille Skutt” in very fake-Swedish accents

Anyway, back to beach idyll. The food here on Lanta is a mix of Thai and Indian, with the usual European Breakfasts thrown in, and the standard of cooking at all of the beach bars is very good – curiously they make Indian food with exactly the same tastes as English-Indian meals – and nothing like real Indian cooking!

But perhaps the nicest aspect of Koh Lanta is the people that visit it – we met some great travellers, who had interesting stories and were good company during the day and in the evenings (and in a “it’s a small world” twist, met Dixie who knew our friend Nick from when they both lived in Sweden).