Bloody Mozzies!!!

Well we thought Ko Phangan was a chompy island and after accumulating just under 20 bites (to Rob's pathetic 4 or something) I thought it wasn't going to get worse....... how wrong I was!!! We left Ko Phangan after having a wonderful 5 days and we decided to get to Ko Lanta we would catch a night boat to Surat Thani and then bus/boat to Ko Lanta - which is easily the cheapest way and we thought quite fun too - and it was - we were on the top deck of a 2 deck ship and either side on the deck were just rows and rows of mattresses on the floor where you could lay down and sleep through the night while the ferry cruised through the night on its 7 hour journey. After a couple of games of scrabble me and Rob settled down for the night for a little sleep - unbeknown to us that when the buggers struck!!!!

Thankfully we were too tired when we got to Surat Thani to realise and then after dealing with the slick travel agents and many 6am minivan transfers we were finally put on a bus to Ko Lanta, so it was not until we reached out destination about 15 or so hours later that I realised the full devastation on my legs, we checked into our next bungalow and I felt a little itchy...... and then I felt very itchy!!!! I rolled up my trousers to discover the total had gone from 20 to nearly 50!!!!!

I spent a pretty uncomfortable night not really knowing what to do with myself and having nurse Rob administrating every anti -itch remedy we had! (God bless Germolene!!!) First thing the next morning we went into town and went to the pharmacy to show the pharmacist my bites - without going into too much detail I looked none to attractive - we got up there and she proved to be our saviour, (Rob had a few bites by this point too and I'm sure was happy to see the end of my whining!!) she took one look at them and came out with a cream and a pill that has put me on the mend - so now except for a load of blemishes I feel hundreds of times better.

Believe it or not we had been using loads of repellent but these b*stards don't seem to care - and if they are bothered they seem to be able to find the tidy spots that you haven't got repellent on - so me and Rob have waged official war on the mosquitos and now carry in our pack another type of repellent, tiger balm (which the locals swear by to sure everything!!!), anti itch cream, antiseptic cream, bug spray and 2 different types of mosquito coils - now let the little buggers have a go!!!

I am please to report that since then neither of us have been chomped by anything - and we are both feeling itch free and normal again - hooray!!!! So not to worry we're all good again and even more equipped than we already were. One tip for anyone visiting the island in the south of Thailand - don't rely solely on repellent, coils or long clothing - none of these seem to work!!! We have asked many islanders how they stop getting bitten and it seems to be a timeless questions which if anyone can find an answer for they would be very rich indeed - For Rob a great repellent seems to be me - as for whatever reason I am infinitely more tasty than Rob!