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Krabi to Koh Lanta, 26th to 29th April 2010
We were the only westerners in the mini van from Malaysia to Thailand and it was quite funny trying to interpret what the Malaysians and Thais might be saying. The border crossing went smoothly except we always seemed to join the slowest moving queue. The difference between Malaysia and Thailand was apparent as soon as we crossed the border with things looking a little less unkempt and yet more people piled onto mopeds. We arrived into Krabi at around 5.30pm and checked into our room at the Grand Tower Hotel. We ate that eve at a small food market down by the harbour. For desert I indulged in one of my favourite Thai delicacies, a Thai pancake with banana and chocolate, yum! We walked off our dinners by having a wander round the town and then headed or bed.
Krabi is the gateway to the islands that lie to the west of Thailand in the Andaman Sea so that morning we booked our ferry to Koh Lanta. Koh Lanta is one of the less developed Andaman islands and only received electricity last year so we thought it would make an
ideal destination to get away from it all.
A small passenger boat took us the 2 hours across. The boat ride was lovely, passing through unique scenery of large tree covered rocks protruding from the water. The arrival in to Koh Lanta is lined with guest houses and restaurants all up on stilts looking onto the bay. Once on land we were greeted by many keen hostel agents all keen to show us what they had to offer. After a little bartering (helped by it being low season so they were keen to drop their prices further) we landed ourselves a room at the very nice Lanta New Beach Resort. We were staying in a bungalow that was about 100m walk to the beach and even closer to the pool.
That afternoon we wanted to explore a bit more of our local surroundings and what better way to do it than by hiring a moped for the afternoon. So for the equivalent of just 2 pounds we had 10 hours of moped fun (and don’t worry mum and dad, the roads were very quiet and Doddy has a moped license!)
We spent the afternoon cruising round the
northern part of the island taking in some of the markets and other local sights. Just as we were staring to leave Salanda, the main town it started to rain but before we knew it we were back at the hotel and in the swimming pool. The rain soon stopped and we decided to treat ourselves to a Thai massage. The hotel had a couple of massage beds set up right on the shoreline so as the sun was setting we both eased our muscles with a massage. Not sure how relaxing it was though as we both felt pretty worn after it but I’m sure it must have done some good!
That evening we made use of the moped once more going to eat at one of the little restaurants on stilts that we’d seen on the way in. We then went to bed in our little bungalow after a very enjoyable day.
We awoke to another beautiful day, clear blue skies and a gentle sea breeze. We had breakfast on a table right next to the beach and went snorkeling afterwards. The water was crystal clear and we could see a few different fish. We decided
we wanted to explore the rest of the island so hired the moped again and took it for a spin. We had lunch at a nice secluded restaurant with yet another beautiful sea view. We then rode to the east of the island where a sea gypsy settlement was and as we pulled in they were all dancing in the street and singing songs and when they saw us watching them they fell about laughing. From there we drove back to the central mainland, stopping off at a grave yard where sand filled graves were decorated with flags, flowers and cloths and then Lanta Old Town with its wooden buildings and pretty balconies.
We then rode to the far south end of the island. The last 6 km was on a dirt track as the road ended so it was a little bumpy but nothing Doddys moped skills couldn’t handle. We passed a few elephants grazing in the woodland (not something you see everyday!) that were used for trekking trips and a monkey that tried to bite us before finally reaching the southern most part of the island which is a national park. There were some really tall trees
offering some nice shade and also signs up telling you to carefully store food to stop the monkeys getting it. The highlight of the national park was the old light house on top of a hill. We climbed to the top and were greeted by some spectacular views. As we left the national park and were riding back we spotted a nice beach to cool off at. There were a few others in the water so we happily swam out, snorkels on to see what we could see. No more than 5 minutes later and we’d turned around and were swimming back in again as guess what? Yes, we’d been stung again! Quite badly this time and although we didn’t see what had got us Doddy had a visible mark on his arm and me on my neck.
To ease our sorrows we stopped at a bar on the way back and had a couple of milkshakes, sat back on bean bags and watched another beautiful sunset and the pain from our stings soon went away.
We rode the remainder of the journey back to the hostel, dropping the bike back at the hotel and then went back
to our bungalow to do some planning for the next few days. That evening we received a phone call from Lee one of Doddy’s fiends to tell us the very sad news that one of their fiends Gav had committed suicide. It was a complete shock to everyone and felt ironic that we could be having such a good time whilst others are in such a dark place. Our thoughts are with Marie and Gav's family.
The next morning was our last on Koh Lanta so we spent it relaxing round the pool and swimming in the sea (not getting stung this time!) Just after midday the taxi came to pick us up to take us to the passenger pier as we had a ferry to catch to take us to Koh Phi Phi. We had enjoyed out time on Koh Lanta, tourism is just beginning to take hold so it was nice to see it before it got too developed. But it was now time to leave the relaxed vibes behind and venture onto Phi Phi, the so called party island.
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