Islands of the Andaman

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After a two hour boat ride from the mainland we arrived at Ko Lanta, one of Thailand's more overlooked islands. Occupying the same general area as better known islands, Ko Phi Phi and Phuket, it slips under most tourist's radars. I had missed it on my first tour of the Andaman coast and both Becca and I were excited to see it this time. After spending four days there I can say that I loved Ko Lanta and would rank it as one of my favourite spots in Thailand.

Ko Lanta is relatively flat compared to the Phi Phi sisters and only its Western coast has swimmable beaches. These are a few of the reasons why it sees far fewer tourists than either Phuket or Phi Phi. When we arrived in mid May, peak tourist season had officially ended and and many parts of the island felt like a ghost town. We stayed at a place that had over ten bungalows and ours was the only occupied one throughout our stay. The pace had a small pool that we had to ourselves and a dog that would shake with excitement every time that we arrived at or left the resort. The manager was a great guy as well, who was attentive to everything we needed. If you're ever in Ko Lanta, I definitely recommend the NT Lanta Resort, which besides a water shortage one day (Which we may have caused) was a wonderful place to stay.

Ko Lanta is a great place to explore on motorbike and we did this on two of our four days. The roads on Ko Lanta are mostly well paved so it made a for an efficient way to see the 32 kilometre long island. The bike was only 200 baht ($6.50) for a 24 hour rental and besides the flat tire that we had to get fixed on one day it was a good investment. We went to the Southern tip of the island to a Marine National Park that was filled with monkeys and a scenic hiking trail. While Becca was going to the washroom here she looked up to see two monkeys curiously staring at her on the toilet. We also found some amazing and almost deserted beaches on the beautiful Western coast. On the East Coast, which is reached by driving through the mountainous central spine of the island, the beaches are replaced by tidal mangrove forests. This is made up for by the pretty Ban Lanta, an old town filled with charming seaside restaurants. After a cocktail from a panoramic bar overlooking the East Coast we headed back to our personal resort.

Our time in Lanta was both fun and relaxing. We spent the days swimming and riding the motorbike and the nights eating delicious Thai food and drinking Singha, a Thai beer. After four days and three nights we caught the early ferry to Ko Phi Phi for a decidedly different Thai experience. Where as Ko Lanta was deserted, Phi Phi was still buzzing with bronzed tourists. Even so, Ko Phi Phi harbour is one of Thailand's most incredible sights and I was excited to show Becca the wonders of island.

We stayed at a charming little place called the Garden Inn Bungalows, where the resort's namesake is taken very seriously. The bungalows were all situated in a garden and our bathroom was designed as a sort of jungle oasis. See the pictures below to see what I mean, but I must say it was pretty cool. The only downside was when I went to use the washroom one morning and found a cockroach flailing on it's back beside the toilet. Other than this it was a nice place and quiet as well since it was about a ten minute walk from the bars of Ko Phi Phi.

Despite the imminence of rainy season there were still more than enough tourists to liven up Ko Phi phi's night scene. On our first night there Becca lost her bucket virginity and came close to participating in fire games. In the end she did not do the fire limbo, but we did enjoy a few buckets and watched some raucous muay thai fights. The next morning I woke up with a headache and a full bladder and had my aforementioned encounter with the cockroach.

On our final full day in Phi Phi we did the boat tour to Phi Phi Leh where they filmed the movie, "The Beach". If you are a longtime follower of this blog, you will remember that i already did this tour, and remember it as the tour where Curtis lost his prized camera. Becca and I did not end up losing anything and the tour was fun, although very much a repeat of my earlier experience. The worst similarity was that when we finally reached, "The Beach" at 4:30 P.M. it started to rain just as it had on my first trip there. Perhaps this place is not as ideal as Leonardo Dicaprio would have you believe.

After three days in Phi Phi we boarded a ferry to Phuket for a whole new phase of both of our trips. Later that day we were due to check in to the JW Marriot Phuket Resort and Spa, a five star resort on Phuket's Western coast. After nearly three months of budget travel I was about to step into a cloud nine of luxury.

Before getting into that in the next entry, I would like to let everybody know that my latest Bangkok entry has put this blog at over 5,000 views. Thanks again to everyone who has supported this blog and I hope it has been both informative and interesting. Of particular interest is that "Full Moon Party" at 475 views has now passed "Lounging in Langkawi" at 415 views, as my most popular entry. It was always my opinion that the Langkawi entry did the best because of the multiple pictures of guys with their shirt off. The popularity of "Full Moon Party" confirms this theory, as it includes a picture of Curtis and I in bed together wearing nothing but boxers. If only I had known how dirty the general readership of this blog was, I would have tried to convince Becca to do a topless picture for the Phuket entry. That would be a fast way to 10,000 views.

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Photos

The Beach
Our postcard perfect shot from "The Beach".

Mikey and Becca
This is "Mikey the Monkey" who is probably the most human like animal I've ever met. Some locals hang out with him every night in Phi Phi and charge tourists to take pictures with him. Mikey just poses for the pictures in a laid back manner and mostly seems bored. Very entertaining.

Ridin Dirrrty Again!
Becca had to walk down this hill because it was too steep for both of us to ride on the bike. It was much steeper than it looks in this picture.

Watching Becca
This was her view from the washroom in the national park.

Garden Shower
Our washroom at the Garden Home Bungalows. I am apparently very excited about the shower.

Weird Sign
The Thai equivalent of Chinglish.

What a View
Hard to stay focused on driving the motorbike when the roadside views are like this.

Garden Bungalows
Becca's dream is to replace Vanna White.