koh lanta

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so, im in koh lanta. im so sorry i havent been writing, everything is just happening so fast over here and i find it hard to pin myself down enough to write a blog entry. i dont want to miss out on one little moment of this paradise! im not going to write my trip in order any more, right here and now seems to be the thing to talk about.

so, koh lanta. what can i say? i have been travelling for the past week with two english chicks that i met on the boat coming from phuket. they have been amazing to me, wish i could stay with them for longer, but time is running away from me, i only have one week left! we arrived in koh lanta about 4 days ago, with no idea where we were going to stay, how we were going to get around, what we were here for. but we soon found out. we got driven to a bungalow hotel by a driver, ching, who has become our mate over here. he seems to be the one that runs the bar just is just next door.. i guess he just doubles as driver?? but we arrived, chucked our bags down and walked over to the bar. and i think we havent really left since. everything in lanta runs differently, time is just something that happens, not something that you really pay a great deal of attention to. we havent known what day it is for a while now, and none of us are too bothered by it. basically spending the days sitting cross legged in a bamboo shack playing games of jenga, watching the local boys roll up doobies and drinking beers. the bar is something that really has to be seen. basically, it is a wooden shack with no walls and a roof made out of palm leaves. there are fishing nets hanging, a dusty old disco ball in the corner, and bits of materials with bob marley prints on them hanging around. the bar boys, who seem to have adpopted us as their own, basically chill out all day, sitting there, pandering to our every little beery need. haha. it is truly a sight to behold.

yesterday we felt pretty motivated to do something for the first time since arriving, so we hired a thai long boat and a couple of boys to show us around the islands, of which there are heaps around here. first off, we basically just dozed on the deck for the first two hours, but then arrived at a little cove where the guys said ' ok, you jump off now'. 10 metre deep water and not another boat in sight. they had snorkels for us, but that didnt last very long. ive seen 'the beach' way too many times to be confident in diving off and floating around in possibly shark infested waters with no hope of rescue. haha, im a drama queen i know, but the mind plays crazy games with you when you're so far out and cant see the bottom of the sea. we did jump in though, but only to cool off for the ride to our next stop. thank god we got out when we did - a massive jellyfish floated past not more than a minute later. there was a whole community of fish living in this thing, that how big it was. even the local guy that was on our boat got out of the water crazily quickly when he saw it.

our next stop was quite possibly the highlight of the day. we stopped just next to this huge cliff face, and none of us were puite sure was going to happen. but the guides gave us life jackets and said ' cave time'. basically this cave was about 80 metres long, with about a metre of space between the water where you are bobbing anf the roof. lets just say, i wouldnt want a huge wave to wash through while i was in there. the guides proimised there was a beach at the other side though, so hoppped in the water and off we went. we held hands and floated through the cave, all the while me being completely freaked out about dying and never seeing anyone ever again. honestly, i thought i was gone. we were in this cave, absoulutely pitch black, no light from either the entrance or the exit. the only light was the one attached to the guides head, and he was pulling us all through the water, through the cave. i think back on it now and realise how absoulutely amazing it was though,,.. when there was any visibilty you could see the stalictites hanging from the roof of the cave. it was like something you se in a scary ride at dreamworld or something, but this was 100% genuine natural. crazy that places like this exist in the world and hardly anyone knows about them.
i have to admit, despite the constant fear of death when i was fumbling around in the water in the cave, the reward was worth it. we emerged in a kind of cove, that is completely impossible to access if you dont go through the cave. the water was chrystal clear, a kind of aqua blue that couldn't possibly be replicated artificially. the sides of the valley were covered in moss and vines, obviously having been growing for years and years without being disturbed by tourism, as a lot of thailand is. butterflies flew around, blue, yellow, black. a beach with sand as white as anything. there was a sign, explaing what this cove was used for. apparently pirates used to come to this place to hide their treasure. i dont if this was true or if its just a story created so that silly westerners will be like 'woahhhh' but i could believe it. you couldnt find this place if you didnt know where it is. completely cut off from the rest of the world. a secret haven. it was so worth the risk to get there, the adrenalin was pumping through my body, and i felt alive like i havent ever felt before.

the trip back through the cave to get away from the cove was tedious at best. haha, the guide took us the wrong way down the cave (how very professional) and we all got a bit freaked out. as risky as it was to do that, im so glad i did. this trip is a big risk, and payoffs like that cove make it all more than worthwhile.

we ate lunch (pad thai) on some random beach in the middle of the ocean, and then headed back to lanta on the boat. about half a k away from our final destination, the bloody boat ran out of petrol. we figured this was a bit of a joke the guys were playing on us, but after they started bulling pieces off wood from the floorboards of the boat we figured they really wouldnt be doing it just for shits and giggles. it took us about half an hour to get back to dock, but it was incredible funny. i guess its that kind of crazy shit thats makes traveliing so ineteresting, so adventurous. i only wish i had more time to experience it!

ahhhhh well, i must cruise, the reagge bar down the road beckons, and i must, i must!!

big love to everyone back home. only 7 days now!!

kopinkar xxx

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