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Published: January 24th 2007
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A 32 hour journey with bus, plane, boat and bus again took us from the far north to the deep south onto the tropical island of Ko Lanta. We passed through the popular tourist resort of Ko Phi Phi, where the beach was filmed; this once idyllic island has all but been ruined by the Thais enthusiasm and greediness for visitors and lack of sustainable tourism enforced to control foreign visitors. Now you could be mistaken for thinking you were in the Costa del Sol without the high rises, every second shop sells cheap tourist goods and the tourists swarm through the narrow streets looking for traditional British and German restaurants, if you want a fry up in Thailand this is the place.
We hoped to find more tranquil surroundings as I had 5 years ago on Ko Lanta. We finally arrived and keen to rest we settled in our bungalows at 'where else' guest house which had unique buildings; all constructed from bamboo, each join and bend was bound by rope and twine so it was easy to see how things were built, always by hand with time and care. The shower was attached to a tree in our
DJ Archer
Pod Idol Superman Style! outdoor bathroom and plants grew around the toilet, truly at one with nature. With the turquoise sea just a stones throw away we had a real sense of satisfaction that we had found
our paradise to see out 2006 and welcome 2 double 07!
Night fell and the string of bars lit up across the beach and started filtering out their various tastes in music. The barbeques started sizzling and the fish caught that day were laid out on banana leaves on stalls for all to see. Our choice to find a suitable place to eat was mainly based on the music they played; some bars had a 'European' feel top them, not least by the chinsy electro guitar music that spilt out onto the beach. Others had a much better feel with Bob Marley and chill out tunes being the main dish of the day. We chose a bar with a cool fire dancer called One who taught Amanda some moves with her new Christmas present, fire poise. Barracuda was on offer, we had to try it - a whole one between the four of us cost around 7 pounds.
With our stomachs full and our batteries
Our day out
Riding in the side car of a motorbike. recharged thanks to this magnificent fish we headed to the 'Monkey Bar' where cool dance, trance and house were pumping out. This bar was to become our local during our stay here. It was perfect- cocktails galore, chilled out bar staff, a free pool table, plenty of hammocks and a TV where I watched the Toon match against Man Utd! Plus you could put your MP3 player if you wanted, so began Pod Idol which would have its ups and downs as the week went on.
With David and Louise recovering but making good progress from their accident this was pretty much the order of the every day in Ko Lanta. Sometimes we would have fish and sometimes we would have Chicken, if we were feeling really adventurous we would have a pizza at Mr Wees pizzeria. Books got read, games got played, Manda improved her fire poise and I scored 4 goals in a 5-3 win over the Thai guys including a neat one two that I buried with my left foot?!?
We saw in the new year at Bubble Jungle (which was on another beach - adventurous!) and danced the night away although the 12 'o'
Our day out (part 2)
Our driver tries to concentrate on the road. clock DJ couldn't time keep. or beat match or play any decent music for that matter. New Years day was as laid back as you can get, this day is always a great day but by the beach recovering with cocktails'; its heaven.
Day two of the New Year and we found some adventure Tomb raider style. We went into the heart of the island and headed to the caves. They were not the most accessible caves and the health and safety would have had a field day. When we eventually clambered up some sharp rocks we were at the entrance; a small hole that you had to slide through while holding onto a rope. This cave didn't have spectacular stalagmites or stalactites but a volume of terrific tombs where their roof could not be seen and its corridors narrowed to other rooms and then a bridge. We felt like explorers in a lost world, David and I readied our guns in case of tigers, bears or even dinosaurs! Instead we saw spooky spiders, creepy crickets and beautiful bats; Amanda’s second favorite animal so far.
After this adventurous day we need to recharge on barracuda and white Russians
Higher than God
...and he's a photographer too! for dessert. When we arrived at the monkey bar Pod Idol was well under way with some new Swedish travelers playing their songs. I went on next with some build up tunes and half way through this girl the track on; Madonna - substitute for love. Right, game on! As they played Oasis and other whiney tracks Mandas Ipod rocked with the smug Swedes sent home as we partied into the night.
The next day we headed out again to a viewpoint cafe that I remembered from my last visit to Ko Lanta. As Manda and I marched up the hill ahead of David and Louise we were struck by an unbelievable sight. Up ahead on the track was a dragon of the east; black and green its prehistoric head looked back at us, then it scuttled into the bush ahead its massive tail propelling its body forward. We screamed and yelled and David and Louise ran up. They couldn't believe our tales of this two meter plus lizard. We carefully tip toed past the bush where this beast lay and went to the cafe. Strangely this place was empty; there were still pans n the kitchen, still pens
Road to no where...
Another picture perfect shot. Maybe a calendar in the making! behind the desk and still drinks in the fridge but no staff, no life apart from the big Dragon that rested just the other side of the track.
We felt like we were in the famous five or something and quickly had to get back to reality. We had lunch, a burger a Coca Cola in a near by cafe and Louise bought a hammock similar to ours, hand made by a Northern Thai tribe, a life time guarantee if you treat it right.
Knowing our Visa was running out we had to saw goodbye to this beautiful beach and booked a bus to Kuala Lumpor. It is great to be sad to leave somewhere but we are heading to a new country and new adventures on the island of Borneo
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RAY
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Stupendous, original birthday card - thank you