Advertisement
Published: January 11th 2006
On the Night Train
Sarah lounging in her bunk... these were actually very comfortable.We arrived into Ko Lanta, a little island off Thailand's West Coast (The long thin bit of Thailand) on 2nd January. We were met at Saladan port by Corey, Kerry, Lou and Allaster - Stu's mates. Our journey from Bangkok was interesting!! We got the overnight train at 7:15pm. We decided to go for an air-con carriage, because Sarah thought she was gonna die last time she did the same journey. (And turned a tango-like orange colour from all the dust coming in the window). Stu slept like a baby, but I just couldn't sleep. All those romantic notions of train jouneys are B.S. if you ask me. They are noisy and you bounce around uncomfortably for most of the night.
Anyways our train was late into Surat Thani, so we spent hours sitting around, then got a 2.5 hour coach to Krabi and then a ferry to Ko Lanta. I was delirious by the time we arrived. Thank God Al and Lou (Stu's mates) had done all the leg work for us, so we had a nice hut booked at bungalows called 'Where Else' on Klong Khong beach. The huts were really big (500bt or about 8 quid). It was
Open Air Shaving
The bathroom in our hut was well ventilated. definitely au-naturale though. The bathroom doesn't have a door and half the ceiling isn't there, so we were showering and 'everything' else under the stars. Stu's still coming to terms with cold showers...
We were busy everyday in Ko Lanta, no lay-ins for us, as we explored the islands by moped. Weather was Ok. Some sun, some rain and some cloud. We've still managed to get quite a tan though and don't look like such obvious newbies now!
Highlights of Lanta include a day spent exploring the island and visiting the 'sea gypises' in the far south. We also had lunch at an awesome restaurant overlooking Old Lanta Town and a beautiful sheltered bay. We went on a snorkling trip to a little group of islands (rocks) called Ko Ha, where we spent a good few hours snorkling around the rocks in the middle of the ocean in quite choppy seas and looking at beautiful fish and much to my horror loads of Jelly fish!!!!!
We also visited the beautiful 'tiger caves' in the middle of the island. The others went on an elephant ride to the caves, but to save money, me and Stu walked behind the elephants, in
The Gang
Us on a deserted beach we found in Ko Lanta ankle deep mud, dodging boulder like elephant poos that were showering down on us and laughing as their elephants walked under low hanging branches and ripped down trees for an 'on the move' snack. Then we trekked on foot for a good while through a monkeyfied rainforest and streams. There was lots of wildlife in the caves including lots of bats and lizards. I asked the guide if there was any cave spiders... He just laughed and then shone his torch on a massive one on the wall of the cave, whoops. We crawled through and under rocks, getting covered in mud in the process. (Very fun) I was worried Stu wouldn't make it through some of the gaps though and I think our guides felt the same!! (Yes the gaps were very very small, stu.) On the walk back we went to a tranquil natural pool to wash off the mud and have a swim. Stu got right in and unfortunately got a leech on his leg, hee hee. Luckily Stu's mate Ali has experienced this before (but in more delicate places) so he quickly burned the critter off and we were on our way again!
We visited most
Elephant Tamer
Sarah with one of the Elephants on our trek through the jungles of Lanta of the beaches on Ko Lanta (Which are mainly on the west coast), ate delicious Thai food and played a lot of cards.
On our last evening Kerry and Corey treated us poor travellers to a slap up meal at an amazing restaurant called 'Red Snapper'. We ate like kings and drank delicious wine. Could be a while before we eat that well again!!! Tales from our new location - the island of Ko Phangan coming soon. Well when we recover from the full moon party on the 14th anyways....
So long for now, from Sarah and Stu x
Advertisement
Tot: 0.107s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 13; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0604s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Jim and Mel
non-member comment
Still looking good Disco Stu, stuck in holes! It looks a lot hotter where you are, we feel a little jealous. 12 hour journeys will be a piece of piss before you know it.. We are sat in an internet cafe with all the cars in the town going past beeping their horns to celebrate their new president. They are VERY excited. It's a little strange. Looking forward to the next instalment, Love Mel and SHJ xx