Ko Lanta

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January 31st 2009

Published: February 3rd 2009

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iwillbe

Motorcycle

Yes as you can see I am petrified

We took Trevor and Erin to eat on the ocean at Sayong resort. It is hard to describe how beautiful this is here. The tables are right on the beach with red table cloths and twinkling lights in all the trees and above all the tables. They play great music from the bar ,I am even contibuting to their music collection with a download from my computer. We love the restaurant here as it has a great menu. There is american food,Thai and best of all Indian. They even have an outdoor oven for fresh Naan bread . We enjoy the people at the resort and one of the owners even rented us his motorcycle for the week for about $50 dollars. After dinner we went to the supermarket and purchased enough food for breakfast and a couple home dinners. We played cards until 2 in the morning after doing a web call with Angie,Ritchie and the kids.

The next day we took the bikes to Saladan and explored the town ,it is very small so this did not take long.

Trevor and Erin wanted to go diving so we visited several dive shops

Beach in town of Saladan

Investigating the sand crabs

and they decided on doing their advanced diving program which was a total of 5 dives over 2 days. Blue planet was the name of the dive shop and they really did enjoy their dive trips with them.

We went to the end of the street right to the ocean the backs the town and wandered on the sand beach which was alot of fun since the tide was out and there were many things on the beach at this time.

Later we went down to Long Beach which is the same beach we stayed on years ago. The beach was the same but many more resorts are here now. It is sad to see the old resort that we had had so many fond memories ,partially destroyed,left abandoned,and the jungle slowly reclaiming it.

We had a blast swimming taking some crazy shadow pictures and just enjoying the beach. The sunsets here are amazing in 1 evening I must have take 20 shots at different angles.All amazing hope you enjoy the one I picked .

We went back after the sunset,had our

Long Tail boat

Believe it or not they actually go out in the ocean and fish with nets with these boats

delicious spagetti dinner,so so wine ,and another great night of card playing.

The next morning we decided to clean the apartment with supplies borrowed from the cleaning staff,since this is not a hotel but an actual furnished apartment the people who stay here are not tourists. They are mostly English teachers for the children here on the island ,or vacationers with children who prefer to cook thei own food for their children and do not want resort life. We can get the cleaning people to do the apartment for 300Baht a week ,approximately $10 Canadian but had decided not to at the beginning. I think when we leave it would be a good idea as we plan to return here with Jim and Yvonne in the beginning of March for a week or 2.

Today we decided to do a Thai cooking class it is 1000Baht each and you get picked up and eat all the food you prepared. Before the class started the instructor went over all of the food found here on the island that they use for cooking. It was really

Myself and Erin

still at the beach with our Lanta beach guide book

interesting ,all the spices are fresh. Did you know that tumeric is actually a root looking similar to ginger only in inside is this bright terecotta color. When you peel and chop it up your fingers and nails turn bright yellow. Also we used real baby corns husked ourselves the flavour is devine. Even the coconut milk is fresh. It is no wonder all the food here is so delicious as I have never cooked with such fresh ingredients in my whole life. The variety of fruit and vegetables here is beyond our realm of thinking.

We preped all of the 5 dishes dishes we made prior to cooking and in Thailand everything is cooked in a wok over high heat so cooking time for each dish was about 1 to 2 minutes. The one thing I noticed is all the ingredients are about the same just used in different ways ,so this explains why the menus are so varied here and the delivery of food is fast and extremely fresh.

Thai food is known to be chili hot( one small green Thai chili about 3/4 of an inch long and thin is

Thai House

Most of the Thai people build their homes on stilts ,this one because it is on the ocean. Currently the tide is out ,that is why we are playing in the sand.It will actually be right under the house once the tide comes back in.

so hot that our Thai beef salad was way too hot for even me.) Most of the dishes do not have to be predominately hot and they do turn down the heat for us Westerners,they actually use 3 of the Thai hot chilis in their salad.) They believe that there must always be harmony in a dish,in a curry dish,the sharpness of chilis and the spices is tuned down by the sweetness of coconut milk.

Traditional Thai meal ,cooked rice,soup,curry. Condiments and side dishes or dipping.Steamed fried and grilled dishes of chicken ,beef and seafood(mostly shrimp ,fish and squid in this area) and dessert( banana fritters and pancakes are my favourite).

The kitchen conditions for us is deplorable ,however no different than our having a shore lunch at home. Food is cooked over an open flame and very quickly. All the vegetables and fruit are washed,since I have been using ordinary tap water to brush my teeth I suppose the water is fairly safe. The roof of the kitchen is thatched the floor not at all clean. The rooster crowing on the 4 foot barrier that encloses the kitchen really made

beach

beach shot

me smile.I thought about my Grandma right away, I could just see her chasing it away.

We made friends with the one lady who was doing clean up and as the day proceeded she kept getting happier. I think someone was slipping a drink or 2 for her because she was a little tippy by the time we left. Oh yes for 50Baht you can buy beer to drink while you cook.

This was a wonderful experience that I can hardly wait to repeat when I get home and share with everyone.(Minus the rooster,or maybe include the rooster as it was all part of the experience)

The next day was again a beach day for just Ron and I as Trevor and Erin are taking their Advanced diving course which is a 2 day event.
Really nothing to expand on here as all we did was lay on the beach swim and read books.

Second day of Trevor and Erins dive .Ron and I decided to explore the island .It is divided in half the west side is all beaches and

beach shadows

We spent a bit of time playing with shadow shots. I am the one on the right,looks like I lost 50 lbs. Best diet ever.

resorts.To the north is the main town of Saladan where pretty much everything you need is located. The main pier is here and the ferry crossing to the mainland. To the south is the National Park wich we decided to save for another day.

Instead we went to Saladan and all the way to the south tip on the eastern side which is where all the locals are. It was a great paved road ,with very little traffic that weaved through the jungle ,with views of the sea and far away clliffs from the mainland and the several islands that are in between.

Here you can see local lives of the island people. There is Buddists,muslims and Sea Gypsies that seem to be able to co-exist on this small island with no problem at all .Since there are no fences livestock and animals run free. People seem to own only 1 cow which is tied to the ground and they go out and take it for a walk and tie it to a different spot.

We had to stop twice for goats that the owners were moving to spots on the other side of the road. They

Computer prayer

And he says I like sitting on the computer,he is actually down one one knee to it.This is our deck at our apartment.

were so cute as they had babies which only looked a couple days old As we slowed down to let them cross, the children on the side of the road waved and smiled.
It is funny that in each group of animals there is always the one slowpoke . A little goat barely old enough to stand with a leash 3 times longer than itself came baaing across the road .The village people all looked alarmed that we would hit it,we stopped in time they all clapped and smiled.

We then went to a fishing village called Lanta Old Town.

This was the islands original port and commercial centre,and provided a safe harbour for Arabic and Chinese trading vessels sailing between the larger ports of Phuket,Penang and Singapore. Some of the gracious and well kept wooden stilt houses and shop fronts are over 100 years old and a pleasure to walk through. There are few tourists in this area ,a couple guesthouses and pier restaurants,that offer up fresh catches of the day and have prime views over the sea.

We spent some time roaming the town and taking pictures,then continued south not too far we found this

Clean up

Because we are so cheap we decided to opt out of paying 300 Baht to have our apartment cleaned .The staff here gave us cleaning supplies and we did it ourselves. at least we know that everything is clean. Note the broom is actually the best for getting sand off the floor. Yes ,that is a microwave and a real toaster.

stunning restaurant on a cliff overlooking the ocean ,stopped and had a great visit with the owner .The beer was cold the music was mellow ,the scenery unreal. there was an island directly across that was apparently inhabited by monkeys but it looked like a great place to explore. There always is another day to to island hopping ,Ko lanta is a district of Krabi which consists of 52 islands 12 of which have inhabitants.

On our way after a quick wave to our new friend we went to sea gypsy village which was wiped out after the tsuanami and the government build them all new homes. The old charm is gone as it now looks like an upscale resort. The sea gypsys here are not at all happy with their new accomadations. They prefer they old wooden stilt houses which promote their old way of life.

On our way back we went through the centre of the island since the centre is very mountainous the ride was a bit more challenging but stunning views tempered the hair raising elevations. It was so cute a chicken appeared out of nowhere with a her baby chicks and scurried across

bathroom

All the modern conveniences.You cannot really tell in this shot but the shower is huge.

the road and of course about 3 feet behind comes the rebellious slowpoke cheeping as high as it can trying to catch the rest.Again we had to stop but it is so nice to see the freedom that farm animals enjoy here as compared to our commercial environment where they and cooped up in small cages until they are of no use anymore.

We drove back upon the west side and saw some of the beaches there so far long beach is still my favourite .

Trevor and Erin finished their dives and had an amazing time. Erin started diving in Australia and she indicated that the diving here was amazing. They saw so many things that you do not elsewhere.The water even at 20 meters is crystal clear. They saw a leopard shark and a sea turtle. Little Nemos,puffer fish,and sea horses.the coral reeefs were apparently beautiful. Also food supplied was decadent chocolate croisants, fresh fruit and yogurt for breakfast ,full lunch and donuts and fruit for afternoon. Of course water and drinks were also supplied. They had 5 dives and completed their advanced dive certificate for 12000 baht each.

We spent our

Cooking class

Because we are being so domesic today, we also took in 4 hour Thai cooking class .While our spouses were lounging at the beach,we chopped,sauteed and pounded.Keep in mind no air con and it is 35 degees outside.

next day at the beach while Trevor and Erin stayed inside all day planning their trip to India and then we all went out for great dinner at the pier(AJ the restaurant I kept pointing at that was always full) .It was some of the best food we had and cheaper than most of the resort type restaurants(Alison it had the same great menu but a glass of wine was only 100Baht). We then met a Thai guy who we took to a bar with his wife and learned alot about their culture,apparently all Thai women marry at 15 or 16 years of age .I always wondered why they all looked so young. This guy wants us to buy a restaurant and bar and he will assist us as nothing here can be owned by an outsider. He worked for a resort here on Ko lanta as a cook and bartender.Because of the ecomomy here he lost his job and bought a tuk tuk for 30000Baht that he is using to support his wifes parents ,himself,wife and 2 children. On the island you cannot purchase alcohol after 11am unless you are in a bar,so since we wanted beer for our

Just about to start

This was our work area and the little fellow at the back back is our teacher,he speaks limited english.Do not ask a question as the answer is always yes.

appt he drove us to places that he knew until he found someone willing to sell us liquor after hours.We now see him regularly as he always looks out for us to give us rides where ever we want.

Our final day was spent on the beach quietly with Trevor and Erin it is sad to see them go ,I felt like they were one of my own and when they left I almost cried as hard as I do when they leave. They were great fun and wonderful people.Angie you are so lucky to have them as your friends.

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