Lazing & Lounging in Lanta

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KOH LANTA

After an interminable wait at passport control, we got whisked through and onto the boat. As we did not have a seat number we got sent to the front by the window, great for the leg room, but not great for watching the TV, which was showing Hellboy 2. We managed to get a bit of a snooze and done a bit of reading, before in no time we had arrived in Satun.

Well this bit of the journey was a bit of a blur as no one seems to know how to get from Langkawi to Koh Lanta. We arrived at the terminal and Charlotte accosted as couple of sticker wearing passengers to ask them how they were doing the next bit of the journey, but they did not seem to know either as they had brought a ticket straight through!

Anyway as we exit the boat we get accosted by a variety of travel agents. We mention that we want to get a taxi to the bus stop, but they usher us into there office where they give a price for the rest of the way, which is quite good and includes the ferry! Big bus they promise and we have visions of the nice bus ride from Kuala Lumpur to the Cameron Highlands. What we get is an hour wait until we are loaded into a minibus. It was all okay until they stuffed two more Jocks in and we were scrunched up again! Us inside and our big bags tied on top!

Well it was a long old journey but we were sat next to the nicest Scottish man who talked incessantly, which helped pass the time. We stopped for petrol and cash after a couple of hours, where we ran inside to the break some of the big notes the ATM had given us and grabbed an ice pole each. A quick squat toilet visit, thanks Caroline, you made me look well travelled giving the girls in the group little packets of tissues.

Back in the bus and 10 minutes later we were dumped at there office in the middle of a town. Everyone was taken off and put in a new minibus and we were taken to another office! It turns out that we were the only ones left to pay as we had come from Malaysia and had no Thai currency. We quickly paid and joined the maelstrom of trying to fit all of us, our bags and a few locals into a slightly bigger bus, the locals seemed to be looking at us as if to say, why are you taking all of those bags you crazy English!!

Off we trot and a couple of hours and two ferries later we are deposited in the main town of Koh Lanta. The mini bus driver speaks no English and keeps shouting something at us until he decided to drop off the Thais and stop at a travel agents and hail a taxi bus thing for us. Two of the girls were booked into the Sea pearl, so jumped in, but she wanted to charge us 100 baht each, when we were told it would be 50 baht

We got together with the Scottish couple who were staying at the Lanta Marina, not far from where we were heading. We had been recommended by Noel who worked for Charlotte in Finchley to stay at ‘The Sanctuary’ and Nick & Danielle from the bus decided to join us, well, much better to bargain for two rooms. We were aiming at 500 baht per hut per night for a beachfront hut which is about £10.

Unfortunately we ended up speaking to a German girl who was working there rather than the head honcho, so we managed to get a middle bungalow for the night at 600 baht, but that was the best they could do. We both booked in for the night as it was getting late and they made us a slice of homemade bread with jam or peanut butter each and we dumped our bags.

Our room was pretty basic with a huge bed, mosquito net over, straw woven walls and a fantastic outside bathroom. We got changed and went for a swim in the jellyfish free sea, yeah! Mind you it was a bit rocky. On the way out Charlotte got chatting with this group of local ladies who were there on holiday too, plying their trade no doubt! The had a Scottish man in their grips and were making short work of him!

As we were getting out to shower off and head out for a Sunset drink we spotted Nick and Danielle doing just that at the place next door, they had been into a couple of the hotels on the beach and struck a great deal for an air conditioned twin behind the bar. We showered off and went for a sunset drink there, it was so nice watching the sun set that we ended up staying for dinner too, first Thai Green Curry of the trip!

Unfortunately as the sun set, the mosquitoes came out and had a royal feast on Charlotte leg’s! We had a chat with the people at the hotel behind the bar, but with the promise of a 500 baht hut up at the Lanta Marina, we decided it was high time we went and visited those Scottish scoundrels!

We walked up the road, being honked the whole time by taxi trucks and tuk tuk’s and soon found our selves at the Lanta Marina, although it was down a long dark windy road! We went to reception and were met by a very nice Ladyboy, who was all sixes and sevens! She showed us around and yes they did have a room for us tomorrow, went to have a look at the beach and although it was dark it looked pretty good, then we spotted the Scot’s at the restaurant. Well, we went over to say hi and got sat down for a drink, again with the chatter!

It was past 12.30 before we left and of course we had not made a reservation as we were to busy chatting! So we grabbed some sleep, got up and checked out. We really did like the outside bathroom though, so on giving back our room key we did enquire if they would like to match the Lanta Marina and we would stay for three more nights, but they were not having it! They offered us one of the hovels out the back for 400, but it was awful and smelly!

We walked up to the main road and a tuk tuk pulled up, well we loaded him high with us and all of our bag’s which was great as he took us all the way down to the reception. You would have thought all of her Christmases had come at once the way the Ladyboy greeted us! Yes there was most definitely a room for us, would we like the one at the back of the cluster, close to our Scottish friends or one next to the beach! Oh, next to the beach please! We were overlooking the beach and only had one hut to the side of us between us and the beach. Heaven.

We settled in very well and spent the days swimming in the sea, lazing on the beach or on the deck laying in the hammock. Charlotte read any book that was to hand (about one every two days) and managed to get a great trade with the couple in the first beach hut.

That evening Nick and Danielle came to visit as promised and we sat around shooting the breeze until after midnight again! At lease we did not have far to roll home. That restaurant is excellent and the booze cheap! This is where we discovered the Big Chang! A lot of people made the effort and came to our end of the beach to eat and drink at the beach bar.

Nick and Danielle came back to us for dinner again via the beach, the next night and we went down via tuk tuk (it was funny fitting us all in!) to the Focus bar, where they were practicing for the forth coming fire twirling competition. We were met on arrival by a very strange, but pleasant Welsh guy who proceeded to befriend us and seat us and order our drinks all at the same time. Very strange as we did not know who he really was!

He disappeared after the drinks arrived to do some twirling with his mates, some local Thai’s. Some were very good and some like him were, shall we say, just learning! This lead to some great photo’s on the slow mode of the camera. He did come over after a couple of Chang and started chatting to Charlotte, but he did seem a little scatty and slightly off of his face! He gave her his life story, which involved leaving the dead end land of Wales as soon as his scrawny legs could carry him, off to Scandinavia to work at some odd job, like fruit picking or something like that! He seems to have a reoccurring job out there but came out for the winter to Koh Lanta and got stuck here. Then he was banging on about a mad mother and how he might be a bit Bipolar too, no of course you are not too mad agrees Charlotte, just enough to be interesting! Never upset the Mad man!

On the way back we managed to snag the best tuk tuk on the island, it had flashing lights and a base speaker under our bums that bounced us home as he blasted rave music at number 11! We dropped Nick and Danielle off and got out to, then decided to pop into the bar opposite to finish the night off properly. One more Chang from the Ladyboy’s behind the bar and we were off to the infamous 7/11 that seems to have taken off around the world! After Charlotte refused to walk back and hailed a tuk tuk, Liam was quite glad that we did not have to walk along that dark and windy road at that time of night. It was also handy as the tuk tuk driver is the same guy that gave us a lift to the focus bar and was also hanging out at our beach bar the last night, so he took us right to the door!

The next night we headed down to a Mexican Restaurant opposite the last bar, that we had spotted the night before. Just after we had ordered Nick and Danielle walked in, they must be getting sick of us by now! So we left them to it on there own little romantic table. Great French onion soup (for a Mexican restaurant!) followed by Burrito’s and Enchiladas. Then off to bed, with very full stomachs we go!!

Charlotte had met the Canadian guy Thompson in the hut next to the beach in the sea and promised to do a book swap at a later date, he was here with Gigi his Spanish girlfriend, with the very wiggly bottom! They came over on the last day and he exchanged a couple of great books with us, one being Escape, about the only westerner to ever escape out of the Notorious Bangkok Hilton, thrilling reading. Just as we finished eating they joined us for a few drinks on our last night. They were great fun, he was a bit of a pot head and was having a really chilled time like us! He was off the next day to Krabi to do some of the amazing rock climbing that is available there.

We grabbed a little tuk tuk to take us to the ferry and bid a fond fair well to a quiet piece of heaven.

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