Road trip number 2. By bike.

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After a day zooming around the island on the truck tuk we felt we'd seen a good proportion of the it.

However as our truck tuk driver had taken us mainly to the well known tourist places we had noticed other interesting looking places that we would have liked to investigate more.

Motor bikes are super cheap to rent on most Thai islands and are a popular way to get around. Ko Lanta is no exception. Bikes are less than £4 a day

The roads tend to be in a bad condition, large potholes , mud patches and gravel. Stan's an experienced bike rider so I put my faith in his skills. Unlike most tourists, however, who tend to ride around in skimpy clothing or even swimwear I put on long trousers and a fleece. I've seen too many people with huge parts of their bodies badly grazed!

Our first stop was Relax Bay, we had been there before but not taken the camera, it was an hour's walk away from where we are staying which wouldn't normally be so bad but the fact there is no shade left on the beach by 1pm means the walk back was a killer. To zoom there by bike in only ten minutes gave us a feeling of freedom.

Our main objective if the day was Diamong Cliff. A restaurant built into the side of a cliff above an unspoilt white sandy bay.

The flight of steps down was very steep ending with half a dozen made from tree branches . Not easy to negotiate so probably a good job we didn't come here on our previous with Jake and Kyla.

We had the beach virtually to ourselves, the sea was calm and a bit rocky off shore so we went for a snorkel but sadly nothing to see.

The heat began to beat us so we moved on to Kantiang bay for lunch.

On the way we spotted signs for Tiger Cave so turned of the road and followed them. The dirt path was very rough and passed by several dwellings in a very poor condition, small children playing in the dirt and litter strewn around everywhere with no sign of any sanitation. It's only when you leave the tourist areas you see how life really is for some of the local people.
We never made it to the cave, we came across a German couple who had tried to go to the cave and were told it would cost 1,000 Bhat. Given the state of the houses and the road we figured the cave wouldn't be up to much either so turned around and continued our journey to Kantiang Bay.
We'd passed through here on last trip but hadn't stopped in the town. To be honest there was not a lot there, a few restaurants on the main road, some bars along the back of the beach and a 7/11 mini mart.
Made us realise we'd made the right choice to stay on Long Beach for our six weeks.
While we were eating lunch it began to rain. The thing we'd been dreading due to the state if the roads. Fortunately it was only a tiny shower and soon passed over.

After a stroll down to the bay we jumped back on the bike and began heading back 'home'.
We called in at two other little bays that were close to Relax Bay, our first stop of the day. The tide had come up now making if far more picturesque. Again we found ourselves virtually on our own until a German couple we'd met earlier on Diamond Cliff arrived and processed to skinny dip. We stayed about half an hour but like all the beaches on this coastline there was no shade so we walked back over to the next bay where we'd left the bike.
There was a tiny ittle bar there with a few people sat around enjoying a cold beer which seemed amazing as there appeared to be no electricity supply.
An toothless old lady gave us a sweet smile and gestured did we want a beer. A Danish tourist assured us it was the coldest beer he'd had so we decided to give it a go. It was so cold and really hit the spot, especially as we sat on a rough plank of wood eatchibg the sun begin to dip into the ocean. It seems it had been stored in a huge box of ice all day. Much more effective than the fridges here!
Given that we still had a ten minute drive left we stuck to one small beer and left to drag on layers of clothes for the short journey back. Probably looked completely stupid as others humped on their bikes in now wet swimwear but like I said I was taking no chances!
Ten minutes we were delivering the bike back to the rental shop. I'm glad we had a day of freedom but wouldn't do it on a regular basis, I've seen one too many people who've come to grief on these roads.


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Photos

Me and the bike.
It's seen better days. The bike I mean!