Final days in Thailand at Ko Lanta, Ko Phi Phi and Krabi

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11/2/12 – 13/2/12

Ko Lanta - by Terry

Leaving Ko Lipe was a massive comedown for us. We peaked with paradise a little too soon, but you don’t realise that until you leave and visit the next place. Our trip to Koh Lanta was a ‘Five Parter’ – Boat, Minibus, Minibus, Speedboat, Songthaew (that’s a pick-up with seats in the back). We had paid 850 Bht (£17pp) on Koh Lipe to leave at 9am and arrive at 4pm the sameday.



The ferry ride back to Pakbara, on mainland Thailand, was as crammed as it could have been. I’m very sure they just keep selling tickets until the boat leaves and operate under the principal ‘nobody gets left behind’. For each wave we hit the roof of the boat flexed downwards under the pressure of luggage piled on top, but the captain went full speed ahead and we made it, alive. From Pakbara we exchanged our ticket at the minibus agent for another ticket, and then got told to walk up to another agent by the 7/11 where our ticket was then exchanged for a bit of paper with a scribble on – doubts about getting to Ko Lanta! Before we knew it, we were in the minibus and at the petrol station filling up - because nothings a certainty here until you have bums on seats!



After 2hrs crammed in the back of the minibus we got to Trang and were offloaded to another travel agency who consisted of the nicest ladies we’ve ever met. For the brief 30mins we were there they made us feel very comfortable, and were very reassuring that we would make it all the way to our final destination without any fatalities or ending up miles from where we are supposed to go. Sadden to leave them we took another minibus to a deserted pier 10km from Trang where we boarded a speedboat and made off for Ko Lanta. The scene wasn’t too dissimilar from what I imagine a drug run to be like, although we weren’t crossing any borders, and the people on board barely looked like they could drive a boat let alone evade authorities in the art of drug smuggling.



We were greeted by a Songthaew as we stepped onto the pier at Ko Lanta, and with no particular destination in mind we opted for the supposed backpacker are of Pra Ae. After taking some advice from a local guy on our ride we got dropped off at Funky Monkey. Funky Monkey turned out to be closed, and a bar, not a guesthouse. We later saw the same guy who suggested it, and he turned out to be a taxi driver – not getting in your car mate!



So, as is the story with every arrival in a new town, I leave Kate in a bar and go off walking around looking for accommodation. Ko Lanta was a bit more of a pain because everything is spread out along the road and off side roads down to the beach. To cut a long story short, I took about 1hr looking around, and the cheapest I could come up with was 450Baht (£9) at ‘Lanta Queen Resort’. This was by far the best for the price, and whilst others would see you in a damp smelling bamboo hut, this place was a series of bungalows, all with showers, fridges, TV’s and Wifi. It was run by a small Muslim family who went out of their way to make sure we were happy. This was evident the next day when they hired us a motorbike, and no more than 1km down the road we had to pull over due to a flat rear tyre. After a few moments deliberating whether to ride it back flat, we noticed a mechanic conveniently located across the road so wheeled the bike over. “200Baht”, “Thats fine, but I’m not paying” and I passed him the hotel card and said “you ring, they pay”. After a short minute he put the phone down, and asked us to wait 10mins. And 10mins later our hotel man arrived with money in his hand, and paid 80Baht to fix the bike and looked at us and simply said “You Happy, I’m Happy”, and so we were. We drove up to Long Beach and wasted a few hours enjoying the sun and sea, then later headed up to the port to scout out tickets for Ko Phi Phi which we decided to leave for tomorrow.



As far as islands go, Ko Lanta could arguably be the relaxed retreat of the tired backpacker and good place to lay up for a while, but after coming from Koh Lipe it was really a step down for us, so we didn’t see it in perhaps the best light, and therefore left as quickly as we’d arrived.





13/02/12 to 18/02/12

Ko Phi Phi – By Terry

After some looking around and some gentle persuasion with our guesthouse, we bought our Ferry Tickets for Ko Phi Phi for 300 Baht each (£6pp). The price included transport to the ferry port, so even more of a bargain for us the following morning when were picked up at 7.30am and taken straight to the ferry.



Quick to board, and scarred from previous boats trips where sitting on anything that vaguely resembles a seat will cost you an extra 20B, we went for the danger element and sat outside in the scorching morning sun with our feet dangling off the side. The crossing took about 1.5hrs which, contrary to previous ferry trips, seemed a little slow given the size of the boat and the tendency Thai boat drivers seem to have for going full throttle on every boat ride we’ve survived before this. But no, this captain was for real, slow and easy, and probably one of the smoothest and most enjoyable boat rides we’ve had.



Arriving into Phi Phi was one of those moments that make you happy to be alive, the scenery was jaw dropping, and the clear blue sea would entice even non-swimmers to attempt a swim to shore. The Thai’s aren’t the best in coordination when it comes to a mass exodus from boat to paradise, but equally as disorganised and if not more obnoxious are your fellow travellers when it comes to being first ones off the boat. Kate and I relish in this as we always like to be the last ones off. Firstly because it’s just too funny watching the arguments and rudeness with everyone pushing to get off, and secondly, by the time we do get to shore, all the touts have pretty much gone.



So we arrive in Phi Phi around 10am and take a quick walk around before finding a nice cafe to sit Lady Katherine down whilst I (The Man / The Hunter, The Provider) go off on my all too familiar mission, “to find a cheap room”!!!



In my experience so far, never follow the crowd, never take the first price and if you do like the place....Never Never show them you’re keen. In today’s exercise, because that’s literally what it turned out to be, Kate had expressed an interest in a guesthouse on ‘Long Beach’. I’m guessing they call it that because it’s a ‘Long’ way to get to, 25mins in fact (through crowds, along beaches, footpaths, through tree’s) – and if you’re thinking 25mins is not much, picture a sunny 30+ Degrees, no suntan lotion, sweaty clothes, the thought of walking 25mins back to get Kate and then having to do it all again with 18kg on your back and another 5kg on your front, and........ (This is the killer)....BEFORE I’VE EVEN HAD BREAKFAST (Kate is drinking tea and eating Muesli, Fruit and Yoghurt – and so she should eh Pat!!).



The initial walk there was quite cool. Where the concrete footpath ends on the South shore of the island, so to, do 95% of the tourists, leaving only the adventurous to tackle the winding paths up and down hills and over tree roots. When you do finally arrive at Long Beach you quickly realise that this is ‘Flashpacking’ at its finest. People don’t walk here, oh no...They take a boat dear boy!! In the 30mins I spent on Long Beach I quickly realised I was out priced at 99% of the hotels here and as I didn’t bring my Speedo’s I clearly wasn’t going to fit into the beach scene either. With little hope in this part of town I ventured on to the last resort at the end of the beach, which was typically named ‘Phi Phi Hill Resort’ for the uncountable number of stairs you had to climb to get up there! They had rooms, big ones at that, but at 750Baht (£15) per night, when we’re used to paying at least half, this was a beach we wouldn’t be staying on.



Walking back to the main town, I took a detour off to the right and ended up near a half filled reservoir surrounded by guesthouses. These all looked more up our street, old looking, ready to fall down and made out of plywood...you know the kind. Despite the poor build quality on the accommodation most of the owners seemed to have added a swimming pool in an attempt to now class their guesthouses as ‘luxury’ and squeeze travellers out of another 1000Baht for what would have been a 300Baht room. Needless to say, most places I’d been to were charging a minimum of 800Baht per night for what resembled a shed, and after nearly 2hrs I was ready to admit to defeat and would rather be anywhere but on Phi Phi!!



With budget on the mind, I had found one women that had a clean room for 600Baht (£12) overlooking the reservoir, but also a cheaper room behind a tattoo parlour in town for 500Baht (this was actually a shed!!). So clearly dehydrated, tired and beat, I went back to Kate who was sat in the cafe, drinking tea, reading her book and clearly having the time of her life. Although it seems that Kate had struggled herself, with trying to stretch out a bowl of Muesli, and 2 Teas - over 2hrs!!



We quickly decided to throw caution to the budget, and despite being able to stay in a shed for 500Baht per night, the best option I’d seen was on Long Beach at Phi Phi Hill Resort for 750Baht. It also allowed Kate to show me some true empathy as we trundled back along the beaches and footpaths with all our baggage attached and the sun at full heat. It took us 40mins to get back this time, all of which I was becoming more and more conscious at the hoards of backpackers moving around the island in drones seeking out accommodation. Once we had finally climbed the stairs to the resort and unable to speak for thirst at the top of the stairs, one of the hotel staff brought us over and gave us a water each...for free....we’re going to enjoy staying here! Or not as it turned out. It really pained me to be polite when the reception guy glanced quickly over without any compassion at all, and said “now full”, and of course it was my fault for not expressing any interest when I was here 1hr ago...but this really was the low point of the day!



Almost dazed and confused with heat and exhaustion we picked the bags up yet again, descended the 200 steps down from the resort, walked the length of Long Beach, climbed up the dirt stairway, and walked the tree root footpath back into the main town, all in silence. By this point we had been on Phi Phi for about 3.5hrs, and the thought of getting the next boat off wasn’t far from thought. So we stopped outside a 7/11 (They literally are everywhere in Thailand), finally drank some water and had a few minutes to regroup. I left Kate sat down, and wondered back up to the reservoir and stood eagerly outside the guesthouse that I’d been to 2hrs before with my fingers crossed nobody had already taken the room. As it happens it was still empty, and in order to get the room for 600 Baht, as “it normally 800Baht, me do you special price you stay long”, I paid up front for 5 nights. Fantastic, we have a room, not the greatest view, not the thickest of walls, the bed size is in between a double and a single (is there actually a name for these types) and perhaps it’s not the cheapest we’ve paid in Thailand, but heh...its clean, we have a shower, fan, towels and for £12 a night we get to stay on of the most beautiful islands....this side of the Isle Of White. The doom and gloom all disappears the moment you’ve got that place you can call home for the next few days, and it was now time to enjoy.



It’s hard to imagine what Phi Phi would have been like 20yrs ago, but today it appears it’s officially the place to be. In some respects, at 31, I actually felt old here, but it’s nothing a few ‘Beer Chang’ doesn’t fix. Rather than delve straight into the islands hedonistic scene on the first night, we bought a few Chang from the shop (Cheapest we found was 50Baht (£1 for a big bottle) and sat in the deckchairs watching a storm on the horizon, life is good!!



The next day was ‘Valentine’s Day’!!! Luckily for me Kate’s not into the whole commercialism of it, so my plans of flowers, cards and even a cup of tea in bed were thwarted, and quite frankly, asking somebody to marry you on this day is the ultimate in clichés and would never even cross my mind. So we had breakfast at Tom Yam’s cafe which is in fact where we ate it from for the next 4 days (great food, though he could have smiled a bit!), and then we thought we’d spend the day at Long Beach, as if it didn’t punish enough yesterday. In fairness the beaches on the South of Phi Phi, in our opinion were much better, and Long Beach was far enough away from the crowds to be able to enjoy a bit of space on the golden sands. We could have gone extravagant for Valentine’s Day and eaten at a posh restaurant, but in all honesty, we’ve found that all you end up with is a more expensive meal. In this part of the world you can have a fantastic dinner for as cheap as £1 – albeit on plastic stools made for kids. We ate at restaurant on the South side which faced out to the harbour, and ‘pushing the boat out a little more’ (excuse the pun) we spent £2 each on one of the best Massaman curries we’ve ever eaten. So good in fact we ate there the following 3 nights. We rounded up the night early and headed back to our penthouse box with a few beers and watched Love Actually – I’m not afraid to admit it, it’s a good film!!



In what seems to be a rite of passage for anyone in Thailand, our trip to Phi Phi wouldn’t be complete without a trip to ‘Ko Phi Phi Leh’, home of Maya Bay, aka ‘The Beach’. We’d purchased our tickets from one of the hundreds of ‘travel agents’ on Phi Phi for 250Baht each (£5pp, most were between 300 – 400Baht). Our Longboat left at 9.30am and along with 6 others we headed out, cameras in hand, shooting anything and everything. We approached the island on the East, first passing the Viking Cave, following which the driver impressively navigated the boat over a shallow reef and into Phi Leh Bay, clearly not ‘The Beach’ but just as impressive. Seconds later came a shout of “you swim now, 20mins”, so in we jumped. His attempt to wake us all up worked, it’s a good job as we might not have survived the snorkelling at Loh Sama at the southern tip of the island. Indeed a popular spot with another 20 boats all dotted around, but you soon forget that once mask is on and you’re in the water exploring the underworld. The visibility here was amazing, and so too were the fish, though unfortunately no reef sharks or turtles today. After a tasty salad sandwich courtesy of our boat driver, we were out of the snorkelling arena and over to the west of the island turning the corner into Maya Bay. Wow, how many maps did Leo draw, there is no way it was one. He drew thousands!!! Ok, people and boats aside, this place is stunningly beautiful and with some careful observation it’s still possible to get some decent pictures here without the world in the background. We had an hour here to soak it up, and that’s exactly what we did!! We had one more snorkelling stop on our trip, followed by a 10mins meet and greet with the resident monkeys on Phi Phi. The boat did break down on the way back to the harbour, but we were only 5mins away and got towed back by another Longboat. In all, and for £5 each, you would be a fool not to do this tour.



The day was quickly followed by lunch at our newly appointed breakfast establishment, and dinner at our favourite Massaman provider, although Kate thought she’d deviate from the norm and order a Panang Curry – let’s just say I’m not a charity when someone has picked a duff dinner and I offer no sympathy until my bowl has been licked clean, by me, and me alone.



We picked up a few beers and ventured out into the mayhem that is ‘Phi Phi by night’ stopping by the Reggae Bar which contrary to its name, invites revellers to step into the boxing ring against one another to showcase their strength and fighting ability in exchange for a bucket (that is the drink variety). It certainly makes for an amusing watch, but unfortunately the fight is capped at one minute. We left there and followed the crowds to the north facing beach where we were both overcome with a slightly embarrassed feeling of....how the hell did we not spot this earlier! Phi Phi is great, loads of stalls, restaurants, bars, but you always had the sense that, for the amount of people you saw in the day, the evenings seemed pretty quiet in town.....that’s because everything is happening at the beach!!! Loads of bars, house, dubstep, rock, drum & bass, fire throwers, this place rocks!!! Unfortunately our budget doesn’t agree with bar prices, so we made haste back to the minimart and bought a few more bottles of beer and discreetly occupied most of the bars until the early hours of the morning!! Needless to say, the next day was mostly about breakfast in the morning and Massaman curry in the evening!



We were a bit more productive on our last day and took in the viewpoint which is a beast of a stair climb, but you are more than rewarded with the views of the island, and the calmness that sits above the mayhem going on down below. Phi Phi was a great island, and definitely a place we’d go back, but maybe next time we’d book accommodation in advance and maybe pay a bit more for some luxury. On a sadder note, our time here is done, and our next stop is Krabi.





18/02/12 to 21/02/12

Krabi – By Terry



It wasn’t a hard choice, we’d already been to Trang, Phuket was in the wrong direction and quite often referred to as hell, and frankly our island days were done for now, so we picked Krabi. We had paid 230Baht each (£4.60) for a ferry from Phi Phi back to Krabi from our trusted travel agent, and boarding at 10.30am we were back on the mainland by 12pm. We quickly exited the port, shunning the big tourist bus in the car park (50Baht), and walked 2mtrs out the gate to get a songthaew for 30Baht each direct to Krabi Town.



Krabi town is more of a transit hub for backpackers and tourists alike, with most moving quickly on to the beaches of Ao Nang 20km’s down the road. For us, it was perfect. Just a small backpacker scene with cheaply priced guesthouses and good hawker stalls to eat from allowing us some relaxation away from the party scene.



After the routine ‘Terry 2hr search’ we ended up staying at Chan Cha Lay, which was a bargain at 250Baht per night (£5). The place had a nice relaxed feel to it, and the rooms were all light, airy and clean (none of that horrible damp smelling stuff you get in some cheap places). We stayed here for 3 nights in the end, enjoying the Krabi Town weekend night market, and also the nightly food market down by the river (A great Thai Donut guy at the end – 3Baht each – Yummmmmy!!).



We hired a moped for one of the days (150Baht) and took a drive out to Ao Nang beach. The route there was pretty spectacular as the road runs between these huge limestone cliffs, so good in fact someone has chosen it as a filming location (cliffhanger 2?). Our arrival in Ao Nang as beautiful as it was, was clouded by the stowaway on board Kate’s tongue – a newly formed blister or ulcer. This thing was oval looking, slightly orange in colour and vaguely resembled a peanut – not very pretty at all. We quickly parked up the bike and our made our way to the nearest Internet cafe where Kate used the 10mins for a quick self diagnosis – “Too much acidity in her muesli fruit and yoghurt this morning”. After a quick display of her tongue to the local pharmacist who further diagnosed it as an ulcer and was very willing to sell us an assortment of remedies, I prescribed some water and a yoghurt drink to calm the aggravation. We quickly got back to the beach where we enjoyed an afternoon basking in the sunshine. It wasn’t until later that day when we were deep in conversation about 80’s cult movies, Kate stopped mid conversation and spat out what appeared to be a peanut shell – that’s right, a peanut shell!!



Krabi Town was a great to place chill out for a few days and for us the last stop on our Thailand adventure. We booked 2 tickets to Penang, Malaysia for 550Baht each (£11) and on the 21^st we kissed goodbye to this epicentre of culinary delights, beautiful islands, and women that look like men.

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