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After the disappointment of Phuket we were looking forward to laid back Koh Lanta. We took a minivan all the way down rather than the ferry as it was a lot cheaper and the journey was a bit more straightforward. When we arrived at our hostel it definitely had a relaxed vibe to it with a big open common area with loads of cushions and a TV with a memory stick loaded with hundreds of movies (including all the latest ones - South East Asia is pretty good for illegally I mean legally downloaded movies!). After putting our bags away we headed out for food in the evening not knowing where anything in particular was or what type of food we were looking for but almost immediately across the road from us was a little street side Thai BBQ restaurant (Thai BBQ = Thai man standing over oil drum cut in half filled with coal with a rack on top with meat and fish cooking away, restaurant = couple of wooden benches and plastic table and chairs next to the road) with a few locals eating here and the smell very tempting we took our seats and ordered a couple of
chicken quarters, a chicken sausage and a portion of sticky rice. I have to say this was some of the best food we have had so far!
Our time in Koh Lanta also met with the start of the change in seasons with the wet season due to begin at the start of May so in the late afternoon and through the evening we saw some rain and plenty of thunder storms! However during the day the sun was still baking hot. So on Koh Lanta we did what its reputation suggests we relaxed for a few days, watched plenty of movies and ate some pretty good food.
Our next stop was Koh Phi Phi, half way between Phuket and Koh Lanta and famous from the film The Beach. We really didn't know if we should go here after it getting plenty of mixed reviews but we didn't want to regret it so we jumped on the ferry across direct from Koh Lanta. When we arrived on the island it was much busier than the previous ones we had visited and then we also had to pay to get on the island, only 40p each for keeping the
island clean but I'm not too sure this is where the money is going as there was plenty of rubbish around!
On first sight though the island was quite nice, in order to get to our hostel we had to walk through the town which was very small and had narrow compact paths, there are no motorbikes on the island so instead people are ringing their bicycle bells to get past you and goods are moved around on carts which take up the whole path. There were plenty of bars, restaurants, cafes and souvenir shops mixed in with hostels and guesthouses the only downsides were the amount of people on the island and our room for the two night stay. Our room was a standard double room with a fan which was what we had booked, what we didn't book though was the amount of flying ants that seemed to attack our bed both nights - this was possibly the worst place we stayed and I don't want to talk about it anymore. One thing of note we did on Koh Phi Phi was head up to the viewpoint for sunset. It was a long walk up and quite steep in places but the view really was worth the walk, I'm not sure the photos will do it justice.
After thankfully checking out of our room we headed back on a ferry to the mainland and the town of Krabi. We actually really liked this town, it was quiet and had a really good night market with loads of food. Kebabs one night, chicken and Indian rice on another, popcorn chicken, mini waffles and strawberry ice shakes all filled us up. We also took a bus down to Ao Nang which has a nice beach and in general a little busier. Needless to say we found some excellent food there as well! Next up are the islands on the east coast of the peninsula.
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