Day 7 - 9: Koh Lanta

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We woke up on day 7 at 7:15am, a little sad we were already leaving Koh Lipe. We took a stroll down through the little street and had a lovely breakfast in a cafe before heading down the beach to see if the speed boat we had booked really was a speed boat - we really didn't fancy a 5 hour ferry ride to Lanta, 3 hours was much more appealing!

We strolled up to the immigration centre where we were checked in and we were pointed towards one of the long tail boats sitting in the bay, so we climed in and waited to see where it was going to take us. You really never know out here, you ask to go somewhere you end up somewhere else, you book a speed boat and end up on a ferry! Anyway the boat docked next to a Ferry - OH NO not again we thought ...... Luckily we were just dropping a couple of other people off before he set off towards the speedboats - yay we were going by fast boat after all!

The speed boat trip started a little uncomfortably, I'm sure for the first ten minutes my stomach was somewhere ten feet above my head, but as the boat got further out to sea, it settled down and it was a pleasent trip, making two or three other stops along the way - the only fault being I couldnt see out the window, too low down, but the three hours flew by and soon we docked at Koh Lanta.

We had booked some accomodation the night before, a little bit more expensive than we would have liked but it came with good reviews. We were grabbed almost instantly by a taxi, but no one seemed to know where Escape cabins was. Our piece of paper was passed around and around each person pointing to the word Escape and going 'huh, what does this say' followed by a blank stare. I finally pitched in Long Beach and 'Ah yes we know, get in'.

We pulled into Escape cabins and first impressions weren't that good, we weren't next to the beach, we were off the main road, opposite side of the beach and up a small dirt track, but first impressions aren't everything and as soon as we were shown our room we were blown away. For 20 pound a night we had a massive room with ensuite, king size bed, air con, tv and sky as well as a fridge, complimentary teas, soap, shampoo, conditioner (this excited me greatly) and bottled water. We also had a small porch which was right in front of the pool. With only 6 bungalows on site this place really is a gem. The staff were quite helpful and everything else was spotless. The beach was only 5 minutes walk away as were the bars and restaurants - I highly recommend this place if you have a little extra to play around with.

I think after coming from Koh Lipe, we were a little spoilt and long beach wasn't as nice as we had hoped, but this was just us been snobby after our bit of paradise. In fact after a little discussion we decided the beach is actually quite nice in terms of beaches we had visited, however it lacked a little shade. We ate in a little beach side restraunt the first night called 'Thai Cat' and it was really yummy, reasonably priced and really large portions.

The second day we decided to hire a scooter so we could travel the strecth of Lanta, 300Bht for 24hrs seemed silly not too really when Taxis charge 100bht each per journey. This way we had the freedom to come and go as we pleased. We headed for Lantas viewpoint bar/restrant which has amazing view looking out over the Andaman Coast. We had a bite to eat a drink and headed to one of the southern beaches.....just as it decided to cloud over - from experience we knew this only meant one thing - DOWNPOUR! So we hopped back on the bike and pegged it back home, just as it pelted it down, we ran for the shelter of our bungalow. We chatted to a lovely couple from Hove who had been staying here for the last two weeks, they were really cool and gave us some really good tips regarding Lanta as well as beyond! Also recommended having the pancakes for breakfast at the view point bar.

The next day we got up early to beat the sunshine (its so intense from about 11am) we headed for breakfast, hmmmm banana pancakes - awesome - and took a little drive, stopping at the elephant trekking to take a glimpse of Lantas first newborn elephant calf - so cute. We then headed back to the beach for a few hours before it was time to return our bike. We spent the afternoon at the pool and the evening was spent talking with Rob and Vicky our neighbours. They have already done alot of travelling and had some really good pointers for us. Tommorow morning we leave nice and early to sail to Koh Phi Phi - both me and Bon are quite excited, however we're having trouble finding accomodation - but fingers crossed!!

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Comments

[Mandy and Brett]

WOW!!!!
Hey guys!! Been keeping up with your travels - it all sounds sooo amazing (other than the cockroaches, lol!)!!! Hope you've got lots of advice for us! Glad you're having such a great time, already looking forward to catching up with you when you get back! Take care xx