Hi5 your way from Krabi to Koh Lanta – Tintin Episode 3

---

Relaxed, chilled out and knackered as we slowly walked out of the plane into 35 degree sunshine, strolling into the airport and the baggage just trundling around with our backpacks reaching us like clockwork. Outside was like nothing I have experienced before, the weather, view, people, smell, sounds, atmosphere was similar to many other places but something more powerful was present and it felt awesome. Even the taxi/minibus and local bus sales women stuck in a tiny room the size of the garden shed and competing against each other were at ease even though 3 were on one side and another 3 on the other. Everything was just chilled and laid back.

Krabi had been nice, as a place to get away from the madness of Bangkok, but it only felt like a stop over. Locals were trying to get you involved in a tour to Railey beach every few hundred yards and after 20 hours and no sleep and the body clock still on GMT it was a nuisance at 0900hrs in blistering heat. The town was stunning but it felt like a tourist trap, the high season was struggling to pick up momentum as the storms have been keeping everyone away, you can sense the hunger and desperation from the locals as they see potential rich white people scarcely rather than in an abundance. The bad reviews on our digs had fuelled the tiredness and we had to search every corner of our bed before crashing into it for some rest. Bed bugs had been reported to be everywhere and the room although basic looked like it could be the start of our first interaction with Thailand’s exotic beasts. We looked high and low and could not settle because even though there were no bugs the lack of sleep for a week tricked us and once you start the imagination plays its part and the next thing its out for breakfast to eat early chicken Pad Thai and worry about sleeping when your dead!

Krabi reminded me of a seaside town I visited in OZ, the sun and look was the same but what done it was the amount of pickup trucks zooming around, they were everywhere and showed that the business must be good for some even if the majority look starved. Sleeping in the afternoon was a pain but being up in the night gave us some advantages, we would never had been up at 0530 hrs and out to see the sun slowly showing face. The beach was covered in last nights candles and monkeys wondering what was going on. It was heaven. The Thai’s celebrate a SPIRITUAL HOLIDAY on the 7^th and light a candle arranged in a flower and float it into the water, the thinking behind it is to leave anything bad you have inside with the candle and float your troubles away. It was a huge deal for the local peeps and the street was filled with Thai’s enjoying themselves and it was great to see the amount of badness being thought away at the one time, I put in 2 candles to the water otherwise my fully loaded float would sink 😉



Early morning food is superb in Thailand, for me eating pork, chicken, noodles, soup is magic. We sat an ate breakfast at 0630hrs with chicken, rice and chilli and watched the locals preparing themselves for the day ahead. We took our first pickup ride, ripped along in the back of a truck with all your bags and a couple of Ze Germans was fun as it showed off the lovely scenery and quickly got us to the ferry for the next leg of the trip. On the ferry we met one of the coolest family’s ever, they were really friendly and were travelling around with their 9 month old daughter, the family were Danish and the guy nearly exploded with excitement when we told him how we had sold up and packed our bags for travelling, they were lovely and gave us some great tips for Chiang Mai and Ko Lipe. We wish them all the best for their trip and hope the little one manages to dodge any more mosquito bites. During the ferry ride it was superb seeing the sky light up with the lightening and at one time it looked like we were getting boarded by pirates. Along the way to our destination other folk get on and off by using the long tail boats, the guys have great humour and it was funny watching them hassle the tourists and hurry them off the ferry and into their wee boats for fun. The smile here is infectious like I’ve mentioned before, every one does it and it feels tremendous to naturally give a big smile back. I love Thiland!



When we hit the paradise that is Koh Lanta it started to chuck it down with rain, we had organised a lift but then found out it was a Tuk Tuk so no we had no chance making it to our temporary home for a few days dry, we chilled out and ate more delicious food and decided that when the rain settled a bit we would push on, the guy thought we were crazy but Scottish and Polish weather is severe compared to a thunder storm here in 30 degree heat. We zipped along in Speedy Gonzales’s Tuk Tuk and laughed all the way as we were soaked, but were not made of sugar so Jar on! Koh Lanta is where its at, you can get some of the best food ever to tickle my taste buds for 60 baht which is roughly £1.20. Usually a meal for two with soft drinks will cost ya £4 and with hundreds of dishes and soo may places to eat with dramatic scenic views and chilled out locals, Koh Lanta is my new favourite place in the world. Massaman curry recipe is in the post.



This writing is starting to turn into a bit of a saga, it was meant to be a picture journey into our trip of South east Asia but there are too many experiences and adventures to forget about so that’s why this is all getting written down for the memory. Weird music, flip flop market, Muslim breakfast, syrup pancakes, Massaman chicken delight, smiles, Mopeds, touchy feely poofy cants at Bamboo bay, tropical beasties, knock off bargains, tidy weather, beautiful beaches, glorious storms, lizards, elephants, monkeys, crashing waves on idyllic sand, cheap n very cheerful times with my Love. My former self is now wiped clear, it’s a great time to be truly alive, we are not counting the days until we return, we are making the days count. Xx



Pati and Dav

---

Comments

[Jerry]

Enjoy yourself!
Hi Davy, Great to read your blog and thanks for including me. So you done Krabi and onto Ko Lanta, great stuff, I spent 10 days there and thoroughly enjoyed it, the night life was great and the beach bars are fun. Never come across the bed bugs in Thailand before, bit unlucky there! I remember being on the small island of Tioman off Malaysia one year, in a hut in the jungle after being chased down a path by a huge black and white spined porcupine (about 2ft very pointy spikes!). Got to the shack after some hooch with the locals and though I was going mad when the lights went out, all I could see was little green flashing LED's everywhere. Turned out it was a thousand fire flies. Tried the bug killer spray, I nearly choked and they merrily flashed away all night. Happy days! Sounds like you have found most of the delights and you are getting over the culture shock. Well done for eating chilli for breakfast, I never could do that and certainly not at Thai stength! Funny, I just came across a business card for a bar on Ko Lanta for the "Travel So Far Bar" run by an English/Thai couple, wonder if they are still there Prangtip Emsley was her name and I think he was Steve. Probably long gone by now.............. I'm sure you'll have as many fun adventures as I did, go for it! Jerry