Blog 14 - Koh Lanta

After catching the night train from Bangkok to Surat Thani and then getting on a bus to Krabi, we end up at a bus station in the middle of nowhere (which is usual practice for Thailand). We were quite tired but knew that we did not want to stay in Krabi Town so got on another bus to Koh Lanta. This is the largest island in the Krabi Provence and operates a daily ferry service to most of the other smaller islands so we thought it would be a good base for a week.

We booked 1 night accommodation at the bus station as apparently it was a busy time and we didn't want to arrive and then have to go around looking for a hotel. It turns out it was a good pick as we stayed there for the whole week. The hotel was called the Blue Andaman Lanta Resort and cost around 1300 Baht per night for a poolside/beach side bungalow. The pool at this hotel is great, as were the staff (particularly the lady boy who served us breakfast everyday). The beach was empty most days and you were always able to get a sunbed around the pool.

We took 2 day trips whilst staying on Koh Lanta:

The 4 Island Tour was a day trip to 4 smaller islands in the Krabi Provence - Ngai island, Kradan Island, Mook Island and the Emerald Cave and Cheuk island. We paid a little more for the ticket to travel by speed boat - around 1200 baht but was definitely worth it. The trip was basically a lot of snorkeling and swimming and a cool underwater cave. We had to jump off the bot and swim 80 meters in the dark. A light then appeared at the end of the cave which led to a secluded beach inside what I can only describe as a volcano. The walls were really high with trees and animals. The only way in or out was to swim and it was only accessible when the tide was out. Our guide on this trip was great always diving to the bottom of the ocean to find strange things and bring then up to show us all.

The second trip was to Koh Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Lay. This trip was 850 baht which we thought was good value as the ferry alone to Phi Phi Don is 300 each way and the trip also included a long tail boat to Phi Phi Lay where the film the beach was filmed and snorkeling. Phi Phi Don is a small island but absolutely packed with bars, shops and holiday makers. It was nice to be in a busy place after out time in Koh Lanta however it was expensive in comparison with the rest of Thailand. Phi Phi Lay was stunning, it was so beautiful and if it was not for the other 1000 people taking similar tours it would have been a nice place to be. It is a protected area so there are no hotels, just for day trips only.

We hired bikes in Koh Lanta to explore the island a little and found many nice restaurants including a tapas place called Red Snapper and a Norwegian Pizza place. I also found a book shop so I could trade in my old books for new ones.