29/11/09
Brought a bus ticket to Ko Lanta this morning as we're moving on again. The bus and ferry took about 2.5hrs from Krabi to the island. Ko Lanta is much bigger than Koh Payam and a lot more developed so first impression was that it looked busy with loads of shops e.t.c. and quite a lot of tourists knocking about. The further south we went though the more chilled out it became. We'd booked a bungalow for 300B when we got the bus ticket so when the bus dropped us off at the 7/11 we were picked up and taken to 'Kantiang Bay View Resort'. The bar and communal area was right on the beach and was really nice. Our bungalow wasa little further back and was basic but nice. We chilled out for a bit and had something to eat, we spent the night listening to the live Thai band that was playing in the bar, strangest version of U2 songs I've ever heard!!
That night when I was asleep (thank God!) Simon saw a rat in our room that was far too active for his liking so in the morning we decided to try and find somewhere else!
30/11/09
We walked up the road to hire a scooter so we could have a scout about and the lad who worked there mentioned he knew of somewhere nice and cheap and he would ring them for us. He rang 'Lanta Sunmoon Bungalows' and they had concrete bungalows for 300B a night so we thought we'd give them a try. One of the people who worked there (coincidentally!) was around so he offered to give us a lift so we could have a look. It seemed really a nice and friendly family run place and where it was was further down south than most people can be bothered to visit so it was really quiet and the beach was almost ours! Nan, the owner of Sunmoon was really friendly and the food was delicious, the green/red curry is bob on! We hired a scooter off Nan and headed off to check out the island. It's a much bigger island than Koh Payam and along the West coast is the majority of the resorts and restaurants/bars so we took a look along until we noticed a driftwood sign nailed to a tree advertising 'Mongs Bar' 100m down the road. We thought this needed investigating so off we went. It was all we had suspected it might be! A really friendly Thai called Lak welcomed us as showed us to a 'table'. Basically the bar is a small driftwood area with neon signs flashing and some psychedelic artwork on the 'walls', it was really cool. There were a few tables and chairs around the bar area and then some mats and axe cushions on the beach so you could lie back and watch the sunset. Lak gave us a menu for cocktails and we perused it for a short moment until we noticed that as well as selling food, drinks and cigarettes they also sold 'shroom shakes' whatever they are ha ha! We decided that as we were on the bike we'd just stick to the orange shakes for now!
After we'd had our drink we rode about for a bit longer and then headed back to the bungalow. Because the bungalow is off the beaten track we had to ride to the end of the main road and then onto the 'dirt road' as the locals call it and the bungalow is about a mile further down the track. Anyway, we'd just gotten onto the dirt road and we're just tootling along when the next thing we know, two quite large monkeys come running out of the bush and start heading towards our bike. At first I didn't really know what was going on and I thought they were quite cute but when they started bearing their teeth Simon realised they were coming for us and speeded up to lose them, luckily they weren't that interested in us and we left them in the dust. I thought it was hilarious afterwards!!
1/12/09
Next day we ventured down to the beach. From our bungalow we could we could walk down a little path, across a stream, past a beach bar and straight onto the sand. It took all of 30 seconds and was well worth it. It was like a cove and was very quiet with only a few bars so it was real nice. The only downside was that it was a bit rocky as you got into the sea but once I'd got my sandals on I was well away!
2-6/12/09
To be honest there isn't much to do on the island except chill out, read and sunbathe so it's perfect really ha ha! The only drama we had was when a creature of some description found it's way into our bungalow, nearly everyday there was a frog, spider or centipede lurking around in the bathroom that needed evacuating! One day we saw a big iguana climbing the tree next to our bungalow, it was about a foot and a half long and green and blue. Later that night we were sitting outside when we heard something on the roof, next thing a bloody tile dropped off and smashed right next to us, scared us half to death! Turns out our little friend the iguana was doing some renovating to our bungalow! I thought it was a coconut dropping out of the tree or something 'cause it made such a crash, proper made me jump!
We also spent our time on riding around the island looking at the spectacular veiws. Ko Lanta is one of 51 islands in this area and from the Western side of the island you get a great view of some of the smaller islands surrounding it. We thought Ko Lanta was a bit too big to really feel like an island so we decided the next place we go would definitely be smaller.
7/12/09
Decided to leave today, we're gonna go to Koh Lipe which is a tiny island close to the border with Malaysia. To get there we needed to buy a ferry and minivan ticket which we bought from Nan at Sunmoon. We caught the ferry back to the mainland and the minivan drove us to Trang. Just as we arrived a coach was leaving to go to Satun which is on the Southwestern tip of Thailand, this was where we needed to go so we hopped on quick. By the time we got to Satun the ferries/speedboats to Koh Lipe had finished for the day so we hopped on a motorbike taxi each and went to Pak Barra which was about 5mins away but where the speedboat would leave from in the morning. We found a cheap place to stay, not one of the nicest places but definitely not the worst (remember India?!) and we went to buy our ticket for the speedboat. Once we'd sorted that out and had some dinner it was back to fight with the mozzie net and then bed. Frogs and bugs in the night to contend with but we're used to it by now!