Koh Lanta

08-01-10

Yesterday I left Krabi Town and headed to the island of Koh Lanta.  Koh Lanta is a good sized island south of Krabi Town on the Adaman coast of Thailand.  The minivan ride took around 2 hours and consisted of highway driving and two sort ferry transports. I rode in the van with 5 others, all Thai people, none of which spoke English.  The driver attempted to pawn me off to a tuk tuk driver once on Koh Lanta, but I persisted and made him drive me to the doorstep of my bungalow.

I had plans to stay at a place called Sanctuary, yet after seeing the A line bungalow that was fit to my budget, I started to shop around. I found a nice place with my own bathroom, fan and cold shower for 500 Baht per night, only 100 more than the small bungalow at Sanctuary which had only a nasty shared bathroom and stood 10ft in from of a few horse and chickens….no thank you.

On my way to this other place I ran into a few friends I had met in the Cameron Highlands. They offered a ride to where they were staying-said it was nice, so I took them up on it. Two of them are from Holland, Jasper and Tess, and the other from Australia, Stewie.  I ended up bargaining with a Thai lady to give me a bungalow for 400 Baht a night, what I would have paid for the shit one I first saw, and it has worked out quite nicely so far. I have my own bathroom, real floor, raised bed, mosquito net, fan, etc.

I spent the afternoon just walking along the beach, finishing up my book (Sex Lives of Cannibals by Maarten Troost, very funny, read it), and relaxing. In the evening, after a cold shower, I met up with Jasper, Tess, and Stewie, we all visited and watched the sunset. At that time I also met two new friends from Germany, Max and Johen.  They are very intelligent funny fellows who I ended up spending the evening and next day with.

The late evening hours were spend drinking, eating, and singing along to guitar music played by a polish man next to a camp fire on the beach.  Really just an amazing night with a very international crowd.

Today it was beautiful and sunny for most of the day. I rode down to a different beach with Max and Jochen and spent the day swimming, laying out, reading, and drinking some really delicious coconut drinks.
We laid in hammocks next to a tikki bar, and enjoyed the afternoon showers and evening sunset.  We had dinner at a nearby “Sunset Restaurant” where indeed, the sunset was phenomenal. Absolutely hands down the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. The clouds formed grey mountainous landscapes that brooded below vanilla and strawberry swirled skies.

Once it became dark, we headed back to our bungalows for a cold refreshing shower. Followed by a nice dinner on the beach.  We ended the night hanging out at a nearby bar that attracted a more eccentric crowd.


10-01-10

Yesterday was another beautiful sunny day in Koh Lanta. I woke up a bit earlier in hopes of seeking out a fairly priced snorkeling tour to some of the smaller islands around, but was disappointed not to find any. (I think I will go back to Krabi and spend a day snorkeling Phi Phi Island or something before I head to Bangkok).  Nonetheless, I headed to the Viewpoint Restaurant for brunch with a few of my friends from the bungalow.  Carina from Germany, who I met in KL on New Years, has been hanging out with me and my two German friends, Max and Jochen.  She is a lot of fun and it is nice having another girl to hang around with (We met again here coincidentally!)  I find that girls don’t tend to travel solo nearly as often as guys around here.

After a good brunch at an amazing spot, we headed back to the same beach as the day before because we liked it so much and found it so beautiful and peaceful. The coconut shakes there are pretty damn good too.

I spent the day swimming in the ocean, laying around, playing Frisbee, drinking a coconut shake (the highlight of the day), and chatting with my fellow travelers.  The sunset last night wasn’t nearly as beautiful or enjoyable. We went to the same restaurant on the beach, but this time it was crowded with side shows, and more tourists.  There was a “snake charmer,” whom I didn’t find to be very charming at all, and two elephants and their keepers, I don’t care much for seeing enslaved elephants. 

In the late evening we all headed back to the bungalows then out for a night at the “Feeling Bar,” where another traveler was Djing. There was a huge group of Germans, infact, almost all the people I have met here are German. Besides my English friend Tom and these other two American guys, whom don’t really amuse me, there are lots of Germans-I am starting to develop a certain affinity for them and their guttural language. 

Today looks like another nice day. I think perhaps it will be spent on a beach-imagine that.