Tuesday 5 March 2013

Mon 18 - Sat 23 Feb - Koh Lanta





A couple of hours on a ferry took us across the Andaman sea and to the island of Koh Lanta. A short tuk tuk drive took us half way south down the island where we had booked for 2 nights. The hotel was nice, new and modern and fine for the 2 nights while we explored the area and found somewhere on the beach to stay. We discovered a lovely guest house on the beach with little wooden bungalows, a lovely cool garden where we could have breakfast looking out over the sea and most welcome - a pool where we could cool off during the heat of the middle of the day!




Again we hired scooters and trundled around exploring the island. It is a lovely quiet island with enough tourists to keep the various guest houses and restaurants occupied but not too many that you lose the feeling that you are in Thailand. There are no big chains here and all the restaurants are owner run with excellent food, friendly people and lovely atmosphere. The island is a relatively new tourist destination and has only had mains electricity for about ten years! It is much quieter than the party islands of phi phi and Phuket and great for families and those wanting a nice quiet beach holiday. We loved the island and our time there.






The little bars and restaurants on the beach were cool places to just hang out and chill and the beaches are white soft sand, water which is as warm as a bath and they run all the way from the north to the south of the island so there are hardly any people on the beach wherever you go.

















We decided once we had found Nice and Easy guest house that we would stay on the island a few extra days and changed our onward travel plans. We had intended to travel by bus and trains down Thailand, through Malaysia to Kuala Lumpar and then onward to Singapore for our flight home. Instead we booked in for a few extra nights on the beach and bought a flight to Singapore from the mainland.

Our days were spent hopping on our bikes and just driving where the roads took us, past little villages, a butterfly farm, cute little beach bars, troops of monkeys and just stopping off for a drink or just to have a nosy when we felt like it. Chris even managed to figure out how to use the self service Thai petrol pump!








We went to the old town on the eastern side of the island and saw the village where there is still a community of sea gypsies. We stopped at the butterfly farm where we finally saw how pineapples grow! They also had the most amazing collection of orchid plants growing in old coconut shells.



Another day we headed off to the very southern tip of the island where there is a national park with a lighthouse at the top of a hill. The road to get there was very windy with steep hills to go up and down and proved challenging to both me and my old banger of a scooter but we took it slowly and had a great day. The steep climb up the hill to the lighthouse was well worth the puffing and panting for the amazing view from the top.






On the way back we turned off the main road and found the most amazing little beach bar with deck chairs set out on the sand. This is where we plan to retire to.. Chris is going to grow his hair and learn to make cocktails and pineapple shakes and I am going to make wind chimes out of shells and pieces of coral and lamps out of cassette tapes. Heaven!















Saturday we sadly checked out of our hotel for our short trip back to Krabi, for an overnight stay before we caught our flight to Singapore and start our journey home.


Thursday 21 February 2013

Wed 13 - Mon 18 Feb - Krabi and Ao nang


That evening we arrived at Krabi which was our stopover before we went on to the other seaside resorts. We stayed in a lovely hotel with a pool which was very welcome after our hot day travelling.


 In the evening we wandered to the night market where there were loads of local street vendors preparing and selling a huge variety of food. A couple of Thai curries with fried rice and beers were perfect!

The next morning we had a couple of hours to walk around and explore the town, visit the local market with some very strange food on sale, and wander along the riverfront. We then got our taxi to our next stop, the seaside town of Ao Nang.

Our hotel for the next four nights was a lovely new complex with ten individual luxury bungalows and a pool in a quiet area adjacent to a rubber tree plantation. The accommodation was superb but the location unfortunately meant that we were a bit out on a limb. The owner was happy to give us a lift into town and tuk tuks were very reasonable to get back but it meant that every time we wanted to have something to eat or go somewhere it was a 20 minute ride. We got ourselves organised though and planned our days so that we weren't coming and going too much.

The day we arrived was valentines day so we found a great Mexican restaurant, Crazy Gringos. After having a lovely Mexican meal we started sampling the cocktails which were on offer at about £2 each. They had a great duo singing live which made for a brilliant night out, especially as we progressed down the cocktail menu!



Chris made a new best friend, Rasta-otan and posed with him for photos, but didn't have quite enough to drink so that I could finally hear him singing karaoke! Never mind maybe next time!! We actually found ourselves drawn back to Crazy Gringos a few times over the following few days!


The next day we took a long tail boat to visit Railay beach which is well known as one of the best beaches in the area and can only be accessed by boat. it was a sweet little hamlet but very busy with upmarket hotels which have taken over the best parts of the beach. it was a very hot day and there was little space left to sit in the shade. This was such a contrast to the other beaches we have been to which are vast, quiet and peaceful so we were glad we had not opted to say there, although it was nice to visit. We caught the long tail boat back again, going past cliffs, caves and little rocky islands.




The following day was a lazy day spent walking from one end of town to the other, exploring the little shops and sitting looking out over the sea. We wandered through the night market and ended the evening with a few more cocktails in Gringos!

The next afternoon we went on a four island snorkel trip with beach barbecue. We set off in a boat with about forty people. First stop was a little island with a lovely little beach. It is not inhabited but is only used by day trippers and has just a little beach hut selling food and drinks and a long tail boat pulled up in the water which sells all sorts of Thai and western dishes to take away which are all prepared and cooked on the little boat which wanders from island to island. Ingenious!


We wandered off from the group to the very end of the beach hoping to see a few fish with our masks and snorkels. When we got in the water we were amazed at how many fish we could see and the gorgeous colours. We hadn't expected there to be much at all there and it was incredible.

 As we got out of the water a family of monkeys had wandered down to the beach, managed to steal someone's water melon and were enjoying a feast of bananas that so done was feeding to them.




Then it was back on the boat to the next island. There was no beach here but the boat just pulled up next to the rocky island. Back in the water we swam around the rocks and into a cave. Again, even though the water was not as clear, we were lucky to see loads of fish, coral, sea cucumbers and n a lion fish which was beautiful although we were careful not to get too close!



Next stop was Tuk island. We were transferred to the beach by long tail boat where the sun was just about to set. We paddled in the water and took yet more lovely sunset photos before sitting on the sand and enjoying a beach barbecue with freshly grilled fish and chicken kebabs.










 As it got dark we were entertained with a fire show. We then lay on the sand in the pitch dark and watched the stars, there are so many of them when the sky is not lit by street lights!



Back on the boat we had one last stop, this time to swim in the water with phosphorous plankton. The more the water moves the more the plankton glows, however it was having a night off we think as there was very little to be seen. We were disappointed but had had an amazing day and slept well back at our hotel after a nice hot shower.

Next day we left Ao nang to continue our journey south down Thailand towards Malaysia and Singapore. We had planned to go to Phi Phi or Phuket but having spoken to various people who said they are both busy, overdeveloped, touristy and expensive we decided to go instead to another island we had heard little about but was much quieter - Koh Lanta.

Tue 5th Feb to Wed 13th Feb - Koh Tao

To get to Koh Tau we caught a VIP bus from Hua Hin to the port at Chumporn. We then boarded a catamaran for the 2 hr trip on the gulf of Thailand to the island of Koh Tao which means turtle island. On arrival at the pier we were faced with a million tuk tuk drivers all wanting to take us to our hotel! We jumped in the back of a pick up and ten minutes later we were in the next village and at our hotel. Koh Tao is a small island approx ten miles long and four miles wide and a very laid back place with lots of backpackers and divers. Most of the hotels and villages are on the west side where there are the most beautiful white soft beaches and bright blue water. The east coast has little development as there are high rocky cliffs with difficult access to the sea and few beaches.


 Our hotel was on the main road which was fine and was only a ten minute walk from the beach.

The first afternoon we walked round to explore then went down to the beach for a swim. The sand was so white and soft and the water was really warm and refreshing with hardly any waves. After our swim we sat on the beach and had a pineapple shake. We then spotted a little man carrying a load up the beach on his shoulders. As he got nearer we realised that he was a mobile sweet corn BBQ! Of course we couldn't resist ordering two and watched as he wafted his BBQ to get the coals glowing, grilled our corn, smeared them in butter, sprinkled them with salt and then Handed them to us on a skewer. Ingenious entrepreneur!


That evening we wandered down on to the beach where all the bars and restaurants spilled down onto the sand where they had low tables with cushions to lounge on, candles in the sand and coloured lanterns hanging from all the trees. It was magical sitting there looking out at the sea, drinking cocktails and watching the fire show by local lads who wander up and down the beach entertaining everyone.


The next day we hired a motorbike as we wanted to explore the island and check out other accommodation as we decided to spend more than a couple of days there. We had a lovely day driving through the little towns and seeing the rest of the island and on the southern end of the Island we found the most amazing place to stay. The little bungalows were built on stilts and led straight on to the beach and then into the water. The hotel was in a small bay with lovely views across to the few resorts dotted around.



The next day we checked out of our other hotel and moved down to Freedom Beach resort. We booked in initially for another three nights but loved it so much we ended up staying there for six nights, a total of eight nights on Ko Tau.


The resort had a little wooden walkway which led to some of the other bungalows dotted about on the rocks. We followed the walkway one evening and it led up and over the rocks and cliff and then down again to a tiny little beach. This beach was quiet and shady as trees were growing right up to the waters edge. Hanging in the trees were mobiles which people had made out of fishing wire, shells and bits of coral and they tinkled in the breeze.

There was also a tiny little bar built up on stilts where we sat and watched the sun going down with a cold beer. On the way back round on the walkway we heard rustling and were lucky to see a huge, bright purple crab which was scuttling up the rocks as the tide was coming in.



One of the days Chris booked a sea fishing trip while I opted to have a lazy day. He set off early and came back sunburnt but happy after a day when he managed to catch a large fish but an even bigger one got away! Of course!

I clambered over the rocks, walked around the bay to the next beach and went into the little town. after wandering around the few little shops I decided it was too hot to walk back so opted to go and chill out in an air conditioned massage spa and have a pedicure and a foot scrub. I don't think the poor girl looked at my feet before she quoted me the £5. It took her an hour and a half to scrape all the dead skin and restore my feet and nails into something presentable! I came out feeling cool and relaxed and was lucky to flag down the hotel shuttle pickup for a lift back to the hotel, saving me a walk in 35 degree sun for twenty minutes - not to mention ruining my feet! I then spent the rest of the afternoon lying in our air conditioned bungalow reading a book in peace!

The rest of our time was spent exploring the rest of the island on our bikes, eating meals in various little local restaurants and drinking cocktails while looking out at the beautiful views with the most amazing sunsets over the bay. It was a lovely little island to spend time on as it was quite small but not too developed, prices were very reasonable and the people were so friendly and kind.






Eventually we decided that as we could not stay there forever it was it to move on and continue our Thailand journey.


 
We booked another ferry and bus, this time taking us back to the mainland then over the peninsular to the western side of Thailand and the andaman sea. The trip took most of the day but there was lots to see, first of all on the ferry which stopped at other islands and then the bus which travelled overland through banana, citrus, rubber and coconut plantations


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