Waving a fond farewell to Phi Phi we continued our journey by ferry to Koh Lanta, between Phi Phi and the mainland. We already had accommodation booked (self-appointed Accommodation Officer Cath had made sure that every step was carefully pre-planned). Thankfully, however, we had only paid a one night deposit and so when we arrived and realised just how much accommodation was on offer we immediately hired a scooter and went looking for something way cheaper than the over-budget hotel we were already committed to for the night.
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| Interesting variant of the tuk-tuk – the sidecar is bolted to a normal scooter | Downtown in the main town (Ban Saladan) of Koh Lanta |
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| Heading out of town on the main street, stalls and shops congest the pavement | And most shops are multi-talented. This one hires scooters, sells petrol, is a tour agent and a restaurant |
And we found it! Ok, there was a bit of a sulk from the Accommodation Officer because it wasn’t quite as pretty as the original hotel and her choice was vetoed in favour of a hotel half the price, but it was perfectly suitable, comfortable and clean, and I even chose the more expensive room type close to the pool next to the beach (oh magnanimous me!)
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| Our first night in the expensive hotel – with no WiFi!! | “Take a picture of the pretty flowers, Grant!” “Yes, dear” |
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| Impressive swan (?) out of the towel on the bed | Moving hotels on a scooter and with backpacks was fun! How cool are we with our helmet at a jaunty angle… |
Koh Lanta is a much bigger island than Phi Phi, about half the size of Phuket, which means scooter exploration is the name of the game. There was plenty of swimming and snorkelling opportunity but I’ll save you more photos of fish. The main roads around the island were predominantly around the edges with a main road crossing from one side to the other, so we chose one side of the island for the first day and the other for the second. Our lunch stop on the west coast (the side we were staying on) was at a restaurant pretty much built onto a cliff. An incredibly steep stairway led down from the street but the view was fantastic and would have been terrific for sundowners. We agreed that we wouldn’t ride the bike on the roads after dark since many tuk-tuks/cars/scooters don’t have lights, there are no streetlights and no-one seems to go any slower, so we had to always get back home for sundowners.
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| Steepest staircase on the island… | The tiny bar built away from the cliff |
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| Not a bad spot at all | With all our maps doing my logistics thing |
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| Yes please | Never to let a last drop go unslurped |
Continuing south we passed numerous forests of rubber trees with little bowls collecting the sap. As one groove dries up they cut another groove just below it, etc etc. so the tree usually has a large number of grooves down its trunk. Only on one side, however, so the tree isn’t killed off. We headed to one of the many cave sites around the island and were hiked off into the jungle, crossing streams back and forth before finding the small cave structure. Cath, who apparently is claustrophobic, sucked it up splendidly and handled the cave system just fine.
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| Rubber tree being milked | The sign to Tiger Cave – no idea why there’s tiger involved |
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| Our non-English-speaking guide just pointed and led us around | Not exactly Kango Caves, but more tricky to navigate on wooden ladders in the dark |
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| This limestone “ooze” was much more sparkly in torchlight | Cath being all brave in the near pitch darkness since I had the torch and she wasn’t keen to wait for me |
We ended the day on the southern-most tip of the island at a national park with lovely beach, picnic sites and old lighthouse on the hill. Perfect spot for an ice-cream and a swim.
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| Sign at the entrance to the national park at the bottom of a steep hill | It is steeper than it looks. I needed a run up to get both of us up the hill on the scooter |
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| Being all relaxed on a sunny beach. Lighthouse in the background | I can’t find what animal leaves this mark but it was all over the beach as dense as this |
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| Classy classic pic | … needs a little more work. “Could do better” |
And with that we headed back to our “new” hotel for a cost-effective dinner and fitful sleep 
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| I still insist it was a great decision to move here. Lovely spot and free WiFi | Waiting on the sand for the sunset which was blocked by a large ocean thunderstorm |
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| I just love the creative spelling on menus! | You only realise how many boats are offshore at night |
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| Lucky Lassi. Its some sort of fruit yoghurt drink | What happens when you force too many cocktails on me |
Next morning we covered the west coast to some very interesting spots. We had to stop for a ‘bottle’ of fuel (you know you’re paying for a litre and only getting 750ml but there aren’t many petrol stations on the island) before crossing the island and cruising down to the Old Koh Lanta town. This was also where we left the island for the mainland the following day. Its a tiny village of houses ranging from very pretty, colourful and new ones, to very run down and grotty shacks. The dock again has a jetty that projects about 300m into the water (the shelf must be very shallow for a while which would explain why the sea never has any waves) and a market was set up around the entrance to the dock selling everything from clothes to fresh meat.
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| Old liquor bottled filled with petrol on sale all along the roads | Loading up with a bottle of 40% proof 91 octane |
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| An alternative filling station | Hundreds of these signs all around the island |
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| Fresh meat of various types | Accommodation in the village ranges from this |
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| … to this | …with a fair bit of this |
Finally we reached the southern point on the western side of the island and had lunch at the strangest resort I have ever seen. Accommodation ranges from low budget tree houses to more solid, boat-shaped chalets. The attitude also seems to be that more is better, so one can barely walk around without tripping over garden gnomes, pot plants, miscellaneous statues and furniture.
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| This sign speaks nothing of what is to be found at the end of the road | Cath is SOO lucky I wasn’t in charge of accommodation! |
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| The treehouse toilets are on the ground under the stairs | Probably fewer bugs than the treehouses |
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| Bar table and chairs inside a boat | Jetty out from bar/restaurant which is spiral-shaped |
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| Sea-horses guarding the pool | The centre of the jetty |
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| Looking back towards the restaurant | Even with beachfront rooms! |
The final afternoon on the island we spent around the resort. Since I have never had a Thai massage it was decided that I would give in and have one. If I’d known how I was going to be folded in half I would have run like hell!
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| Massage, drinks, or something to eat? | Hard-core bikers cruising the strip |
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| The massage gazebo at the resort | Me whimpering softly after being shown the soles of my feet over my shoulders |
We finally got the sundowners we were looking for before heading out to a roadside restaurant for dinner. Next morning we were up early for our ride to the dock in the Old Town and a ferry to the mainland for Trang, a random town on the way to the train station we were going to catch the train overnight to Kuala Lumpur.
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| Ah, there you go… | Apparently the straws here aren’t thick enough to get the wine down quickly |
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| Our luxury, affordable chalet. Near the pool | Typical fishing boat on its way out to sea |
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| Houses along the water’s edge – all on stilts | A strange ship moored offshore. Looked like it might be a novel beach chalet |
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