Ko Lanta: Colours Emerging

On the boat journey from Phi Phi to Ko Lanta we got talking to a local man who told us about his family’s guesthouse on the island. We agreed to check it out and were impressed with the spacious bungalows and swimming pool, he also gave us a good discount so that was us sold. The majority of our first day was spent in the pool and on the deck chairs that look out over the ocean. As sun started to set we were mesmerized by the golden and purple colours emerging in the sky, stupidly we didn’t get a photo so you’ll just have to trust us that it was one of the best sky’s we’ve seen so far at sunset.

We decided to relax in Ko Lanta for a few days as we felt we’d been moving around a lot recently. Chris spotted a cheap motorbike rental shop so we spent our second day on the island driving round seeing what was on offer. There was a lot of quiet jungle roads to drive through which Chris obviously loved, I enjoyed the scenery. We managed to find a few huge beaches without many people on them, granted the beaches on Ko Lanta aren’t the prettiest we’ve seen but the lack of people on them made up for that. We had a quick stop by the old town which was a little uninspiring and enjoyed DIY tuna sandwiches at a viewpoint overlooking waves crashing into the rocks below us. We mostly spent the day driving round the island, stopping at various viewpoints and beaches then relaxing for the evening.

A heavy thunderstorm overnight left things a little damp and cloudy the following morning so we took the time to sit on our veranda and plan the next part of our journey a little. As things brightened up for the afternoon we spent our last day in Ko Lanta by the pool to continue the chilled out theme of our time here.  We managed to find a lovely little restaurant just a short walk from our place which had the friendliest staff , the most unusual decor and the yummiest Thai food. It was so nice we went twice and dined on coconut curries and fruit salads both times.

The time came for us to make our way from Ko Lanta back to the mainland for our journey South towards neighbouring Malaysia. A minivan ride took us back to the mainland by ferry and we made our way down to the small town of Trang. On the minivan journey we got talking to a lovely Thai lady who had retired and moved to Birmingham! She was with her sister and they were travelling back to their home town after holidaying in Lanta. When we got to the bus station they helped us with onward travel to a nice guesthouse and waved us goodbye as if we were old friends. That evening we headed to the “walking street” where we fully made the most of our last night in Thailand by feasting on all the local delicacies you can think of. We left feeling stuffed and content. I have to say the Thai food has been my favourite of the Asian variety so far and I don’t imagine any of the countries we have yet to visit will top it. Best of all the nicest food you get here is whats made at little street stalls and sold for a matter of pence.

We had a very long and annoying bus journey South the next morning where we bid farewell to Thailand, a place we have spent almost three months of our travels and have met some great friends. I’ll miss that there is always something going on there, the friendly people, the familiar sounds and the delicious foods. From the southern port town of Satun we got a ferry to the Malaysian island of Langkawi where we will start our Malaysian adventure!

Until next time!

Photos here:https://flic.kr/s/aHskerdwWa