We leave Chiang Mai and take a two hour flight to Krabbi island where we are picked up in a very nice “party van”!
From the airport we drive about an hour south and take a ferry to Koh Lanta island.
It’s about another half hour from the north tip of Koh Lanta, where we disembark the ferry, south to our Airbnb which is close to “Long” Beach. Once settled at the beautiful house we walk to a restaurant on the beach.
A cocktail before a delicious meal
We decide to try out the local transport to take us up the road… it’s very exciting!!!
It’s a nice slow start to the day next morning and I decide to stay by the pool and read my book with a cup of tea while the gang go for provisions and hopefully book us a day trip. They do exactly that, so I can continue my lazy day until it’s time to head to the beach for sunset and dinner.
Further down the beach we enjoy more delicious Thai food, cooked by what seems to be a Muslim family. They are so nice to us and when I see they have wine, I order a glass…. It’s a giant pour … ehhh I won’t be ordering another!!
Next morning we relax and have some pool time. It’s really hot so the pool is very inviting.
In the afternoon we book a local truck to take us to Old Lanta.
We follow a Lonely Planet walking tour to make sure we don’t miss any of the sites… it’s small though, so I don’t think we’re going to miss anything!
There’s a Main Street where we check out some shops and bars and halfway down we see some sort of ritual going on at the Chinese temple. It’s quite a spectacle that builds and builds with drums and chanting getting louder and louder.
We eat dinner at a really nice restaurant called Pinto and see a beautiful full moon…
We found out earlier that it’s a good day to visit the town as tonight is “Loy Krathong” – the festival of lights. This festival is celebrated on the 12th lunar months full moon, which happens to be tonight. Everyone in town is making, or in our case buying up these “krathongs” which are floating vessels or lamps. You light the candle in the middle and then set it afloat on the river.
I start off great and I’m delighted with my krathong but I give it a bit too firm a push and it falls over 🥲. A lovely young boy walks into the water and turns it over for me so it floats down the river.
Town is full of buzz with loads of stalls with interesting food and goods for sale. Once we’ve explored and got our blessings at the festival, we find our driver and head back to the house.
Next day we are up early and ready for our day trip. The trip we’ve chosen is the “4 islands” day trip and it promises an unforgettable trip to 4 famous islands, Koh Chuek, Koh Mook (Emerald Cave), Koh Ngai and Koh Maa. They apparently have the best snorkeling sites with crystal clear water and many varieties of underwater coral reef and sea creatures. Koh Mook will be the highlight of the trip, the only way in to this amazing location is to swim 85m. through an underwater tunnel that opens to a secret beach. Hmmmmmm it doesn’t quite turn out that way…..
We take off on a very nice long boat hoping the weather will improve.
The weather isn’t improving and the water is very choppy. First stop is for some snorkeling but it’s too rough for most of us. Shane manages to get in and see some fish but I’m definitely staying on board.
Back on board we head toward the next island. The small islands and rock formations on view from the water are very picturesque and if it wasn’t so dull it would be stunning.
The captain tells us it’s too dangerous to go to the secret beach so we head for Koh Ngai, park up the boat and spend the rest of the time here. No Emerald cave for us today unfortunately.
Although it’s not quite stacking up to what the brochure promised, it is a beautiful beach on this little island.
We spend some time relaxing in the very comfortable water and enjoying the beach. We have lunch, which consists of two different types of curry with a desert of fresh fruit. Thankfully we are under cover as it starts to rain fairly heavy. There’s not much we can do, so we decide to head back early.
Back on the boat we settle in for what turns out to be a very scary journey home. I’m not even going to attempt to describe the hour plus journey in the rough water as I’m getting palpitations even thinking about it, but suffice to say at one point I was crying behind my sunglasses and clutching my life jacket in fear. In fairness we were all very happy to get off that boat!
We head back home (appreciating being alive!), and later in the evening walk to a lovely restaurant, the Yellow Bistro, that’s really close to our house. We have another lovely meal as we’ve come to expect in Thailand.
We were told when we arrived at our house to watch out for the monkeys and be careful we don’t leave anything outside in case they steal it… well these monkeys are nowhere to be seen and we are a little disappointed. Next morning we finally see a monkey outside.
It’s our last day and we head to the beautiful Phra Ae beach. We walk a long way and enjoy the sunshine and the soft sand.
We have lunch at Funky Fish which again has plenty of good Thai options and fish in particular.
Next door is a massage place – you don’t go too far (even on the beach) without coming across a massage option. Rav and I decide to leave the gang having a drink while we get pummelled and stretched out next door… it’s bliss!
We jump in a taxi and ask the driver to drop us off at “The Big C” minimart. We grab some chips and booze and when we get to the counter to pay, the lady points to a sign reminding us we are not allowed to buy alcohol between the hours of 2 and 5pm! So embarrassing…. We have to put back the booze that we carefully chose!!
Time for a photo op in our elephant pants before heading back to the beach for our final sunset and meal.
We celebrate the end of our holiday admiring the sunset with a cocktail.
Next morning we are up early to journey back to Bangkok for our flight to Sydney. With a few hours to fill in, we go into town – we’ve come full circle and see the capital is still in mourning for the Queen Mother. The billboards, showing photos of her throughout her life, are really lovely.
Bye bye Thailand, you’ve been delightful!
odohertyelaine 