Koh Lanta, Krabi Province, Thailand

1st July – 3rd July 2018

After getting picked up from our guest house in Ao Nang, we were taken to Krabi, which didn’t take us very long. When we got there, we had to get off the bus and change to another one. What we weren’t told at first, though, was that we had to wait an hour for the next bus. It was a hot day and although we were in the shade, it wasn’t great to be waiting around. We also were expecting to be in Koh Lanta within a few hours, so an added hour was unwanted as we knew how much travel time we still had ahead of us in Thailand and hoped that this one would be a shorter journey.

Just after 12, we were allowed to get onto our second bus and we were on our way to Koh Lanta. On the way, we had to get a ferry, as Koh Lanta is an island, but the minivan was packed so much, we couldn’t get off for the ferry ride. Although the island is only small, it still took around an hour to get to our hotel, as we were near the bottom of the island and there were a few stops before us.

When we arrived at our hotel, it was almost 3pm. We checked in and were shown to our room, where we dropped our bags and got settled.

So that we didn’t waste the afternoon, we went out pretty much straight away. We were hungry, as we hadn’t had any lunch, so we made our way to the shop nearby. Instead of getting more unhealthy snacks, we decided to get some freshly cut pineapple, which was so good. We got our bearings of the area that we were staying, but we soon came to realise that not much was happening, as it was low season.

On our walk, we popped into a travel shop to enquire about transport to our next destination, and the man told us that the island usually shuts down altogether in low season because of the rain. He said that this is the first year that some things have stayed open, so I guess we were lucky in that sense.

When we got back to the hotel, we got changed and decided to head to the beach for the afternoon. We could access one beach from the back gate of our hotel, so decided to head through there. As we walked through, it looked like we were entering an abandoned area, it was just strange to see.

We got to the beach, and it wasn’t overly appealing. There weren’t many people about, understandably, but there was quite a bit of rubbish on the sand. We walked along a bit, before we found a clean-ish spot and set up there.

Once we had put the sarong out and made sure we had sun cream on, we went for a paddle in the sea. The sea wasn’t much better than the beach, but luckily there wasn’t as much rubbish, but more bits of trees, so we didn’t stay in for very long.

After we got out of the sea, we sat on the rocks for a while to dry off and watch the crabs. Once we were dry, we went back to the sarong and sat and played some cards for a while. The weather was perfect as it wasn’t too hot to just sit and enjoy the sun.

 

After a while, we went for a walk along the beach. It wasn’t a very long beach, so it didn’t take us very long, but we wanted to see where it lead.

When we made it back onto the main road, we had a look in some more travel agents for buses to Khao Sok, before heading back to the hotel. Apparently, a perk of being there in low season, is that we get cheaper deals on accommodation, which I guess is a bonus, as our room was the cheapest out of the two so far and it was much nicer.

Back at the hotel, we spent some time by the pool, playing more cards and having a swim, washing the sand off us, before going in for a shower. When we were ready to go out, we enquired about renting bicycles, as there was no way we could see what we wanted to see on the island, by foot. The woman told us that hers were in repair and every shop that she sent us to, said they didn’t have any.

After our bike hunt, we found somewhere for dinner. We had researched some places, but when we went to check them out, they were pretty expensive, so we went to a local restaurant and tried some more Thai curries.

Once we had eaten and paid up, we went back to the hotel and asked if there was any other way to get around the island. She suggested that we rented a scooter, but as none of us could ride a scooter, we weren’t too keen on this idea. She said that we could have a test ride in the morning if we wanted, to see if we liked it, so we agreed to try.

When we got back to the room, we chilled out for a bit. I did some writing and blog work, before the football came on. When the match started, we put it on the laptop and watched that through, until I fell asleep during extra time.

As we wanted to do lots of exploring of Koh Lanta island, we got up around 8 the next day. We got ready and went to the reception area to speak about the scooter. Joe went for a test ride with the lady, before test riding with me. Once we were both happy and had agreed to it, we rented the scooter for the day.

Our first stop was to get petrol, as we were given it empty. There weren’t any rules on the fuel, so I think as long as we put in enough to get around, we could hand it back empty.

Once we had some fuel, we set off towards the old town. Although it was pretty much next to us, just on the other side of the island, we had to go right up to the top of the island and back down again (to almost the bottom) as the lady said that going through the mountains wasn’t good for beginners.

We finally arrived at the old town at about 10. The drive was so nice along the way, riding alongside the beautiful mountains, enjoying the scenery, on empty roads. When we arrived, we parked up and went for a walk. There wasn’t much open though, it was a bit like a cowboy movie. The buildings looked like old western buildings, with lots also looking deserted. We knew by now that this was down to low season, but it just seemed such a shame, as we knew how much potential it had.

After taking about ten minutes to walk the whole of old town, we found a restaurant to sit in, overlooking the sea. We had some breakfast, and I played on the swing, before we paid up and decided to head back to the other side of the island. It started to rain a little on the way back, so we stopped and sheltered in a 7/11, waiting for it to stop.

Once the rain had stopped, we set off again, back to the side of the island, where we were staying. On the way down to our hotel, we decided to stop at different beaches along the way, as they had been highly recommended to us.

When we arrived at each one, we were disappointed to see that they were a mess! There was so much rubbish scattered along them, it was ridiculous. We don’t know whether it always looked this way, or whether they just took less care of them, because it was low season. The first made no sense, as we had had multiple recommendations, and the second didn’t make sense because surely it would be easier to keep on top of them all year round, so we’re not sure why they looked the way that they did.

Whilst leaving one of the beaches, I had a go at driving the scooter, down one of the side roads. It was easy to pick up how to do it, but Joe didn’t like that back seat and I don’t think he trusted my driving, so we swapped back.

After looking at three beaches and being disappointed by them all, we went back to the hotel, as the rain started to come down again. We sat in the room while we waited for the rain to ease, contemplating what to do.

As I didn’t want to spend the whole afternoon sitting in the hotel, we decided to walk to the bakery just up the road. When we got there, however, the prices were ridiculous (especially as we had been told that things were cheap in low season). We decided to share one cake and sit and play a round of cards, before I got bored of that too and decided that we needed to see more of Koh Lanta. It was just such a shame that we had arrived in low season, with the rain coming down and with everything closed.

After a little bit of research, we went back for the bag and the bike and decided to head further south in the island to see what was down there. We took the wrong turning at first and ended up heading to a cave which we had also research. We didn’t plan on going there, as it was very expensive, but as we were almost there, when we realised, we thought we would check it out to see if there were any low season offers.

On the way, we went down some rough dirt tracks, where I had to get off the scooter and walk. The walk itself was down a steep dirt track, so I got off again and ran down to see what was there. Unfortunately, the price was still the same and we were in flip flops, so we decided to give it a miss.

Once I climbed back up to meet Joe again, we set off towards Khlong Nin beach (where we originally intended to go). It was a struggle to find a path to get to the beach, and in the end, we had to park up and cut through a resort, but we got there in the end. Sadly, it wasn’t much better than the previous three beaches, as there was still so much rubbish, so we turned around and made our way back.

On the way back, we stopped off at the shop to grab some snacks for the morning after, as we were being collected early. When we got back, it was still a little early, but we didn’t have much more to see or do, so we played some cards and got ready for dinner.

At about 6.30, we went back out for dinner. As we had the scooter, we considered driving somewhere to eat, but in the end, we just crossed the road and tried a different place to the night before. Both meals were good again, although nothing special.

When we had paid up, we went back to the room. We packed our bags again and got ourselves ready to leave the next morning. Once everything was ready, we settled down and put the World Cup on again, whilst playing more cards – it’s becoming very repetitive.

The next morning we were up at 6.30, to finish getting ready. We packed our last few bits and headed to reception to get our deposit back and hand all the keys back.

As soon as we had checked out, we could get straight into the van that was already there waiting for us, to head to our next stop: Khao Sok.

Our visit in Koh Lanta was a little sad for me, as we had had recommendations from different people. I guess we arrived at the wrong time of year, but if they still expect tourists and customers, then their standards should still be the same, because although it rained a little, that wasn’t the thing that stopped us sitting on the beaches and swimming in the sea. The old town was beautiful, although very quiet, which was another shame, but I guess it will just have to be another place that we return to one day, in high season.

To travel is to live, Katie x