Our last few days in Ko Lanta

Knowing we only had one full day left, on the 14th we took the 'Four Islands' tour. It was a trip on an awesome speedboat (that had three 225hp Honda engines!) around four islands just south of Ko Lanta, giving us two snorkelling stops, a beach/lunch stop and the Emerald Cave. The first snorkelling stop was great, the water was really clear so we got to see plenty of fish and coral, although most of the fish were quite small and a lot of the coral was quite bleached. I was even more gutted at this point that my Fuji underwater digital camera had broken in Vietnam because I could have got some great shots, so I had put up with taking ones from the boat.

Next stop was for some more snorkelling, this time there were even more and even bigger fish. The few guys running the trip started chucking in pieces of banana into the water, which I know you're not really supposed to do, but it meant that hundreds of brightly coloured fish swam right in front of our faces. I grabbed hold of a piece of banana, and the fish were swarming around my hand nibbling at the fruit and my hand.

Lunch time! We parked up on a beach on Koh Hai and had a couple of hours to chill out on the beach and eat the food provided. Chicken, rice, veg with some fresh fruit, all washed down with a Coke. The last stop was to see the Emerald Cave. The boat pulled up near a small cave enterance, and one of the guys jumped in the water armed with a torch and told us to follow him. We all jumped in the water, and starting swimming into the pitch black cave. At one point you could not see the enterance we had just came in through or the exit at the other end, it was just total darkness (apart from the pathetic light coming from the tour guide's torch up ahead). Luckily this wasn't for long and I could soon see the exit and swam towards it. As I swam out of the cave, it opened onto a small beach and the Emerald Cave. It is almost like being inside a volcano, you are completely surrounded by rock, with the cave being the only way to get in and out. They did offer to take my camera in a waterproof case through, but I didn't want to risk it so I've added a photo I found on Panoramio.com.

Emerald Cave enterance

Taken from Panoramio.com

15th Feb would be our last morning in Ko Lanta, so as we had a bit of time before heading to Phuket we went to say goodbye to some of the people we had gotten to know. First we went to the Welfare centre to take Pepsi and Lanta out for one last walk down to the beach and say goodbye to all the staff there. Pepsi came in the sea this time for a swim! This was becoming a pretty sad morning!

Then we went to Blue Moon to say goodbye to Gang and his eagle. He gave us our last drinks on the house which was nice! So we're going to get some prints of the photos we had taken there and post them to him, he said he is going to start a new photo album and put them in it! The eagle, who was rescued by Gang, can't fly yet because its feathers were too damaged but on our last day it decided to try so was jumping around on the ground right in front of us and gave himself a bath. Lek was nice enought to give us some little presents on check-out and drive us to the bus station. Lek is really creative and makes miniture models out of clay, so she made me a tiny monkey and made Isabella a bracelet.

The five hour coach drive to Phuket was pretty horrible. The first part we were on the back row which has an annoying hard bar underneath the whole back bench, but after being on the road for a couple of hours some of the other travellers got off, so we moved into some more comfortable seats. We were going to spend one night in Phuket because our flight was quite early in the morning, Lek offered to call a hotel we had found the details of online, although they were full and recommended another place. There was a slight lack of communication, and Lek thought the next place she had called was 'Nai Yang Beach Resort', so we got a taxi from the bus drop off point to it. Unfortunately, the place we were staying in was called Nai Yang Cottage! So after some confusing discussions with the staff at the wrong hotel we realised what had happened, and they kindly called Nai Yang Cottages for us who promptly came to collect us.

Clearly we were in luck with all the nice people we had been meeting and helping us because the guy at Nai Yang Cottages, Kitty, was also extremely helpful and friendly. He didn't want any money for collecting us in his own car. A bit later on when we had got back from dinner he offered us some food he had just cooked with what I assume was his family (his house was only across the road!) but we were full so had to decline. He then took us to the airport in the morning at around 7am, in time for our 09:50 flight to Singapore.

Sea fishing

Yesterday I was invited to go fishing by Pae, one of the workers from Fevrier Resort. His english isn't great, but I understand this is his first boat since the tsunami took his last one. We left at about 7:30pm once it was dark, down to the beach across the road where his boat lives during the day. Him and Peter (who despite the name is 100% Thai) attached the small 2-stroke engine to the back of the boat and pushed it to the waters edge. We were probably a good 1/2 mile out to sea, which felt a lot when sat in a boat barely big enough for the three of us and in the dark. It must have been begineers luck because I caught the first fish, and later on managed to catch a barracuda! I couldn't believe how strong the barracuda was pulling, I thought it was a shark or something, although he was still a fairly decent size. I'm not sure on the english names of the fish but we also caught 'tamat', 'sicaou' and 'khao'. At one point, Pae thought he had caught a fish and started pulling in his line, only to find it was a big blue crab, which he put straight in the boat in front of me. Obviously the crab was going crazy and starting running around the tiny boat with its claws up. I jumped back in shock and nearly toppled the boat, bringing in loads of water on board. Luckily Pae and Peter found it hilarious, and were pleased to have caught a blue crab as they are expensive in Thailand.

Not long left in Ko Lanta now, so tomorrow we are off on a trip around the '4 islands' of Ko Lanta to do a bit of sight seeing and snorkelling. I don't have my waterproof digital camera because I broke it in Vietnam, but hopefully I'll get a few good pics above water with my SLR.

Last Beach, Ko Lanta

It's been a while since we'd spent the day on the beach, partly because Izzy got a bit ill and partly because it's so hot! Yesterday was no exception, with the temperature reaching 38°C at about 2pm. DJ & Anna (a nice German couple we met at our resort) recommended we try out a beach further south, known as 'Last Beach' because they have hammocks on the sand that are tucked under some trees in the shade. I'm nearly on first name terms with the woman at the bike rental place now, as we hired a bike again and made our way along the terrible roads in the south of the island to find the last beach. DJ and Anna were already there lying in the hammocks with some drinks they'd bought from the reggae bar nearby. You can't beat a paradise beach, with clear blue skies and Bob Marley playing in the background coming from the bar. In typical reggae bar fashion the staff all sit around smoking spliffs listening to music. If you ask them for a drink you have to talk very slowly and say each drink one by one as they write it down otherwise they'll just guess and bring you something completely different.

We agreed to meet up with DJ and Anna again later for dinner because it was going to be their last night in Ko Lanta. DJ wanted to go back to Richey's Restaurant as they have amazing BBQs. We tried to go there ourselves once before but it was so busy that they had no spare tables. A Swedish couple from our resort were kind enough to go down there early and reserve us all table. I had 4 massive ribs, a corn on the cob, a jacket potato and a large Chang. Izzy, not having quite as big an appetite as me went for ribs and a corn but decided to leave out the jacket potato. The guy who owns the bar/restaurant, Richey, is actually Thai and so of course the food was amazing, cooked on a BBQ right in front of us on the sand. They also have all sorts of fish like barracuda and red snapper, and by the end of the night every last rib and fish had been eaten. Standard end to the evening... onto Blue Moon Bar to see Geng and his Eagle.

Blue Moon & Crazy Food in Ko Lanta

Nothing new to report really, we're still in Ko Lanta and have no plans to move on yet (until Singapore). We were initially thinking of going to Ko Phangan, but how different can another Thai Island be to the next? We are enjoying Ko Lanta so much, mainly because of Lek and Malay's amazing hospitality and you don't meet people like them every day, and surely Ko Phangan will have a beach just like the one we have here. If we do go there it will cost us time and money and not make it any easier to get to Singapore. So I'm pretty certain in saying Ko Lanta it is until we go to leave in about a weeks time.

There is a bar just down the road from us here that we go to most nights, especially before Jean & Valerie left Thailand because they really liked it too. 'Gangster' (I think his name is Geng), the guy that owns Blue Moon Bar has lived in Ko Lanta his whole life and gives the place a really chilled out atmosphere. A few nights back he showed us a photo album of his from twenty years ago when he and his friends used to row their boats to the surrounding islands and camp out on the completely deserted beaches dressed as aboriginals and make spears out of sticks. Before doing some travelling of his own he had the only bar on Klong Nin beach called Blue Moon, which he reopened when he got back. Now the beach is pretty packed out with bars along the whole stretch. When it gets a bit later in the evening he comes and sits with us and other customers and lights a fat one. If you want a drink you have to go behind the bar and make it yourself, that's how laid back this place is!

Happy Chinese New Year

In most Asian countries, they celebrate Chinese New Year and Ko Lanta has been no exception. CNY runs for three days, 2nd, 3rd and 4th of February. Lek and Malay started off by making a shrine to their parents. Lek's parents passed away some time ago, and out of respect, buddhists make offerings of food and drink and pray to their relatives. In the early afternoon Malay took us and a few other guests to a local fish market to buy some food for our BBQ that evening. It was pretty fun jumping in the back of his Toyota Hi-Lux, which is obviously totally illegal in England, but in Thailand is a common sight. Lek and Malay have been really generous buying plenty of fish to feed all 20 or so guests and spending a few hours preparing and cooking for us. My favourite was definitely the Barracuda!

Lanta Animal Welfare

We're still in Ko Lanta! After Jean & Valerie and a few other guests at Fevrier Resort had looked for accomodation on some other islands, they soon realised that because of Chinese New Year (2nd to 4th Feb) the the hotels drastically increase their prices. Some as much as 6000 Baht (£120) for a basic room without air-conditioning. Rather than us going through the pain of trying to find somewhere else to sleep, (and thus giving us an excuse to stay here!) we aren't leaving until the celebrations are over.

Fevrier has by far been the nicest place we have stayed on our whole trip, I genuinely have not got a bad word to say about it. Izzy has been a bit under the weather still and not wanted to risk getting any worse so has taken things easy. Lek (the joint owner of Favrier with Malay) has been making Izzy hot drinks throughout the day, and even offered to take her to the doctors, no matter what time of day or night it is.

Of course I don't mind staying at the resort with Izzy while she is not feeling great, but I do get bored easily, so my visits to Lanta Animal Welfare have been increasing. Today I went there this morning and took Puyi, Vispen and Pepsi (still my favourite) out for a walk on the beach, and then after lunch went back to change all of the dogs water and had a bit of a play with them in the enclosures. It was nice to spend even longer with them and get a feel for their different personalities because out on a walk they are too busy sniffing around! The dogs are in good condition and seem to be happy at LAW. When I would get into the enclosures a lot of them would jump around trying to play and some of them tried de-flea me.

Pepsi

Dub Pistols & Ko Lanta

When we arrived in Ko Lanta we saw posters dotted around the town advertising that Dub Pistols were going to be playing a bar on the 27th Jan. We were unsure if it was going to be the actual band and not a cover group because the island is so small and secluded, but we went to check it out anyway. Unfortunately it wasn't the whole live band, but it was Barry Ashworth (the lead man and creator of Dub Pistols) DJing. We had an awesome time, the venue was a Klapa Klum Bar which is literally on the sand of Long Beach. I went over and said hello to Barry and told him about the time I saw him at Komedia in Bath when the crowd got up on stage. He laughed and said he remember the next day getting a call telling him the Dub Pistols are banned from ever playing in Bath again. He really took me and Izzy by surprise because he was a properly nice guy. Not that we had preconceptions of him, but he came over to our seats, shook my hand and introduced himself to Iz and sat there talking to us for a while. He even recommend some other places in the area we should visit while on our travels. On island in particular that he had visited with his fiance he said is really nice, quiet and chilled out.

When Barry went on stage to DJ, there was a problem with the decks, he kept looking over at us and gesturing a gun to his head with his hand as if to say 'just shoot me!', and as we said goodbye he even apologised to us for him not being able to play so much with the faulty equipment. But he was on stage just enough for me to get a few photos.

Ko Lanta National Park

We're really enjoying Ko Lanta and don't want to leave! Today we got up at about 9am and had breakfast at our resort, then hired another bike to do some more exploring. We stepped it up a bit today and went for a slightly more expensive bike. Fevrier, our resort, only had this one bike left and we couldn't be bothered to go and try and find a cheaper one else where, plus they did us a good deal. It's still a 125cc but it's a brand new Honda with all the gadgets, like stop-start!

So we hopped on the bike and headed south to the Ko Lanta National Park. The island itself is only 30km's long so the park isn't huge, but it has a beach, lighthouse, bit of forest and the main attraction for tourists is the monkeys. We thought we would love seeing the monkeys but they are really aggressive little shits! Three of them ran at Izzy while hissing and one of them jumped at me while I took his photo. One of the National Park employees explained to us they are angry unless you feed them, and that they get fed up of people taking their photos. Needless to say we quickly moved on to see what else was around.

Third day in Ko Lanta

We woke up this morning to grey skies and mild temperatures at around the mid twenties, so we spent the day relaxing at our resort. I'm really glad we did, because we got chatting to owners Lek and Malay (not sure on the spelling - but thats how it sounds!). I've learnt more from them about Thai culture than in the rest of my trip. One thing I found particularly interesting was about the King of Thailand. Everyone in Thailand loves him and I wasn't sure if it was because the government 'make' them, but it is genuinely because he has done so much good for people.

Lek was telling us that if you write a letter to the King asking for help, you will get it. For instance, a young boy aged 6 was made to look after his ill father after his mother died and so with help from his neighbours he wrote a letter. The King sent people to help and make their lives easier. The day after the tsunami, the King sent millions of Baht (Thai currency) to help people with rebuilding their lives. In the north of the counrty, locals started growing opium, but instead of punishing them he helped them to grow other legal crops instead to earn money. Aftrer learning about him I can really understand why there are so many shrines and statues celebrating him. The King is 89 years old and very ill in hospital, so it will be a sad day for the people of Thailand when he dies!

Tonight we took a walk on the beach to see if we could see any interesting wildlife, here are a couple of photos of what we saw. I took them using Izzy's point-and-shoot Canon, so I think we'll go back again to try and get some even better photos with my SLR.

Praying Mantis

Second day in Ko Lanta

When we paid the woman on the boat for our first night's accommodation we had agreed a bungalow, but when we got there they didn't have any free so they offered us a bamboo bungalow. They also have wifi, but you have to pay extra for it, and we wanted to hire a bike but they wouldn't because it was too late in the day (even though everywhere else rents bikes per 24hours). Last night we took a walk around to find somewhere else, but didn't find anywhere to make it worthy of moving. So this morning we got up early before check out time and went for another walk to find somewhere, and came across Fevrier Resort. It's a little more expensive, but has free wifi and includes breakfast which easily covers the extra cost. Not to mention the place is amazing, the people are really friendly, we're right across the road from the beach and we have an outdoor bathroom with no roof! They even drove back to our resort with us to get our bags for us!

Ko Lanta

This morning we checked out of our guesthouse and got a taxi (really just a man with a trolley to carry our bags!) down to the pier for the boat headed to Ko Lanta. We've had a great time relaxing on Ko Phi Phi's beautiful beaches, but it's time to move on and find somewhere new to explore. We got the 11:30am boat to Ko Lanta which takes just over an hour and costs 300baht (£6) each.

Living the dream, Ko Phi Phi

The last few days have been really chilled out, we've spent the day on the beach and the evening eating good food. The other night was a full moon, so in true Thai island tradition we spent it on Loh Dalum beach where there are several bars stretched along the beach. We went to Stones Bar which is right on the water, so much so that we kept having to move our cushions back as the tide came in, but it was nice being able to sit on the ground with our feet in the warm sea while having a beer! Most of the main bars along the beach have fire shows in the evening. Stones Bar's show had some seriously talented people juggling with fire while the DJ was playing drum and bass. They also had a friendly (and smelly) bulldog who liked to dig holes in the sand to lay in around us.

Arrived in Ko Phi Phi

Yesterday was our last day in Phuket so we used the bike to do a bit of exploring and rode to some other beaches. We rode to Rawai and Nai Harn beaches which were further south on the island, and even though they were a bit more remote than Kata and Karon, they weren't quite as nice. So we carried on riding back up to our favourite beach, Kata Noi, which has the whitest sand, clearest water and the least tourists.

Other than Kata Noi beach, the main thing I will miss about Phuket is our accommodation, Boost Guesthouse. The owner, Lee, is one of the nicest and most genuine people we've met on our travels and was a great host. So if you stay in Phuket, make sure you stay at Boost!

We were picked up by a bus this morning at 9:30 and were driven to the Pier, where we caught the 11am boat to Ko Phi Phi. The island is very small with no roads (so no cars or bikes!) and only a maze of footpaths to get around the various restaurants and hotels. Ko Phi Phi is even more expensive again than Phuket, but we heard on the boat about a guesthouse which is a bit closer to our budget so had a wander around and checked into there for the night at 900 baht (£18). We dropped our bags in the room and went for a walk to get some food and to find some even cheaper accommodation for the rest of our visit here. After lunch we headed to viewpoint to see the rest of the island which is 186 metres above sea level.

We did find some accommodation at the bottom of the steps leading to the viewpoint, which is a little bit cheaper, but a lot nicer. Fingers crossed for some awesome weather tomorrow and some serious chilling out on the beach.

Phuket

Phuket is much more expensive than everywhere else we have visited in Thailand so far. Normally we have taken tuk tuks and taxis to get around, but you can hire a bike for a whole day at the same price as a short trip in a tuk tuk. Now we have a bike we can get to the quieter beaches and can do some sight seeing. So we've hired a Honda scooter again for 200 baht (£4) per day.

We've spent most of our days chilling on Kata Noi Beach, which is just further south from Kata's main beach, and only really easy to get to with a bike (or a long walk). The weather is spot on what we needed after the freezing north of Vietnam, we've had solid 30°C everyday. The road that leads to the beach is a dead end with only a couple of hotels so it is a lot quieter then Phuket's other beaches. On Saturday evening we rode the bike a few miles away to the viewpoint, where you can see Kata Noi, Kata and Karon beach.

Back to Thailand... Phuket

Sorry for taking so long to post! There is a distinct lack of wi-fi in Phuket, especially at our guesthouse.

We got up around 5am on Thursday to get to the airport in time for our 9am flight from Hanoi to Bangkok, from there we caught a connecting flight to Phuket. I can't believe that two places so close together have such different temperatures, but it is so nice to be back somewhere hot! Phuket is not quite what we were expecting, it's a bit like Costa Del Sol with its hundreds of loud bars, live music and lots of white (or sometimes pink) tourists on the crammed beaches. When we were looking online for a hotel we wanted to try and avoid Patong which is the most heavily popluated area in the high season, so we booked a place in Karon. It's still quite busy, but nothing on Patong, and we only have a 2 minute walk to the beach.

Phuket is quite pricey too... when we stayed in Chiang Mai we had a pool and that hotel was about 600Baht per night (£12ish), most places in Phuket are double the price for less of the quality. I think we're going to stay here for a few days to enjoy some sun, sea and sand then move on to some of the islands.

Back to Bangkok

Last night we flagged down a tuk tuk and made our way to Chiang Mai train station for the 17:55 sleeper train to Bangkok, actually quite sad to be leaving Chiang Mai because it has so much to see/do and is so chilled out! It was early evening when we were at the station so light was amazing and meant I was able to get some quite cool photos...

Chiang Mai Train Station

Goodbye Chiang Mai

I didn't bother posting on here yesterday as we didn't do anything! We were both so tired out from our day with Mae Boutong that we spent most of the day chilling out in the sun at the hotel and looking at what to do next. So, the plan is tonight we get the sleep train back to Bangkok and spend one night in a hotel near the airport, and catch the 7:50am flight to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Last night we went to the night bazaar again as it's so close and bought a last couple of souvenirs. Izzy bought a little mini elephant and a gold bangle, while I bought a slightly larger elephant that had been hand-carved from wood. The shop that I got my elephant from was incredible! Everything in the shop was hand-carved, including one display which was as tall as the room and a couple of metres wide. I couldn't take any photos in there because there were signs saying not to, but it was lots of smaller carvings incorporated into one to make a massive underwater scene with turtles, fish and a mermaid.

Wooden Elephant from Night Bazaar, Chiang Mai

Then we went to a restaurant we only discovered two nights ago, Lemongrass. It has a really chilled out atmosphere and the food is excellent! It's only a couple of pounds for a really tasty curry or noodles. The walls are all covered with messages from various tourists who have eaten there. I think we're going to go there again for lunch today for our last meal in Chiang Mai.

If ever you come to Thailand make sure you visit Chiang Mai and stay at Riverside Guest House as they are both amazing! See you in Vietnam.

Mae Boutong the Asian Elephant, Chiang Mai

Today me and Isabella took a trip to visit Patara Elephant Farm. At Patara they rescue elephants from unsuitable living conditions and owners who mistreat them, and bring them back to full health. The local farmers grow crops and food, which is bought by Patara Farm using the money from tourists and is then fed to the elephants... they eat 10% of their body weight every day!

The program we took was called 'An Elephant Owner For They Day' where you learn everything about looking after an elephant. We learnt how to tell an elephants mood, learnt to wash and clean them and to feed them.

First of all we were given traditional clothing made by the wives and daughters of the farmers, so that all visitors approaching the elephants are always wearing the same clothing. At this point we were introduced to our elephants trainer Sawas and our elephant  for the day Mae Boutong. She was a 28 year old female asian elephant and 3 months pregnant! To make sure we would get on OK with Mae Boutong and that she would like us we had to go and feed her and se if she would accept taking food from us, which she did no problem. I was pretty nervous at first putting my hands near an elephants mouth, but you get used to it quite quickly and soon enough our hands were covered with elephant slobber!

Lazy Day, Chiang Mai

Literally have done nothing today apart from sleep and eat, this is what travelling is all about. Me and Izzy had a traditional Thai massage last night, we didn't quite realise what was involved when we asked for it... they pulled, twisted and massaged every muslce in my body. I didn't realise such small Thai women could have super human strength. At one point she was on her back with her knees up, and pulling my body backwards over them, so my back was completely arched over. It was definitely not a massge you could have slept through but I'm feeling good for it today.

View from the bridge outside our hotel, Chiang Mai

Wat Pra Singh, Chiang Mai

Spent most of the day doing what we had planned for everyday... relaxing! Early afternoon me and Izzy got a Tuk Tuk to the furthest part of the city that we hadn't really explored, which has the most poplar temple in Chiang Mai, Wat Phra Singh.

Wat Phra Singh, Chiang Mai