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Ko Lanta

The second we got off the bus we were greeted with a few people from hotels trying to get us to go with them, we went with two Muslim women and got in the back of their jeep for a free ride to the area we wanted to go to. The huts were quite nice and very cheap, they were simple - just a small room on stilts with a bathroom, bed and mosquito net, and a balcony. We went straight to the beach which was only a 2 minute walk from the hut. It looked nice but not as good as we were expecting from all the pictures we had seen of Thai beaches, although it was just about dusk. Having said that it was very long, the sand was fine and palm trees lined it all the way, plus the sea was really, really warm! We watched the sunset, which was amazing, and went for dinner and a few drinks, then bed, it had been a long day/night and we were looking forward to catching up on some sleep.

Next morning was beautiful, we went straight to the beach again and this time it looked incredible, not disappointing at all. The sea was greeny/blue, the sand golden...just looked exactly like we thought it would, and better. Went straight for a swim and the water was lovely, very warm but refreshing after the morning heat. I only stayed in for 15mins or so and didnt sit in the sun but noticed when we got back to the hut that my back and arms were looking pretty pink. I stupidly didn't put any suncream on but didn't expect to be in the sun at all but obviously was for enough. It didnt hurt, feel hot or tight so I wasn't too concerned about it, I just decided I wasn't going to be exposed to the sun at all again. (the next day it did start to hurt and the day after that it was itching intensely, i looked bright pink and started to peel about a week later, ive decided to go back to how I was - never going in the sun!). I don't think we did much for the rest of the day, just relaxed and sat in the shade on the beach. We went out that evening but everywhere was dead quiet, the bars had one or two people in, if that and the streets were more or less deserted. We found out that it was the low season (the monsoon was approaching) but the island always stays fairly quiet (this we knew, just didnt think it would be this quiet).

Decided to hire out a moped the next day to go around the island, neither Sarah or I had ever ridden one but there was no traffic on the roads & didnt think it could be that hard. We got one from the hotel & got shown how to use and set off to the main town. We got half way there and thought that something wasn't quite right with the bike, the steering felt very stiff and it got pretty bumpy. We stopped & had a look at it and realised that the back tire was flat. We decided to turn around and go back and get a new bike, Sarah tried to have a go at driving but lost control and swerved in to the middle of the road, not far from an oncoming car. I took over and did the rest of the driving! By the time we got to the hotel people were driving past pointing at the tyre, it was totally flat and almost in shreds. The people at the hotel refused to give us a new one until we paid to repair the tyre which we were furious about, Im sure it was just on the way out and they were waiting for someone to wear it out, they made some strange excuses like "it was safe for one person only" despite the fact that they we hired it out together and they saw us drive off together. We just walked away & spent the rest of the day sulking & being in a bad mood after having lost a whole day's rental money with nothing more than a ride up the road to show for it. Did go to a reggae bar though in the evening which was a really nice place, it was underneath loads of big leaves in a hut and seemed very atmospheric. We met a few other travellers in there and sat talking for a few hours in there.

We tried again the next day, this time from somewhere else, and checked the tyres. This one felt more like it should so we spent the whole day riding around the island visiting all the quiet beaches. It was great fun & I started to wish that I had a bike in England, although Im sure the streets of Oxford would be slightly harder to negotiate than the quiet roads of Lanta! Some of the beaches were just amazing, deserted and incredibly beautiful, white sand, crystal clear sand etc. We went to quite a lot altogether and rode the length of the island, racing back to the town to hand back the bike and make it to the hotel for sunset to get some good pictures. The sunsets were the best I have ever seen here, the sun set right opposite you if you were looking out to sea and the colours and cloud formations were unimaginable. I must've used up a whole roll of film just on one sunset, they just seemed to get better and better as the night approached.

We were in a different hotel by this point, this one a proper hotel rather than huts, with air con, tv etc and all pretty cheap. It was a bit far from the main bars and restaurants but instead had its own beach side bar & restaurant along with swimming pool and their own fire dancer! He got going at around 10pm and could so anything that involved fire, diablo, juggling, poi, eating, breathing...it was great to watch while eating dinner with the sea behind him. Spent a few days here and set off for Ko Phi Phi, which you could see out to sea.

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