Koh Lanta, AKA Best Place EVER!

The next day we boarded another boat to Koh Lanta. Koh Lanta was by far my favorite island. On the boat over, we met a very nice couple from eastern Europe who accompanied us to a bungalow we had reserved. We arrived on Koh Lanta, not to find a tourist trap, but a relaxed, peaceful island. We would stay here for almost 2 whole weeks, and every minute of it was sublime.

We changed places from our original bungalow to one that was across the street and directly on the beach. The sand was at our door step and our window opened to the clean blue water. The place we stayed was called "Aecha Hut" and was owned and operated by a large family who was always coming and going. We never knew exactly who worked there or did what, but everyone was super friendly and welcoming.

The bungalow was mostly made from dark wood and had a bamboo ceiling. The bathroom was attached and had an open air ceiling to the palm trees that hung over it. Lets just say, hearing the ocean while doing your business was an experience everyone should have! We had a small porch, with a hammock that looked directly at the uninterrupted ocean. The beach was clean, clear, and hardly had anyone on it. Jared and I both agreed that we could stay at this place for a very long time.

The next order of business was to get a motor bike and tour the island. So, we rented a bike and went on our way. Jared, a seasoned driver, calmed my motor bike fears after the first 2 days of being his passenger. I always wore my helmet, and after a couple days released the death grip I had on him when we first boarded.

Walking along the small road near our bungalow, we came upon Joy and Nee's cafe. This place was an open air kitchen with a bamboo roof. They served the most wonderful EVERYTHING for the cheapest prices we had paid yet. We ended up eating there at least once a day, every day. My favorite was their green curry, and their spring rolls were divine! We didn't have one bad meal there and the little ladies that cooked were really fun to talk to. Jared even found a new love for Massaman Curry and ate it almost every day.

After being on Koh Lanta for a couple days, our buddy Jason came to meet us. He had just been touring around the main land, and strolled up one day while we were sitting on our porch. So, then there were 3, and we had a blast! We got him settled, and walked down to Joy and Nee's for some food.

The next couple days we explored the island. We went on jungle hikes, saw some elephants, Jared went scuba diving, we got some reading done, and just enjoyed being peaceful. If I got up early enough I could run on the beach and then take a swim. After, I would walk up to the store, grab some granola and some fresh yogurt and have a simple breakfast. This was the life I could get used to.

After being there for a while, Jared and Jason purchased a fishing rod and spent the evenings fishing in front of our place. The first time Jared sunk his bate he caught a good sized Jack fish. Everyone in ear shot ended up coming down to the shore to see what he had caught. They were very impressed that the tourist caught his own fish. That night, we barbecued the fish and played cards. It was great. A couple nights later he caught another one and we did the same thing, only I got to run to the market, get some garlic and prepare it for the grill. Delicious!

While the boys were fishing, I bought myself some paints and sat on the beach sketching and painting. It was so relaxing taking in the sunset and seeing the shadows form in the dusk. We were completely at peace.

Monkey Beach

We arrived in Koh Phi Phi with a rush of other travelers. Due to the island's popularity, the crowd was more of a vacationing/resort type than the backpackers we were used to seeing. Koh Phi Phi is home to the famous spot that the Leonardo De Caprio film "The Beach" was filmed, and thus is very popular and over priced. We found the cheapest, bare bones, bamboo, bungalow we could get and agreed upon a nap.

We woke up and walked around the very small island. The water was pure turquoise and the scenery was exquisite. It was hard to imagine that just a couple years ago, the whole island had been destroyed by a tsunami that devastated that part of the region. Due to the over priced food and drinks, we settled on some pizza and continued our walk around the island. We people watched and enjoyed the mild temperature while trying to soak in the beautiful scenery.

The next morning we went to the other side of the island to "Monkey Beach". As you can imagine, this is where tourists go to feed the "wild" monkeys. Luckily, we arrived early and there weren't many people crowding this small cove. We put our bags down and soon started seeing the fattest monkeys imaginable. We had brought bananas to feed these "little" creatures, so I quickly pealed one and walked over to it. I broke a bit off of the banana and held my hand out flat. He grabbed the piece, took a bite, and threw it on the ground. He looked at me, so I broke off another piece, held out my hand and he did the same thing. One bite and he threw it on the ground. So, I'm not one to waste food, even on cute, fat, little monkeys... So, I started backing away. I assumed the monkey just wasn't hungry. But, then the monkey started walking towards me, jumped up and stole the whole banana from my hand. With his belly dragging on the ground, he ran over to his tree, gracefully climbed up and ate the whole banana.

Before we could get over the fact that the obese monkey just wanted the whole banana, and didn't want to mess with my little pieces, he jumped down from the tree, ran over to Jared's back pack, stole his Gatorade bottle, ran back up the tree, unscrewed the cap, and drank the rest of the Gatorade. In awe, we stared at the plump creature finish chugging the liquid and then throw the bottle down to the ground. Who ever says evolution is a "theory" needs to visit "Monkey Beach".

Totally satisfied regarding our monkey excursion, we boarded a boat taxi back to the main beach and settled in for the night. The next day we were going to a larger and less touristy island called Koh Lanta.

Truck Stop

I will do my best to start from where I left you... more than 2 months ago, tan, happy, and in a Utopian state of mind. I had just returned to Bangkok from Cambodia and had plenty of time to sink in to the "land of smiles", the island way. After one more day in Bangkok we hopped on to an overnight bus going to Phuket in the south of Thailand. From there, we were going to the islands of Koh Phi Phi and Koh Lanta, for some serious R&R.

We arived at the bus station where a super friendly lady helped us get tickets to Phuket. She spoke fluent English and slipped us her business card saying that if we had "any trouble in Thailand to give her a call" I think she was some sort of lawyer. Either way, we chose to take the "regular bus" instead of the VIP bus and to travel with the locals. This proved to be an experience.

As in Korea, the bus was decked out. It had bright red curtains, crazy lights, and a laminated, psychedelic, red and yellow ceiling. We found ourselves in the very last row of the bus. I thought this would be a great place, due to the convienient shelf behind us. We could put our extra blankets and pillows that we were given so we could have more space. But as soon as I started getting situated, Jared told me that the "shelf" was the bus attendants bed. Yes, the little Thai lady who was giving us a bottle of water and some cookies for the 14 hour bus ride was going to lay down and sleep directly under my reclined seat. hmm...

So, the bus started as bus rides do, with a cramped, bumpy rhythm. Luckily, I was able to fall asleep only to wake up at "the rest stop". Jared had mentioned earlier that the farther we go south, the more Muslim the population gets. This didn't phaze me. But, when I awoke to look out the window, my cloudy eyes looked upon a sea of traditionally dressed Muslim men. An uneasy feeling swept across my body, and we decided to at least get out of the bus to use the bathroom.

As we stepped down from the bus, we stepped into a twilight zone of intense stares. Most of these people had never seen a white person before, and with all of the propaganda going on in the Muslim world, we were not sure how they viewed us. We were not off the bus for more than 3 minutes when a couple of men stepped up to us and began to speak. They introduced themselves, asked where we were from (which we obviously said Canada), and wanted to shake our hands. The older of the two did all of the talking and was shaking the whole time. Then, he reached his quivering hand out to shake mine. I tried my hardest to seem cool, calm, and collected and quickly headed towards the bathroom. The rest stop had at least 700 very traditionally dressed Muslim men and a handful of woman. I was lucky to be wearing long sleeves otherwise I wouldn't have gotten off the bus. We found the bathroom and as quickly as possible and tried to return to our seats on the bus. The only problem was, is that the bus moved. We frantically ran around the massive parking lot trying to decider which identical bus we belonged to. This was the LAST spot we wanted to stay the night.

We found our seats, and after many more hours, of tossing and turning in our narrow seats,we arived in Phuket. We walked for a while, deciding if we wanted to spend the night there, and agreed upon just going directly to the island of Koh Phi Phi. So, we boarded a boat, and by 10am we were on the most famous of all the Thai islands.