Week 8 – Thailand (Part 3)

Krabi – Koh Lanta

Week 8 baby! Currently in Koh Lanta, I made it down south and am living that island life. I am now a pro at riding a scooter and my skin is working at a constant light red, good times. I am writing this from a cafe called Panorama on the east side of the island and I’ve just eaten a fresh mango so I’m feeling quite lucky right now. I waved goodbye to Penny this morning as I rode off to the beach and she gave me a 2 dollar australian coin to remember her by, so once again I am back on my own, venturing into the wild with myself and my Osprey backpack (which seems to be a signifier of the middle class backpacker). It’s been a complete joy travelling with Pen, I feel as though I’ve been a little spoilt as she’s pretty incredible and bizarrely it feels like we’ve known each other for ages. Anyway, she’s gone now so it’s time to meet some better people (JOKING PENNY!!!). So, let’s give you a rundown of life down south so far. 

The flight from Chiang Mai to Krabi was easy peasy. After a three hour bus ride through the notoriously windy roads, I was at the airport at about 3pm for my early evening flight down south. Now, I have to admit this journey was made a little extra exciting by a certain sexy Spanish man I met on route. So, picture this, I am waiting by the gate (gate 11 specifically) with my headphones in watching the world go by, and to my left I catch eyes with this guy and I remember saying to myself ‘FIT!’. Anyhoo, I board the flight, I get to my row, look down and guess who’s in the seat next to me?!?!?!?! NOT THAT GUY! No I’m kidding, it was him! We smiled at eachother and I put my bag in the compartment above as gracefully and chic as I possibly could (bearing in mind I have a water bottle and trainers and towel hanging off my bag so it’s fucking hard to move that around without knocking out everyone around me) and sat down. We were both scrolling on our phones and I was pretty proud of myself here as I thought ‘Fuck it, I am going to shoot my shot’ and asked him straight out………..

“What’s your favourite airline then?” 

Joking again, literally laughing while writing that, is it concerning that I laugh at my own jokes? Grow up, Lil. Anyway, I asked him something stupid about Krabi and we spent the duration of the two hour flight nattering away. He’s 28, Spanish, an energy analyst, lives in Barcelona, hot, and hopefully never reads this. Luckily for me, Mum has just moved to Spain so I’m feeling really positive about the long distance. Estoy bromeando. We actually went for drinks with Penny and his friend a couple days later and it was lovely. A particular stand out moment from the drinks was when both of the guys told us their parents names with the rolling tongues, the double barrelled surnames and the sexy s’s incorporated, and then they asked what our parents names were and it was…‘Fred’ and ‘Roy’. It doesn’t get less Spanish than that. Anyway, who knows? Maybe I’ll see him when I’m in Spain. Anyway, I arrived in Krabi, hopped in a taxi and arrived at my hostel at about 9pm. Penny was also staying here but wouldn’t get there until a bit later. Now, ‘Nomads’ is a new hostel, and it did say ‘social hostel’ but let me tell you, it’s a party hostel, and I do believe I am slowly discovering I can maybe hack that once every 2 weeks/10 years. So, I walked through the doors of the hostel and all five of the bar staff turned around and screamed (like actually screaming) ‘WELCOME TO NOMADS!!!!’. Initial thoughts, bit strange but I see what they’re doing here, they’re trying to create the vibes. Unfortunately, the novelty wears off when they do that EVERY SINGLE TIME you walk into the hostel, even at 8am. At one point Penny and I were dodging going back just to avoid the dreaded welcome chant. Anyway, after the loud welcome, the American guy that runs the hostel was checking me and another group of young (17 years old ) guys in. They were there before me and this guy kept saying to me “I’m coming to you next pretty lady”. Fucking vomit. So, it’s not looking good, guys? Next up were the hostel rules… put concisely by this guy he explained that “I KNOW WE ALL LOVE FUCKING, I CERTAINLY DO. I KNOW WE ALL LOVE DRINKING AND TAKING DRUGS, BUT DON’T DO IT IN THE DORMS”. I was well and truly in hell. I was about to head to my dorm when I was stopped to be told the wifi password……………… ‘gofuckyourself’. Need I say more?

I decided to be social so dropped off my bags and had a beer with a couple of the people sitting outside. I vibed with a girl called Molly from Bristol who was cool, but had an odd experience with a girl drinking a smirnoff ice (???). I can’t actually remember her name but I asked her how old she was and she said ‘I’m actually 35’. I responded with something along the lines of “Cool” or “Nice” and she then went very serious and said ‘As if, I’m 22!!!!!”. She seemed quite offended and the whole encounter was very odd. She then told the same “joke” to another guy sitting with us who seemed equally baffed. Penny FINALLY arrived and we treated ourselves to a midnight curry and went back to our dorms for some much needed shut eye. The dorm rooms were actually quite nice and the beds were really comfy. Only downside was that the bedroom and bathroom were kind of all in one open space so I couldn’t put on my electric toothbrush 😦 Well I could have, but I’m not a prick.

The next day, we went to get a smoothie and made a last minute decision to get a long boat to Railay beach as we’d heard really good things. It was pretty beautiful. A tiny little bay with a bit of a hippie vibe, but unfortunately it was absolutely rammed so it was hard to kind of immerse ourselves. Still lovely though! We spent the day chilling on the beach and eating, and then hopped back on the long boat for a dusky journey back to Ao Nang (the area of Krabi where we were staying). We were planning on going to watch a Muay Thai match evening, but instead we went to the night market (beef and prawn kebab things for me, yum) and then over to Strawberry Moons for a few Changs with our new spanish friends/lovers. It was the loveliest evening, really great conversation and a lovely reminder of how many wonderful people there are out there. Smart, funny and easy on the eyes. Plus, we’d managed to avoid going on the pub crawl at the hostel. We’d quickly realised that Krabi wasn’t the vibe, so we’d booked a 9am transfer in the morning to make our way a little further down south to this glorious island, Koh Lanta. 

We were up and at ’em the next day for our early morning journey down south. A songthaew, ferry and short drive later we arrived at our own little private bungalow (sharing a bed again, who am I?) at Ok Chakeow hostel on the North West side of the island. A cute room, bed was hard as nails sadly, but it was nice to have our own room. We plonked our bags, rented scooters as it’s difficult to get around without them here, and went exploring. Worth noting here that the women who ran the hostel charged us 40 baht to “fill up” with petrol and this ran out within about 5 minutes, so she definitely just poured some milk in there. The speedometer on my scooter also wasn’t working, so on reflection it was a bit silly, but we move. This afternoon is etched in my memory as I completely and utterly fell in love with Koh Lanta. We were scooting down the coast (Penny the slowcoach trailing behind me, Max Verstappen (I actually see myself as more of a Carlos Sainz but I’m keeping it mainstream for the non F1 fans) (that would also be me because I’ve only watched the Netflix show) ) and stopped off at a few different beaches, just completely blown away by how beautiful and quiet it was. We had a stunning salad at a vegetarian beach shack called Sweet Soul which was 10 out of 10. There seems to be more happening on the north end, but the south is honestly so gorgeous and tranquil. We were pretty much the only people on a few of these beaches. Turns out there’s a national park on the southern most point of the island, and I was pretty desperate to see it as I’d read some amazing views. Even the drive there was like nothing I’d ever seen, the trees were like something out of Avatar and at this point it was about 5pm, so the temperature was spot on, there was a light breeze and the light was just perfect. I won’t ever forget it. I didn’t actually take a picture which in a way makes it more special as I’ll just have to remember it. Apologies to the fans who want to see the world through my eyes. We arrived at the national park, paid our 220 baht entry fee and parked up. The national park is right on the edge of the island, so there’s what looks like a jungle behind you and the most gorgeous white sandy beach ahead with a beautiful lighthouse up on the hill. It felt a real moment of relief having come from Krabi which we were just not vibing with, and turning up to somewhere so in nature you really feel off the beaten track. We set off on the nature trail there but soon realised this wasn’t practical in bikinis and sandals (or we’re too lazy, unsure). Nevertheless I absolutely loved it, and I’d quite like to go again before I leave here. Our final beach stop was at somewhere called Bamboo beach, where we watched the sun go down in complete silence as we were the only ones there. Utter bliss and made me reflect on how much I actually love silence, particularly with a sunset. Had to ask Penny to shut the fuck up a few times. Joking. She also loves quiet time. We finished off our evening with dinner at a place I can’t remember the name of, but it was right on the beach and we watched a fire thrower (not sure what you call this profession?) who was great, although he dropped the rope a few times and we felt really bad as he looked in pain at various points. He was playing with fire to be fair. 

The next day we’d signed up for a snorkelling tour as we were both feeling some sightseeing and thought it’d be a good chance to meet some new people. Turns out the tour group was mostly families with young kids, but still, nice. We were picked up at 8:30 by our songthaew and taken to a nearby beach to board our speedboat. The first stop was Koh Haa. There were about 30 people in total on the boat, and I don’t think any of us were prepared for quite how fast this boat was going to go, for a fucking hour. It was honestly like something out of a film, we were quite literally flying over the waves. I was hanging onto Penny for dear life, and at one point I looked to my right and there was a small child vomiting into a bucket and everybody looked so depressed. After an hour of so much bouncing I thought I’d slipped a disc, we arrived at Koh Haa for our first round of snorkelling. I don’t think I’ve ever snorkelled before and it’s safe to say I am now a huge fan. I absolutely loved it! There’s literally a whole world down there. Call me Ariel. I miss my feet 😦 After 30 minutes we were back on the boat to head towards Koh Rok. This time I took a nausea tablet AND I sucked a lollipop the whole time because I aint no fool. 45 minutes of flying later and we arrived at Koh Rock for some more snorkelling, which was absolutely STUNNING – the whitest beaches and crystal clear water. I don’t think I’m very good at describing scenes, but I just remember being blown away by how remarkable it is being that close to what’s happening underwater, and being able to hear it so clearly. There was a particular fish that was literally all the colours of the rainbow and I think if I was a fish, I’d like to be that (it was definitely queer). You just know when a fish is queer. If I stopped breathing for a second, I could hear the fish eating from the rocks, bloody bonkers. I also saw three clown fish swimming around in an anemone (had to google how to spell that) and that was a very sweet moment. It makes me ponder on if I’d like to learn how to dive, but I think I’m too much of a wimp. After the second round of snorkelling, it was time for lunch on the island. The people who were running the tour had set up a Thai buffet for us on one of the picnic benches and it was absolutely delicious. There was some kind of sweet potato and chicken coconut curry, rice, chicken wings and fresh fruit. Penny and I both went up for seconds and then were told we had a couple of hours to spend as we liked on the island so we headed straight to the beach and perched up under a shady tree. Now, I’m not sure at what point the nausea tablet hit me, but for the next hour I was hit by what can only be described as an avalanche of tiredness. Worth noting that I was also on my period, and had recently developed a cold (no seriously, Mol and Soph – I was actually ill) so I think a combination of all that suddenly hit me like a tonne of bricks. I kind of felt like the next hour was a bit of a dream, but a good dream because I was laying on a buff beach on a remote Thai island. After I came to, it was back on the boat for a final round of snorkelling. I’d lost track of time and one of the guys had to swim out and get me, I felt a bit embarrassed getting back on the boat soaking wet while everyone was waiting for me 🙂 I can’t help that I’m so at one with the ocean guys?! When it calls, you answer. 

We got home for a quick shower and turnaround, and then headed to Majestic Bar to watch the sunset with a few passion fruit mojitos. This was a bloody lush couple of hours, chatting away and watching the sun go down over Long Beach. We’d both decided we were going to go to another bar for more drinks, but being the OAP’s that we are, quickly settled on the idea of a burger instead. In our defence, it had been a long day. Quite a funny moment when I flagged down what I thought was a songthaew but was actually just a man delivering rice, fair play to him for picking us up and earning some extra cash on his journey. 

I’d booked myself a little bungalow at Lanta Para Hut for the next three nights, Penny decided she would book one for a couple of nights before she left, so the next day we checked into our new gaff. For £13 a night you get your own air conned little bamboo bungalow with a balcony, fresh towels, water, the whole shabang. I think it is one of my favourite spots so far. It’s run by the loveliest man called Red who’s so honest and kind it hurts my heart, and the whole experience at this place has been very special. I wanted to make the most out of this little slice of heaven, so I spent the entire afternoon sitting on my deck. I facetimed Maraid for a good hour in the early evening and wrote in my journal something really cringey about the sunset and how lucky I am. I wont get into it. We had dinner (massaman curry) at the resort that night and I was in bed at about 9pm with About Time on. A well needed chill day (because the other days are super high intensity and stressful). 

The next morning I got up for a yoga class at Lanta Yoga which was in a shala in the middle of nowhere and was really beautiful. It started with monkeys jumping around behind us in the trees, very surreal. The average age of this class was probably 45, and I was truly humbled because it was SO HARD. This teacher held the poses for what felt like hours and at one point I was wondering if it was ever going to end. I love yoga so much, but I actually hate pushing my body physically in any way, not sure what this says about me. Maybe that I just like stretching? Penny and I scooted over to The Backyard cafe for brunch and then hopped on over to one of our favourite beaches for a dip. On our way home we stopped for a sweet treat at a cafe with the most sensational view over one of the bays and I ate the most DELICIOUS pineapple and banana pancake. I wasn’t expecting it to be so good, but actually a highlight for me. I headed home for a shower and chill and then jumped in a tuk tuk with Penny for a pint at the local Irish bar to celebrate St Paddy’s Day. We had our green Chang (no seriously) and then went next door to a bar for a few margaritas. We ended up spending our evening with a guy from LA who was on a hiatus from life (his words). He was a nice guy, and we ended up going for a noodle soup with him after. There was a karaoke bar across the road and Penny and I put forward our duet choice of We Belong Together by Mariah Carey, but unfortunately there was too long of a queue so we decided to sack it, but I was well and truly ready to get up and hit the high notes. 

I actually had a really dreadful hangover this morning, testament to the tequila. It was also not helped by the fact that when we got home last night our bikes weren’t there, so I had fully convinced myself they’d been stolen. Obviously they weren’t, but I set my alarm really early (8:30) to go and find them. They were parked outside. Carpe diem I guess!!! After saying goodbye to Penny, I took myself for a dip at Nui Bay which was another gorgeous beach and then scooted to the Old Town to find somewhere to write, Carrie Bradshaw style. Before I found said place, I found a lovely little spot to look at the view when a man approached me and asked if I wanted to see his exhibition. Turns out, this very talented guy has spent the last two years making to-scale miniature replicas of ancient Thai cities. He gave me the rundown of Bangkok as a city from the 1600’s and then also Ayutthaya, which was sadly burned down by the Burmese in the 1760’s but used to be a thriving city that is 80 km north of Bangkok, and was the old capital of Siam (now Thailand) and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Sight. Dad was right the other day when he said on the phone that anything really can happen in a day. Typically I find that quite scary, but it’s actually pretty incredible, anything really can happen. 

So now I’m back in my little hut. I think my evening is going to consist of a shower, probably some Netflix, I might finish my book, and definitely some food. Something quite carb based I imagine. Another week has both flown and gone incredibly slowly, time is moving so differently. I feel pretty disconnected, but in the best kind of way. Tomorrow I go again with the solo travelling, say a prayer for me folks. At least this time I’m going in equipped with some facts about ancient Thai cities.

Until next time,

Lily xx