After Phuket we were heading to Koh Lanta, but we had to write off a whole day to travel there. The journey took about 8 hours total, via minivan and a short ferry. As soon as we arrived we headed out for food, and then to a bar where there was a great band playing.
In the morning we had a really nice free breakfast that the hostel provided – we had eggs, fruit, toast and homemade banana muffins, it was great considering we hadn’t paid much at all for the hostel! For our first full day we originally decided we would go to the beach, as we had heard they are supposed to be beautiful. Unfortunately for us though, we checked a few beaches and it was the same story for all of them: it was quite cloudy, and the waves were pretty big, which meant the sea wasn’t very clear due to the sand being brought in. We quickly decided we should do something else, so we decided to rent a moped for the days we are there so we can at least explore a bit. We did start to drive for a while, until we started to feel rain and was forced to go in a cafe as it started chucking it down. We already knew that Koh Lanta is a small island, so it wouldn’t be as busy, however it was definitely a lot quieter than I expected. Granted, we are in “low season”, but there were numerous amounts of restaurants, hostels, and bars without anyone in. However in the evening we stumbled across this tiny looking restaurant with only one couple inside, so we thought we would give it a go. The owners were the loveliest Thai couple, how gave us our menus on hand written books where people had written very highly rated reviews of their experience in the back. I had a mussaman curry, and Laura had a green curry. They both tasted amazing, and the owners were so nice we decided we would come back the next day.
In the morning we decided we would take the bike and venture down the south of the island and see what we found. After driving a while (and taking a wrong turn), we ended up in “Old Town”. We decided to get off and have a wander, and it was so nice there we didn’t expect it. We saw more tourists, and there were lots of shops selling homemade clothing and jewellery. We walked round for a bit and had a drink on the waterfront, before heading on our way. After driving a bit longer through the forests and bendy roads, we stopped for lunch at “Phad Thai Rock ‘n Roll”, which was arguably the best Pad Thai I’ve had so far! We stopped for a drink on a beach which wasn’t as bad as the ones we had been to the day before, and then drove about an hour back to our hostel. Just like we said, we did go back to the same restaurant, where we had the nicest spring rolls ever, and then I had the green curry and Laura had a red curry. It was so nice to see how much they love cooking, seeing how proud they were of their creations and the lady taking a photo of what she had cooked for us before serving.
Koh Lanta was nice, but I’m sure in the right time of year it would be incredible. I have heard there is the nicest sunsets, which unfortunately we didn’t get to see at all, and I can imagine when it is busier it would be a lot more fun too.
Lee Teivans Travel Blog 