A haphazard chronicle of my inevitable misadventures during a year in Vietnam and points east.

p.s. I'll be pitifully grateful if you send me email during my exile: TravelerKaty@hotmail.com

October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 February 2006 March 2006 May 2006

 
Ko Lanta, Thailand

I'm hesitant to tell people about it, but I found quite a Thai island paradise on Ko Lanta Yai. It's a bit of a fluke that I found myself on Kantiang Beach in the far southern end of the island. I had no intention whatsoever of going to a beach so far away from civilization, as I am somewhat in fear of being the only guest on a beach now that we are in the low season. in the Andaman Sea side of Thailand. And in fact, I had already rejected two different touts who had tried to convince me to go to that beach, one just off the Ko Phi Phi boat in Krabi, and one sharing my minibus to Ko Lanta, a chain of 52 islands.

But just before the minibus took off, a Thai man I'll call George (in lieu of the unpronounceable George-like Thai name he actually possessed) sat down beside me. Over the course of the two hour drive and two ferries, George convinced me to head down to the island's hinterlands. Never have I gained so much benefit from being a soft sell.

The beach was truly lovely, moon-shaped bay with about a kilometer of sand with a backdrop of mountains and coconut palms. At each end were high rocky headlands, atop one of which it was possible to eat superlative Thai food while seated on cushions on individual cliffside platforms, watching the most magical sunsets imaginable.

There are five "resorts" on Kantiang Beach, three at the north end owned by an extended family from Ko Lanta itself, one at the far end with just three bungalows and a nice restaurant, and one of the most gorgeously, thoughtfully laid-out five-star resort I have ever seen in the middle. Seriously, they had the most beautiful pool at that place, and everything looked rich, tasteful, private and understated. If only I had $125, the low season rate for their cheapest room. This would be exactly 25 times what I was paying for my very nice fan bungalow with balcony and view. I suspect that for the additional $120 you got hot water and air-con, though.

The Lanta Marine Park View Resort had other amenities, the best of which was the restaurant. Perched precariously on the hillside and occupying several levels, it offered a stunning view of the whole beach and mountains behind, and included sizable open grass-roofed wooden huts where you could lie on pillows, sip fruit smoothies and bask in the beauty before you. I spent hours there lounging, chatting with people, eating, playing cards and reading.

Not that all was perfection there. The staff were extremely friendly, but often in, shall we say, a Jamaican sort of way. You learned to ask complicated questions only in the morning, and never of the bartenders, as they were half-lit most of the time, and fully non-operational after 10 pm. All of the resort bartenders (except presumably at the 5-star one) were the same way -- they loved the low season -- but it was a small price to pay for paradise.

One of the excellent things about my stay on Ko Lanta was that on the way down I shared the back of the pickup truck with four other people, two European couples, with whom I had far more in common than with your average backpacker, since they were older than average, possessed no tattoos or facial piercings outside the ear, and had actually held real jobs.

Together the five of us signed up for a "4-Island Boat Tour" to do a bit of snorkeling and make us feel like we were accomplishing something. Days can pass there without doing anything more strenuous than shake the sand out of your sarong and order another drink.

Our first two stops on the tour, Ko Chuek and Ko Kraden, were your typical hunks of limestone erupting from the sea. The snorkeling at both was fantastic -- tons of fish and varied and colorful coral. I was a bit alarmed by the school of eels (who knew they swam in packs?) and by the many, many sea urchins, each spiny black with a mysterious bright blue spot in the middle, but I was able to avoid these dangers. Actually, I doubt eels would even be considered a danger, but they definitely look alarming and I try to ignore them unless they are on a menu.

At our third stop, Ko Mook, we were all a bit crabby and ready for lunch, it was cloudy and a bit rough, and we couldn't see any coral. Nobody moved -- none of us particularly wanted to snorkel again so soon, but at the same time we didn't want to miss anything amazing and/or not get full value for money. Just as we had convinced a 40ish Englishman to test the waters for us, our "guide", who spoke maybe 25 words of English, all related to the 4 Island Tour, indicated that we were not snorkeling at this location and that we should all don lifejackets for a visit to a cave.

No I know I rather belabor my loathing of caves, but I ask you -- a visit to a cave that involves lifejackets? It seemed this could only end in disaster. The nine of us leaped in teh water and started swimming after the guide who was (cruelly) the only one of us with fins, and who was carrying a very inadequate flashlight over his head. We wer eall less than graceful in his wake, as moving forward efficiently was impossible with lifejackets riding up around our necks. We looked like a school of particularly low-achieving hunchbacks.

The length of this post is totally freaking out blogspot, so please continue reading on Friday June 27.

Copyright 2003 Katy Warren

posted by Katy at 7:19 AM