KO LANTA - THAILAND

Ko Lanta had the paradise beach I had been looking for and was yet to find. Sweet. We travelled by boat from Krabi which took about an hour and a half and then took a jeep to the resort we had booked in at. It was on Kantiang Bay. As soon as we got there we booked an extra night and stayed for four in all. The beach was stunning with a couple of kilometres of soft unspolied sand fringed with jungle. There were only a couple of places to stay on the bay, other than the mega expensive one where they ferry guests around in golf buggies and have their own private yacht to escort people there, a little beyond our meagre budget unfortunately. The sparse accomodation was good because it meant no hawkers annoying you and trying to sell you rubbish.

Beautiful Beach at Kantiang Bay

Our room was great, really big and clean with air con and the staff at the Kantiang Bayview Resort were top class. Nothing was too difficult for them and they were always happy and smiling. I would reccomend anyone to go there. We felt really relaxed there and did so for four days, chilling on the beach, swimming with fish in the sea and talking walks to watch the sunset and search for crabs (not those kind of crabs Caireen) on the rocks, it was superb.

Sunset

During my travels I am doing my best to add restaurants to my favoutrite list by eating in as many as I can. I think I found one here. It was called 'Same Same But Different' and had some of the best food I have ever had. The thick fish curry with rice rocked. Sitting on tables in the sand with shell and coral mobiles swaying in the breeze around you and the hermet crabs shuffling under your chair was brilliant and we went back there two nights. On the way back from the restaurant on the first night we had to walk along the beach and didn't realise that between our arriving there and leaving the tide had come right in and we had to wade past rocks through the sea up to our knees at one point. It was fairly freeky in the pitch dark and there were several oooo's aaaa's and ohmygod's! We took a torch and went a bit earlier the second time.

SS but D

Every night in the 'Why Not Bar' (good name for a bar I thought) at our resort there was a guy who would do fire tricks on the beach. He was basically one of those guys who get a huge burning stick and fling it round their heads at one hundred miles an hour like a maniac, but he was very good. They would usually play 'light my fire' by the doors while he was at it (and then he did the fire tricks - boom boom!! Man I'm hilarious). One night it was a little Thai boy's birthday at the bar. The bar was packed and everyone sang happy birthday to him after which he blew out all the candles on a big plate of watermelon that they gave him. He came round everybody in the bar and gave them some fruit before having any himself. What a nice lad.

Thais preparing a long tail boat

It was a great place. We loved it there and didn't want to leave - in fact we should have stayed longer but we were back on the road, or should I say sea, to Phi Phi.