BootsnAll Travel Network



Island Life

KO LANTA

Ah, sweet sweet Ao Mai Pai and the magnificent Bamboo Bay Resort. Our respite at last. This is where we were met with warm smiles. Where we befriended the staff and our host with an invitation to return for a visit to her home in the south of the country. Where we spent 5 nights despite sleeping on the most uncomfortable (sometimes painful) mattress either of us has ever sat or slept upon. Where 4 young women dressed in head scarves whisked me away upon catching sight of my bloody gashed shin to clean and dress my reef inflicted wounds. Where time both slowed down and sped by simultaneously. Where we watched the sun poetically meet the horizon night after glorious night. Where we were reluctant to leave, but did so anyway.

view from deck bamboo bay

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Of course it wouldn’t have been our Thailand experience if we first hadn’t spent 2 nights at Kantiang Bay Resort where their “Why Not Bar” figured why not keep their guests awake all night with the outrageous (and sometime hilarious) sound of their Thai house band playing classic American covers. And where when we rented a motorbike to cruise around the island we didn’t make it more than a few miles before having to be rescued twice — first due to a dead battery (after stopping to book accommodation at aforementioned Bamboo Bay) and then minutes later due to a missing lock key the fixer man failed to give us when he left his motorbike with us the first time. It is, however, where we most brilliantly met Swedish sky diving duo, Johann and Jolene, along with Danish (at the moment anyway) music producing Joel and his saucy Spanish Marilyn-esque partner, Rosa. Thank God for silver linings.

KO ROK

The quintessential Thailand white sand beach lapped by surreal turquoise water. We took a day trip to this post card perfect island for what was rumored to be dynamite snorkeling. It did not disappoint. It put Ko Tao to shame with its outrageous visibility and variety of crayola colored sea life.

ko rok

KO KRADAN

When we did finally pull ourselves away from Ko Lanta it was to the Trang Island of Ko Kradan with a walkable breathtaking beach stretching halfway around the island at low tide. No vehicles. Just beach, trail, jungle and sea. Paradise Lost was the apropos named resort we found ourselves at with the best food we had eaten yet. And the best homemade ice cream EVER. The views were tasty as well.

ko kradan

ko kradan

ko kradan

ko kradan sunset

KO PHI PHI

After checking last minute flights to Chiang Mai and deciding they were too expensive we were faced with the choice of heading further south to Ko Lipe, yet another tropical paradise and one I was anxious to visit, or spending less time commuting by boat and beginning our northward trek to Phuket where Eric and I would be catching onward flights in 6 days. We opted for the later. And since it was on the way I thought we should at least glimpse the infamous Ko Phi Phi despite our reservations. Eric was even more reluctant than I but I promised him it would be great. And it was. But in an unexpected way.

As we pulled into Tonsai Village my heart sank and regret filled my being. “Let’s go back to Lanta,” I practically pleaded. The Vegas spectacle that greeted us was the stuff of our Thailand nightmares. Towering resorts and hotels gobbled up the dramatic landscape and countless boats lined the once serene bays. It made the “less than mellow” Ko Pha Ngan seem a sleepy village by comparison. Tonsai Village for us is the Bangkok of island life. Hectic and people laden.

We disembarked along with hundred of others and immediately set to getting ourselves to the east coast rumored to be one of the few places to get any sleep on the island. We booked with a tourist company on the pier and after a 3 hour wait joined a young crowd of self proclaimed (in official looking hats and bullet proof vests) “New York City Party Police” for the requisite taxi boat to Rantee Beach.

A friendly welcome and humble but quiet bungalow awaited us. Sigh of relief. And this is where Eric’s predetermined disdain for the commercial island morphed quickly into a deep fondness when we met Alex. As we were getting settled into our bungalow Eric & AlexEric caught a glimpse in the dark of the night of a Thai man walking past with a guitar in hand. Naturally this piqued his interest and he snuck after to assess.

The man’s name was Alex and he is a self taught guitar player with an affinity for the blues of all things. A veritable needle in a haystack when it comes to Thai awareness and taste in music. He doesn’t understand the theory or structure of blues music but he studies Robert Johnson and various blues legends – he knows them all – on YouTube and learns what he can by sight and ear. He and Eric picked late into the night sharing originals and gratitude for their meeting. Unfortunately all of the magic happened past my bedtime thus I have no photos to share, but I get the sense those two will meet again.

KO YAO NOI

Our last stop was to be our favorite. The very chill Ko Yao Noi. More locals and less guesthouses (though still plenty and of much higher quality than anywhere else by far). Had it not been our last we would have easily stayed much longer.

We spent 4 splendid nights at the luxurious Suntisook Resort…

sunsitook bungalow

Days found us cruising the island and it’s neighbor, Ko Yao Yoi, by motorbike (which involved 3 or 4 Thai men loading our motrobike on and off a longtail boat to cross the water)…

…enjoying the views of Krabi and Phang Nga Bay by land and water…

…lounging on our front porch swing, cooling off in the luke warm waters out front, and generally doing our best to cherish every last minute of our final days in Thailand.

There is so much of our Thailand experience left untold. The day to day life of Thai people beyond the beaches. The sights and smells outside the foreigner’s tropical paradise, much of it in stark contrast to. The scenes witnessed often in transport when my camera was tucked safely away (for ease). My new camera is great, but it doesn’t fit in my pocket and I found myself longing for a good ole fashioned point and shoot many a time. I also don’t have a stealth telephoto lens allowing me to capture candids and portraits from afar. Our phones have a lousy camera, but Eric was much better at using his in those in between moments. I’m learning to keep it handy, but for now what you get instead is a very limited, but very pretty point of view. The one that keeps the backpacker path here well trod. And many dreaming of a Thailand getaway. And why not? It was after all a perfectly flawed yet perfectly tremendous journey.

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I’ll leave you with just a few random shots (credit to Eric for a few)…

Here are a couple of shots of the Thai taxi system referred to in my last post and its lack of safety. Notice the infant on her mother’s lap in the back of the truck bed stuffed with people. This is a scene we witnessed dozens of times. Or similarly Mom and Dad on a motorbike with infant on back (backpack) and/or toddler in front. And I’m talking Euros here, not just Thais. Yep, join ’em or go home. Oh, and on that note, every day we saw at least a handful of European couples traveling with their kids almost exclusively 5 and under. Almost always with one under 2 years of age. I really can’t fathom it, but it’s inspiring for those who don’t want to give up travel as parents!

Fruit shake stand

Shopping in Thailand

Gas station in Thailand

Garbage (often found on beaches, though this was an extreme case – we were guessing it was from the tsunami back in 2004)

Soccer game

Sleeping motorbike vendor



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