Memories and Exploration

We left Phuket by ferry in the morning toward Koh Lanta.

View from the ferry near Koh Phi Phi

The ferry went through Koh Phi Phi (pronounced Ko Pee Pee (hee hee)) which we decided to skip due to time and its reputation for being heavily populated by partying tourists. The people who got off the ferry when it stopped in Phi Phi were supremely douche-y looking (we're talking neon trucker hats and deep v-neck tank tops), and they assuaged our slight disappointment at missing out on what would otherwise be a very beautiful island.

My Parents and I on Koh Lanta Dec. 2006

We arrived at Koh Lanta a few hours after our departure and piled into a cab with several other people headed to nearby hotels. The nostalgia and deja vu was instantaneous for me. It had been just over 10 years since my last visit to this place, but it seemed so familiar. The same pier where my parents and I had sat and played cards and the same small rows of shops that we had walked through, and I had purchased a few bootleg CD's and movies as a 15-year-old. Especially a story I will never forget, told to my parents and I by two Dutch travelers, who survived the Tsunami in 2004 and returned in 2006 to celebrate the 2 year anniversary, was told to us in a small street side shop near the ferry dock. I instantly recognized it and recounted the story to Laura.

We had been excited about the placement of our hotel. It was equidistant between a restaurant we were excited to try and the beach. But as it became dinner time, rain had closed the restaurant we wanted to try early, and we were forced to improvise. Closer to our hotel, there was a tiny street side family owned restaurant which turned out to be a great find. The veggie options were not plentiful but they were done well, and we ended up coming back to eat at this little hole in the wall because the service was fast and personal, and the food was delicious and authentic. It was literally a husband and wife and their two young children who roamed the house/restaurant. The young boy stopped to watch me play a game on my phone while we waited for food.

The highlight of our time on Koh Lanta was surely the exploration. Renting a moped is very easy throughout Thailand, but it can be very dangerous especially in big cities and where roads are poor. Koh Lanta's roads are by no means in great condition, but it is a very small island and the main mode of transportation is moped. It cost us 200baht/day (roughly $6), and once again the nostalgia struck me hard. The last time I had driven a moped was in fact 10 years prior, here on Koh Lanta.

As Laura and I rode around the Island essentially taking whichever turn we fancied, recognition and memories were so surprising. It culminated in a view point (pictured below) where a small restaurant stood and three tiny kittens slept when my parents and I stopped for refreshment. The restaurant still stands and their shakes are still delicious. I did see one orange adult cat, and although I'm hesitant to say it was the grown up version of the kittens I saw when I was 15, I like to think it was.

Kittens in 2006 at the viewpoint pictured above

We drove completely around Koh Lanta and then across it back to our hotel sufficiently sunburned and vibrated from the moped riding.

The next day we hopped on the moped again, this time going south to check out some ot the beautiful beaches for some lounging and swimming. It was, however, swelteringly hot out and the previously mentioned sunburns prohibited any lounging. We did take a swim at the beach pictured below and found it to be incredibly warm at the surface with a very significant thermocline (temperature change) only 4-5ft under. This made diving down, even in shallow water, super refreshing.

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After deciding not to spend 500 Baht each to see the national park at the far south tip of the island, we turned around and were treated to, for my money, the highlight of Koh Lanta. Crossing the road we were driving along was a whole family of monkeys. "Crab-eating macaques" or "Long-tailed macaques" are relatively common on the island, but it was a first for us. I pulled the moped over to the side of the road and observed. After my initial encroachments and outstretched hand was met with aggression from the obvious dominant male, Laura and I retreated which seemed to assuage his agitation, and they allowed us to get very close and take several pictures and get some video, which included some very authentic natural behaviors, if you catch my drift. We hung out with them for about twenty minutes before they made their way into the brush on the opposite side of the road.

The video is posted here: https://youtu.be/v8XXd5ikln8, the audio leaves something to be desired, but the commentary from Laura is pure gold.

unparalleled bliss of post-coital cleaning 

Overall Koh Lanta was a wonderful place to explore, especially with a vibrating hot chick strapped to my back for most of it. Next we were back to Phuket and on to the Similan Islands for liveaboard number two.