The next stop on our itinerary was one that
the two of us had been looking forward to for quite a while – some down time on
the beaches of the Thai islands!
After our unexpected two-and-a-half-day
transfer from Laos to Thailand we vowed to take at least one internal flight in
Thailand to make up some lost time. After we priced up the cost of taking the
15 hour night train from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, then the train/bus combo from
Bangkok to Phuket plus a night’s accommodation there – it actually only worked
out about $50 more expensive to fly from Bangkok straight to Krabi (the other
jumping off point for islands in the Andaman Sea…) and would save us two days
of travel so needless to say it was an easy decision to make!
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| Death bridge... |
The only problem with our newly laid plans
was that we would arrive in Krabi too late to take the passenger ferry across
to our next destination – Koh Lanta. We managed to find a reputable looking
company online offering pick-up from the airport, mini-van transfer to the
dock, speedboat transfer to the island and then tuk tuk transfer to your choice
of accommodation for $60. It did sound a bit too good to be true but they
seemed legit and the only stipulation was that you had to be at the airport
before 6.30pm for pick-up…so we booked it.
Thanks to some insider knowledge from Seth,
we booked out first flight from Chiang Mai with Nok Air – not only was it
cheaper than Air Asia but when we arrived at the airport we got to swan through
check-in instantly while a load of hot and bothered looking backpackers were
stuck in a never-ending Air Asia queue! We made the most of looking smug and
boarded our very comfortable plane – only to then rewarded with our own little
picnic bag for the flight, filled with the most delicious chocolate filled
doughnut things I’ve ever tasted. Hands down, easily the best budget airline
we’ve ever flown with! Unfortunately the next leg we had no choice but to book
through Air Asia and needless to say there were no chocolate-filled doughnuts
in sight…
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| This is the last boat you'll ever see. |
Once we arrived in Krabi we were pleased to
find a guy there as promised holding our name on a placard. He helped us to the
mini-van and we were a bit surprised to find that we were the only people in it
(bar his wife asleep in the front seat). We speculated on the journey about how
perhaps our $60 had bought us a private speedboat transfer to the island but as
the small villages dropped away and we headed further and further into the
middle of nowhere we became more concerned that our driver was taking us into
the jungle to rob us of everything we owned and leave us for dead.
After about 45 minutes we emerged from the
wilderness into a clearing next to a river that looked like a building site –
just bits of wood and piles of sand, and no sign of a speedboat. We both looked
at each other rather anxiously as our driver jumped out and gathered our bags
from the boot, he pointed in a general direction towards the river, where in
the dying light of the day we could just about make out a VERY rickety looking
bamboo bridge! As we got closer, sure enough there was a speedboat at the
end…our own private speedboat!
We traversed the rather unsteady bridge
with caution and hopped aboard. Our captain (despite smoking a massive joint)
was very welcoming and even handed us some complimentary bottles of water as we
sat down!
It was a quick 20 minute jaunt across the
water to Koh Lanta, and then we were greeted at the other side by two guys with
a tuk tuk who spoke no word of English but lead us from the ‘pier’ (the back of
a restaurant) through a couple of back gardens and into the back of their van!
We drove past the more built up areas at the north of the island and headed
south to the accommodation we’d booked on Klong Jak beach.
We’d picked the accommodation, or more the
beach, because we wanted to be away from the party and James’ only stipulation
was that it had to be a hut on a beach…and this was the only one within our
budget! However, our forward planning started to look like a bad idea as the
restaurants and bars along the side of the road became less frequent and we
headed further into the darkness! After about 30 minutes the guys had to pull
over and ask for directions to where we were staying and at that point we
started panicking that it would literally be some old shed in someone’s
backyard!
Fortunately it was only another five
minutes drive before we were piled out into the darkness with a rough
indication of which direction to walk in! We could lights in the distance so we
headed that way and were glad to finally be greeted by the German owner. We’d
booked the place two days prior using skype but the connection was dodgy and we
couldn’t really understand each other, so we were pleased to discover that they
had not only honoured our booking (despite our arrival at about 9pm!) but also
upgraded us to their more expensive air con beach shack with better beach
access (literally a tumble out of the front door).
The place was pretty quiet, except for a
group of six or seven Rasta’s sat in the restaurant smoking.
The owner (who must’ve been early 30’s)
explained that she owned the place with her Thai boyfriend, that they hadn’t
really got kitted up for the high season as yet so they couldn’t offer much in
the way of food – but we’d arrived just in time for the grand opening party the
following night when they’d be fully stocked for everything. The word’s ‘grand
opening party’ filled us with some initial dread but the beach only had another
two sets of bungalows and was sleepy as anything when we arrived so we figured
it couldn’t get too rowdy…
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| Sunset leaving the mainland |
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