We arrived on Ko Lanta after a 2 hour ferry ride on which there were more people than seats (and life jackets I suspect) so we sat on the bow. I was stuck on top of the anchor line which was not comfortable - it made a rope impression in my butt. When we arrived at our hotel we were surprised, it was nothing like described on TripAdvisor or booking.com. It was in the middle of nowhere... On the main road (not a beach)... And not two twin beds as we had booked. Instead of relaxing waves we heard traffic. At one point we were invaded by wasps that must have had a hive nearby. We did not let this deter us however, and rented motorbikes for the next couple of days to explore the island.
Almost as soon as I had filled the tank with gas, my motorbike would not start. I was stranded while my friend Marit went for help. Unfortunately, the hotel was out of motorbikes so we had to take an expensive taxi into Saladon town. This worked out in our favor in the end because we rented them from an honest woman who did not charge us an arm and a leg.
Finally, we were ready to explore the island the next day. We set out for the South of the island which reportedly has the best beaches. However, due to a mixup in directions (the map did not indicate a turn we were supposed to make), we ended up on the East side of the island. This was alright though as it gave us a chance to see the Old Town (a Chinese-style fishing village). The village was quite charming and the sea such an incredible aqua colour - it was mesmerizing.
On our way out we stopped at a viewpoint that wasn't and then happened upon an accident and offered our assistance. Turns out a lovely German couple were driving along when a pickup truck that was driving too fast on the wrong side of the road swerved to avoid them and landed in the ditch. Luckily no one was hurt. The truck barely had a scratch. However, this being Thailand, the driver thought this was the perfect opportunity to extract money from the couple. He called friends to come and claim they saw the accident and the German couple was to blame and all sorts of other shenanigans. Luckily, a Spanish tourist who happened to be a lawyer came along and mediated negotiations. After several hours a price was agreed upon (although not overtly - can't admit that you are extorting money) and we all went on our merry way. Unfortunately, by this point it was late afternoon; too late to go to the beach. That too was alright since we ended up having a lovely evening with the German couple at their resort. Since we needed a place to stay for our last two nights on the island and the place and rooms looked nice, we booked a bungalow there.
The following day we finally made it to the National Park in the south of the island. While I ran to the toilet Marit watched our bags. She left them for a minute to take a picture and in that time they were overtaken by a pack of monkeys. Luckily, they couldn't get into mine but they managed to steal a box of tik taks from Marit. Somewhere out there was a monkey with fresh breath. As with other monkeys, these were aggressive and would not relinquish the bags until a couple of German guys helped us toss rocks at them. I went to take a picture of the conniving thieves to be informed by Marit that I was taking a picture of a rock! I really need to be able to wear contacts again. The park and its beach were gorgeous though. We did manage to spend some time on the beach - until the monkeys came for us again.
The next day we checked into the bungalow resort that we reserved. Surprisingly, we were not given the same type of bungalow that the German couple had or that they advertise but a run down one in the back. Because, technically, it had everything we asked for, we couldn't complain (so we thought). Apparently, others did and got upgraded to the nicer bungalows. The annoying part is that we paid more than they did! The sunset view made the resort worth it though. I loved just sitting there, listening to the waves and watching the sun descend. It was so peaceful (once you tuned out the techno music from the neighboring bar).
So take that Ko Lanta! We managed to have a great stay despite your efforts to the contrary.
