October 21
After a day of mostly relaxation and getting to know the area around our bungalows, we decided to be a little adventurous! We rented a motorbike which I drove (luckily the roads were waaaaay calmer and flatter than in Phuket when Hila drove haha oops) and ventured to a cave on the southern end of Koh Lanta.
A short drive and a minor setback in the wrong direction later, we made it to the caves where we met our tour guide Rudy (we think...). He didn't speak much English but was very nice and effortlessly (meaning only he did it effortlessly) led us up the steep hills through rubber trees and shallow streams. Our 30-minute trek ended with a little break at the cave entrance which upon first glance looked like a 2-foot hole in the rocks. Profusely sweating and already looking pretty dirty, we pulled out our handy dandy handkerchiefs (Shout out to Mama Knaus who knew they'd come in handy...! Probably should have taken your advice to bring some more :-D). With our headlamps strapped and ready to go, we embarked down the decently sturdy bamboo ladder into the darkness of the cave. The tour took us across big rock passages and more bamboo bridges past awesome stalactites/mites (?), pools and waterfalls, and close to some very large spiders that I hope to never encounter in a confined space - or really just ever - again.
We finished our private tour by scaling back down the hill to the camp and then we hopped onto the scooter in search of some lunch. Our original plan was to stop at a place recommended by Mama Nong (our bungalow owner) and then venture off to another cave/waterfall. Big surprise, we didn't manage to find any signs for the restaurant before we saw one for Tiger Cave so we figured we might as well just eat on the way back.
We got to a clearing where we assumed the cave/waterfall expedition should begin, but none of the handful of people around paid any mind to us. So we set off down one of the paths we saw. A good 5-10 minutes in, we started to wonder whether anyone had actually walked this path in a few months due to the overgrown foliage and strewn leaves in the way. Regardless, we could still see that there was a path and it ran next to a flowing river so we figured we'd probably find the waterfall eventually. With our sneakers extra soggy from crossing the river twice and our stomachs rumbling for food, we decided that "eventually" wasn't cutting it and we turned back. The highlight was definitely the little monkey we saw jump into a tree to watch us as we walked! The lowlight was definitely the last step out of the jungle when I scratched my ankle on some sharp twig and looked down to see that a tiny leech had made me lunch! I spastically plucked it off and alerted Hila to check herself which ended up being helpful since she had also gotten one on the way out too! Kinda grossed out and mostly tired from all our hiking, we decided to hop on the scooter and get some food on the way home.
We stopped at a great restaurant at the top of the hill dubbed something like "The Viewpoint" for its amazing cliffside seats overlooking the ocean and a beach. We attempted to clean ourselves up a little, with only minor success, and then ate our delicious curries while gazing at the water.
Back at the bungalow, it was around 3pm so we decided to rinse off at the beach and relax. The water was pretty rough so we instead indulged ourselves in $7, 30-minute massages right on the beach. Feeling gloriously relaxed, we walked a bit and found a bar with hammocks and lounge chairs where we posted up to read while the sun set. Unfortunately the clouds blocked our view of the beautiful sky but we stayed anyway. Deciding that 6pm was an acceptable time to start our nightly routine, we went back and showered, got some dinner, used the wifi in the lobby, and by 10pm were tucked in bed :)
