Thailand began with an early morning flight to Phuket, where we'd planned to stay just long enough to get a boat to the next island. Unfortunately, when Allie realized she'd left her ATM card at the airport, the aftermath consumed enough time for us to miss the rest of the day's ferries. While she sorted out her situation, I was determined to salvage the rest of my afternoon by going to the beach - so I took the local bus to Patong, the nearest beach recommended to me by some other travelers. Phuket is one of the most populated islands in Thailand, which is obvious everywhere you go - the streets of Patong were lined with bars and tour companies, and the beach was covered in lawn chairs, umbrellas, people selling coconuts with straws, and various inflatable floating objects for rent. I took a quick stroll before returning to town for some pad thai and a Beer Chang, and was ready to head out in the morning.
We made a fresh start on the first ferry of the next day. The boat took us past Ko Phi Phi, where we boarded a smaller boat and continued on to Ko Lanta. Ko Lanta is the classic beach hangout island, with beaches lined with bungalows and laid back bars/restaurants on the sand. Our days consisted of swimming in the warmest water ever, getting a Thai massage on the beach, eating seafood curry, and drinking mango lassis.
Our time in Ko Lanta happened to coincide with the Lanta Lanta Festival, a 3-day annual celebration in Ko Lanta's Old Town. The streets were lined with food stalls, clothing vendors, and various games, one where you could spin a wheel for prizes including oversize stuffed animals, a toy machine gun, or two dozen eggs. Stages hosted traditional Thai music and dance, fire twirlers, a synchronized dance group, and a beauty pageant emceed by a drag queen. Afterwards we returned to the bungalows, where another fire twirler showed off to those at the beach bar. This one got a bit more exciting, when he unknowingly caught the back of his shirt on fire, which burned for a remarkably long time before he noticed.
We'd made friends with a couple German travelers in our bungalows, who offered to take us around the island on their rented motorbikes. The highlight of our exploring was a hike through the Mai Kaeo cave, which is only allowed with a guide. They gave us each a headlamp to navigate through what soon became pitch darkness, squeezing through tiny spaces and climbing down steep rocks. Through one cavern after another, we passed a lagoon, creepy rock formations, and a sleeping colony of bats, emerging out the other side covered in dirt. On the way back, our guide showed us tapped rubber trees with white liquid oozing out, and we picked fresh lemongrass - one of my all time favorite smells. Gibbons swished through the branches overhead, a baby one curiously checked us out. A few elephants waited on the side of the path for tourists to climb on board, one looking particularly sad when a guy with a voluptuous biker chick tattooed on his hairy love handle climbed atop his head. We'll walk, thanks.
