Shane's Trip Journal

I spent the last couple of days on Ko Lanta Island and am now on Ko Phi Phi. Ko Lanta is big, giving the feel that you are on the mainland as opposed to an island. It took a bus and two ferries that carried our bus to get to Lanta. Lanta, along with most of the south is 70-80% Muslim. I could hear the Muslim prayers over a loud speaker at least once a day. Some of the people in Lanta were dressed in traditional Muslim clothing. The people were very nice and helpful. Lanta is more of a quiet, less commercialized area with long stretches of beach. The area of the beach where I stayed was "OK" but a bit of garbage and although the beach was long it was not very deep. My bungalow was very quiet during the day but at night there was a bar with live music next to my bungalow. My bungalow had views to the ocean, a pool, and restaurant. I took a boat (1 hour) from Lanta to Phi Phi. I sat on the top deck and it was the first time the sun had been out for a couple of days. In that one hour I got a pretty good burn, especially on my bald head. I was surprised at how intense the sun is for such short periods of time. Ko Phi Phi is where the movie the "Beach" was filmed. It has been raining quite a bit so I am not sure how much exploring I will be able to do before I move on. Phi Phi is very touristy and commercial. I am staying in a guesthouse and as far as I can tell there are no cars on the island. The streets are narrow stone with mostly people walking but also a few bicycles and hand pushed carts carrying cargo or supplies to the interior stores. The water looks clear compared to the other beaches I have been on and there are many commercial dive operations. Sorry for the randomness of the pics, they get rearranged during my upload and sometimes the computer that I am using does not allow me to upload pics at all.