Travelling back To Koh Lanta Day 11

A day of travel and heading back to Koh Lanta. We had fond memories of the island and we just had to include the beaches on our itinerary for this trip.




We were getting picked up around 10.30am. That left us with enough time to take the early morning with ease. Breakfast, included with the room, was over and our bags packed. We waited out side sitting at one of the table of the restaurant having a view of the street.


The skies were looking a little bit more clouded this morning, still incredibly warm and not a hint of rain. That was fortunate as our wait took a bit longer then we had anticipated. When the minivan arrived it was nearly full of other tourist, so we have them to blame for the delay.

We waved goodbye to Ao-Nang and we were on our way down south to Koh Lanta. There was a couple of stops, first at the transfer station out side Krabi Town and in Krabi Town itself as we waited for passengers. I guess picked the wrong transport company for this leg of the trip.



After enough time for a leg stretch we were back on the road again. The trip down to Koh Lanta was reasonable quick and a couple of little waits for the two car ferries to dock. Luckily there were no long queues of traffic waiting and before we knew it we were on the island.

Like our journey from Khao Lak, we just had one other couple in the van with us. We ere all staying near the north end of the island which means there was not a lot of driving around dropping people off.

In the short time it took us to get off the car ferry, past Ban Saladan and over to the west side of the island the heavens opened. Monsoons had brought the rains and it was heavy. It rained the first day of our trip last year, did we bring it with us?


Hotel check in was quick and the whole place was quiet. The Royal Lanta has a bit more quality than we usually make do with and we have my Other Half to thank for finding this treat. The resort looked quite stunning even if the rains were pouring down.

The Royal opens up on to Long Beach but that had to wait. It was getting late in the afternoon and the good food was in the other direction towards town.
As well as opening on to he beach, the Resort was not far from the road. Armed with a pair of hotel umbrellas we headed to find a particular place to eat. When we stayed a Kaw Kwang we had quite a walk but this time it was on our doorstep.

Arnee Restaurant, a place we visited so often last time with a particularly good chef who we kept calling mum. Good food was eaten and the rains eased off. It was getting to late to take in the beach so we had a wander up and down the road seeing what we could remember. The whole place felt a lot more built up, outlets and restaurants that felt like they were new or maybe we just were forgetful.

We took and early dinner with the monsoon opening up again and settled down for another meal, this time with a Muslim flavour. That says no beer but the food was tasty and thoroughly enjoyed.

With the rains having a break we took the chance to head back to the resort. Stocking up at 7-11 with snacks on the way. The dampness brought out the frogs and we were serenaded by their croaks along with a sight that was quite awesome.


With the streetlights behind and nearly complete darkness the air was filled with specks of light passing between of the trees. Flashing on and off, we had entered the firefly zone. Every place we looked they were flying around, flashing in front of our eyes and then vanishing into the darkness.

It turned out to be a wet first day but we still had a few more days here to get some warm beach time.

Sun Down and Arnee Food Gets Spicy - Day 9

With our time on Koh Lanta nearly over it was back to our hotel to arrange for transport. We were heading back to Krabi Town by minivan again and asked at reception to make arrangements for pickup the next day. The price was around 200THB each which was a little bit more than the cost of the outbound leg.

Still very quiet but the view here was good, looking past the table and chairs towards the pool and the beach in the background.

We were hoping to see lots of brightly coloured fish, sadly nothing came our way. The long sandy beaches were probably not ideal for tropical fish with no place to hide from preying sharks or the heat of the sun (no sharks either). Probably if we tried harder we would have found them, but as a consolation the Kaw Kwang hotel had a few carp swimming around at the doorway.

Tickets booked, morning pickup arranged and as the sun going down time for a last dip in the pool. The last Lanta sunset was showing for us and that secret beach was still being elusive. Maybe it was just a myth made up by somebody looking for more than paradise. I`m sure somebody could make that idea into a great movie!

The evening started with the usual long walk along Klong Dao beach. We were beginning to know all the bumps and curves having walked across here many times. To be honest, we were really a bit far from things, especially with the whole off season quietness. Probably next time we venture here a resort a bit closer to food would be better, for peace and relaxation it’s prefect. During the peak season with more restaurants open it should be even more desirable being slightly away from the crowds.

Food is always a good place to end the day and a bit of Tom Yom would go down nicely, Our host was Arnee`s again, it seemed like we lived there. As with Sanuk Bar it was really at the right location for us, not too far but close enough.

Along the beach, along the strip and all in-between were hotels, resorts and restaurants but it was hit or miss to find some open and serving food. Night was probably not the best time to go wandering around the jungle, I’m sure there are a few creatures that you wouldn’t want to startle lurking in the bush.

So soup and extra spicy was requested, I`d guess this about the level a Thai baby reaches when they go on to solid food. For us it was hot. Apart from the great combination of flavours the feeling of getting a roasting red hot poker stuck in your mouth is somehow very pleasantly addictive.

With the day closing we try not to think of leaving Koh Lanta, the combination of spice and a few more beers than usual helped to sedate those thoughts. The knowledge of all those bumps and curves of the beach became very handy on the wandering winding way back to the resort. From this point on the rest of the night seems like a blur and I think we behaved …. hopefully.

Thailand Food and No Lanta Monsoon – Day 8

What do people do on holiday, get herded like sheep on tourist outings or relax and take it easy. We mostly fit in the second category of letting life pass slowly at its own pace which is quite a contrast to normal life being run by the time of the clock. What ever speed we take our holiday at there is one thing we all have in common and that is food. The time to eat gets us moving again across the long deserted beach.

Kaw Kwang was not the best location during the off-season to grab a meal. The resort still running at low capacity can be forgiven for not providing a constantly open restaurant for just a few people. No doubt they could spring in to action if the need arose and source a tasty meal for guests that wanted to feast close to home. For us it was a regular and pleasant walk along the beach even at night to satisfy our hunger.

Where Kaw Kwang beach joins on to Klong Dao there is a length of undeveloped jungle which is completely dark and all we can see is the lights in the distance and the sound of waves lapping on the beach to guide us. Occasionally we came across other life, a family pushing a pram or a local couple just having a bit of together time. There wasn’t much fear of anything horrible happening, maybe we were being too carefree.

Passing a few resorts in semi-darkness, where we might have sampled the food if there were open, it was Sanuk Bar that offered the hospitality of something hot to fill our bellies. It is a regular spot for us, the food is great and the hosts friendly but the main reason was it was the first place after the long walk and the last place before when we were heading home.

Tom Yum, oh how we love that, very spicy – that is very spicy on the non-Thai scale but probably still at the bottom on what the local can tolerate. Along with the customary bottle of beer and two glasses produced a satisfying starter. Sitting practically on the beach with the sound of the softly waves in your ears we thought of family and friends back home. We laughed as we guessed they would be rushing home after a hard days toil. it made us quite happy that we seemed to be in a little paradise, at least for a few days before we joined the other world outside again.

It was still monsoon season, and while a monsoon is really a wind, the rain that it brings is what we normally associate with the word. Far in the distance out in the Andaman Sea someplace a storm was brewing and the occasional large orange glow in the clouds could be seen on the horizon. The lack of thunder sounds made is all so much more beautiful to watch. All through the holiday, the few days we had rain they were short lived and very light showers.

There were a few more places that we thought of trying some food so reluctantly finishing out drinks we left Sanuk and wandered along the sand for a little while before heading inland. As it turns out our tentative plan never worked out, we were passing Arnee’s (mum’s) and the smell of barbecue outside caught our attention. Either we were over powered by the smell of chicken and sausage or Mum talked us into eating, but we were seated and had ordered faster then we could think.

The chicken tasted wonderful, it might have been slowly cooking for hours but it ended up so soft and brittle but still amazingly juicy. Now I`m not sure what was in the sausages and I probably do not want to know but these excelled the chicken. Sweet and juicy made us want a few more, unfortunately there were no more and no time left to get them to the same cooked perfection. Rice and a spicy vegetable stir-fry was the accompaniment along with a range of spicy sauces. A bottle of Ketchup was included for some reason.

A little word of caution here, careful what you eat. The innocent looking bit of green vegetable may just be a super hot chilli in disguise. Waiting for somebody not paying enough attention to give it a big chew. It’s one of those looks you cant help bursting out laughing about, the O.H will never forgive me.

A second good helping of food and the time seemed to fly past, we never made it to where we had initially planned and headed for home.

All the foods we sampled the few days on Koh Lanta were very delicious. Some requests, and particularly fish, were unavailable which is probably due to off-season stocks. The restaurants were extremely quiet and I guess it would be silly to have lots of fresh food hoping customers would arrive. Still there was enough variation and extremely good quality Thailand meals to keep us happy for a long time.

Day 7 – Hot Day on Klong Dao Beach Koh Lanta

Weather - Like an oven with the door closed, hot

The morning revealed another beautiful day in Koh Lanta, Krabi. Our exertions over the first few days seem to have caught up with us and along with the heat made us a bit more lethargic.

We needed no excuse to spend the morning by the pool again. As usual the crowds were absent and we virtually had all the coolness to ourselves. It was badly needed, today was feeling a lot hotter than the past few days.

The beach was a little bit more active, the regular crabs were there someplace, filtering out the sand and leaving behind lots of tiny little balls. As soon as anybody approached they scurried back in a hole to hide.

A fisherman's longboat had anchored on the beach sometime in the morning and joined by a group of what looked like school kids. The heat was even a bit much for them, a bit of shouting was heard and we noticed one kid flat out on the beach collapsed before being carried under some shade of the trees. They soon recovered after a few minutes but they kept in the cool spots.

Being the sensible people that we are, ignoring the heat we set out along Klong Dao beach for a little bit of a walk. Walking in the water helped to keep us cool until we decided to head off the beach then we felt the heat on us again. Without the cool breeze from the sea any bit of shade was a welcome relief.

Lunch at Arnee restaurant, we had it all to ourselves again. After a minute of chatting “Mum” started to notice that I was starting to get dripping wet in sweat. Kind of noticed it myself, quite scary. Mum quickly got us some drinks with plenty of ice. Guess she has seen it all before with sill foreign people taking too much of the sun. Outside in the heat we never realized how much water we were loosing from out bodies. Probably a good lesson to learn there.

After Lunch it was back to the beach, probably quickly forgetting our lesson. The sea was there to cool off in and the waves not to strong, but still enough to be fun. It was a little bit more busy today, more local and foreigners taking to the sand. Even a group of Thai kids that seemed to make us their adopted parents for a while and jump all over us in the waves. It was a bit of good harmless fun or maybe they just wanted to down the outsiders. The sea was nice today, probably because it was cooling, and I guess we must have spent quite a few hours catching the waves along the beach.

The sun was about to go down and we timed it nicely with reaching Sanuk Bar. We didn’t have time to ask before we were offered 1 beer, large, 2 glasses. A lot of people seemed to remember us in the short time that we were here, I wonder if it would be the same during the busier season. Either way it made the Koh Lanta holiday feel like we were there with a group of friends.

Day 5 – Kaw Kwang, Klong Dao and Phra Ae Beach

Weather – Still a bit Cloudy

The morning was a bit cooler with the clouds still hanging around from yesterday’s monsoon. There was a slight wind blowing that made some people decide that it would be a bit too cold to get wet and opted out of a pool swim and preferred to sit wrapped in their towel . Actually in the pool felt a lot warmer than sitting outside, but who can argue.

Relaxing and getting a suntan was not really an option today and going to see the dancing baby elephants was not really something that entices us. So off along the beach again and a bit further.

Along Kaw Kwang and Klong Dao there were a few brave souls venturing into the water. Along with some Lanta fishermen casting out their nets. I did see the occasional fish jump or fly out of the water but apart from that no shoals of brightly coloured tropical fish to take pictures off. We had packed a waterproof disposable camera but just took a few shots in the surf and it never seen much use.

The sky was still cloudy but a few clear blue patches could be seen, hopefully it would brighten up in the afternoon and we could get some pictures of the sunsets.

It was off to one of our now regular haunts for food, Arnee, this time it was the daughter’s or to be more exact, daughter number one. I really should have taken more photographs to jog my memory on the food but sometimes it looks too tasty and all you want to do is eat. If I remember we had chicken soup, creamy with lots of large chunks of chicken and a nice but not overpowering bit of chilli heat.

One thing from the selection of Thai food that I have samples, is the quality of the ingredients. The meat which I am quite fussy about normally has all been cut and trimmed of excess, skin, fat, bone, gristle etc. Usually I have a pile of un-eatable on the side of my plate but here nearly all of it is eaten.

As the clouds were out and the sun wasn’t beating down on us, we walked further down “the strip” today. I don`t know where the energy came from, a short walk occasionally is really our limit, but here we seemed to walk and walk with only the slight occasional outburst of “too far”.

So passing the last “7-11” shop we would be going in to un-mapped territory and towards Phra Ae Beach or Long Beach. It`s not easy to get lost here, not many roads to travel on but not many indications of where to go. We kept looking for a “to beach” sign, they might have been in Thai, but we never seen any. In fact I would guess most roads lead off to the beach, It would have been nice to know that after we passed a few. There was the occasional “toot” of a taxi passing that wanted our custom and the temptation of some of the street side restaurants, most of these empty.

Turning off the road and heading in the direction of the beach, we pass little outlets. Like the other side streets here, you have to know those little shops, internet cafes, foot massage, designer suits and other places existed or you would never know they were there. The last place we passed was a tourist centre offering everything complete with a large “Visa Run” sign on the window.

Phra Ae Beach, Long Beach, came into view and was just a spectacular as our own, maybe better. The slope here looked much steeper and the waters edge was a bit closer. Waves were breaking as they reached the beach in a mass of white foam.

Like Kaw Kwang beach and Klong Dao beach this was quite deserted, a few people around, some locals, but no masses of holiday makers to spoil the atmosphere. Everybody can have their own 300 meter of beach to themselves. It looked like there were not as many resorts trying to grab a slice of beach here and pine forest could be seen right up to the beach with just the occasional bar and restaurant poking through.

We must have walked quite a bit as we arrived on the beach quite far down. So a leisurely stroll back up the beach with the waves washing up to our ankles. Getting off was really easy, just took any open space and eventually it would lead to the road. We had to get past a rocky headland between the beaches.

Weather - Still a bit cloudy.

Short walk to the bottom of Klong Dao beach, this was easily seen from the road and the walk back home began.

Oh, is that an oasis we see, complete with refreshing drink and friendly hosts coming to greet us…..

Day 3 – Koh Lanta, Thailand Sunshine and Arnee

Weather – Extremely Sunny

Day three and while it would be nice to wake naturally to the sound of tropical birds soft calling out from the distance, it was not to be. Violently shaken from my dreams and sounds that reminded me of “hello kitty” alarm clocks, the voice was squeaking “the sun is out, the sun is out”. And sure it was out, curtains being drawn and the brightness of the morning sun blinding my eyes.

After a stretch and shower to wash away the sleep, outside for a look at Koh Lanta revealing all its beauty. The Monsoon had gone for now and clear blue skies dotted with a few fluffy white clouds was all that was left.

The pool at the Kaw Kwang resort was a welcome place to settle for a few hours. Exposing our somewhat un-tanned bodies to a bit of sun and a lashing of suntan oil we lay enjoying the heat and it was a bit more than we realized. After a few minutes we dragged the sun loungers under a tree to get a bit of shade. The sun seemed to being out a few more residents, well one couple, to the pool side.

Kaw K wang had a large beachfront mostly to itself and here the slope is extremely gentle. The down side is here you have to walk a little way into the sea to get a depth that might reach your knees when the tide is in. When it decides to go out then the walk to actually get your toes wet is a bit longer. The waves were gentle in this part of the beach and ideal for just sitting out in the bay cooling off in the water without the fear of going over your depth or getting swamped in the surf.

Breakfast was being served but we were too lazy to tear ourselves away from the pool side. Eventually the hunger got to us and the search for food was on again. This would mean a walk along the beach which was our plan all along, really.

Suitably dressed in swimming gear and T-shirts and shorts to cover our exposed flesh. Partly to keep some that bleating sun off our bodies and partly not to offend the locals. The camera was left behind here as the water looked too inviting and electronics and water do not mix very well. A slow walk along around the curve of the beach and then up onto “the strip” to find some breakfast/lunch was the plan. There was a bit more activity today, a few more people venturing out onto the sand but still relatively deserted. A few of the resorts were making starts of cleaning up ready for the high season visitors and a little construction work was noticed. But still peaceful and quiet.

Passing Sanuk Bar on Klong Dao Beach we were greeted by a friendly wave from yesterday’s hosts, but we wouldn't be dining there today. A few paddles in the water to cool off our feet and feeling like kids again hoping over the waves we came to our exit and landed on “the strip”. The restaurants were patched up and down this road along with various shops. We chose a street restaurant called “Arnee” which would turn out to be not one but two places we would frequent as the food was out of this world.

Hi-class it was not, exposed brick walls, hello kitty table cloths (oh my god) and plastic chairs. But all that did not matter we were not going to eat the furniture. The food was the attraction here and while I am sure if we looked we could find better, but this was probably the best Thai food we had tasted for quite some time and all prepared before our eyes.

It was back to the beach for some more childlike fun in the waves, the slope on Klong Dao was similar to Kaw Kwang but the waves were a bit more stronger here. We were not the only ones enjoying the clear cool water, by now a few heads could be seen bobbing up and down in the water along with quite a few locals taking advantage of a cooling off.

This was repeated along the slow walk back along the beach, a cooling off followed by a few 100 meters walk followed by another cooling off. By now the salt of the water was taking its effect and a bit of refreshment was needed. Luckily our oasis, Sanuk Bar was close and our dryness quenched by beer, 1 large, 2 glasses. This whole beach is ideal to relax while watching the sunset but there was still a few hours before that happened , so we were on our way again back towards Kaw Kwang.

There was a rumour of a secret beach, a hidden secret beach. The hotel staff never mentioned it, I guess it was too secret to tell. At the end of Kaw Kwang there is a rocky headland and perhaps the beach was around there, so putting suitable foot wear on, flip-flops we scrambled over the rock in search of “the beach” while doing our Leonardo Dicaprio impressions.

Did we find it, well no. The rocks got the better of us and back we went. Or maybe we did but want to keep the secret safe.

A freshen up washing off the sand and salt of the day and a little relaxing as the sun went down. Then we were off for the evening again. The distance along the beach seemed to take up a lot of time but this was not really noticeable, but now it seems like we were just going back and forward each day. But the beach was there and every bit of it was enjoyed.

It was a little bit difficult finding a beach restaurant, a few looked open but were not open for food others still closed for the season. Luckily after a few no`s we found one yes, although no other customers than ourselves. We were adventurous here and while the O.H savoured the exotic burger and chips I forced myself to try the Thai special, Deep fried chicken and chips. How strange, all the way to Thailand and we end up eating western style food. The wind was getting a little bit fresh now, still warm but we decided to pack up after our snack and head back inland to “the strip”.

This is where we came across the “Arnee” street side restaurant, the name didn't register with us and I don't think we really noticed, but this wasn't the same place we dines this afternoon. Going all Thai again, we asked for two large bowls of Tom Yum Koong. There is just something addictive about this soup that makes up keep wanting it. So it might be the attraction to the spice but sometimes things might be a little too hot for some people.

While sitting satisfied and sipping our beer watching the world outside pass the interesting part of the evening happened. A motorcycle drove up (Everybody has a moped in Koh Lanta, even the kids) and off stepped a face that looked familiar. This was the great cook from the afternoon’s restaurant. With the friendliness of the people an exchange back of forth was made and as it turns out, this was mother and daughter. A bit of a coincidence but a nice one for us as both places had great food. We called the mother “mum” affectionately and in the following days , “are we going to mums” was heard quite often.

Beer bottle empty it was time to wander back home, this time we hailed a taxi thinking the walk would be too long.