Around Koh Lanta and Ban Saladan Day 13

Another beautiful morning on Koh Lanta. And it was going to be another hot one. Along with no plan whatsoever. Still some things need to be taken care off and breakfast first.

The German Bakery was close by and convenient so that the first port of call. For some reason I can`t remember what we ate here although it was taste. It must have been a western style of food and something we were ashamed of consuming in Thailand.

Further up the road, North, was Ban Saladan and it was worthy of a walk. Maybe it is our memories  but there seemed to be much more buildings and shops along here. One thing we did notice there was much less calls from taxi drivers than our last trip.

The main town of  Saldan looked much the same, just a lot lot quieter. Shops were still open and restaurants serving but quite a lacking of tourist. Wherever everybody is going too it is not Koh Lanta. I feel they might be missing something.



Not much for us to see in town, we never needed to buy any supplies and we had just eaten. Everything seemed to be resting, even the dogs we passed hardly raised an eye. Around the ferry piers we did catch a glimpse of some fish swimming under the boats and the houses built out in the the sea. Without going on a dive or snorkelling trip I don't think we will get much of a chance to swim with them. The last place swam with tropical fish was in Kota Kinabalu when we had a trip in Malaysia.



For the afternoon we just had to settle for our paradise beach. Still mostly having it all to ourselves and the sun just to warming to want to do anything else. It just felt quite perfect apart from the occasional need to cool down.

I wonder if the other beaches further south on Koh Lanta would be as quiet as ours. Maybe one trip we might take a resort in another place but would the range of restaurants be as accessible as they are here.



By the time the sun was setting we were back in town on the search for some tasty food to eat. The skies looked like they would bring some more monsoon rains for the night and were laden with water. This gave us a spectacular sight with the sun setting. The hills became a wonderful reddish orange colour with the light. I know there is a name for this but I can't remember it now.
Showers did arrive along with some lightning but it seemed mostly out a sea and we managed to avoid a torrential downpour.

Ban Saladan Town

Really much more of a village than a town, Ban Saladan situated on the north east of Lanta Yai is where nearly all travellers will first set foot on Island.

Holiday makers arriving by road will arrive by the car ferries slightly south of the town and those coming by sea come alongside the docks in town.

There are not many roads here for you to walk around and do a bit of window shopping, keep that for the cities. From the passenger ferries a short walk to the north passing a mixture of houses and restaurants just out in to the sea standing precariously on stilts. Reaching a junction the road continues north with more sprinklings of places to eat or stay.

At the junction going East means your paddling in the sea so it`s best to head west where this road continues and eventually runs down the west coast of the island with the abundance of beaches.

In the town itself, you should find everything you need. clothing stores, maybe you need an extra hat or forgot a bikini. Dive shops if you want to arrange some underwater activities. Tourist centres for those who have wandered here and need to find some accommodation for a few days. Optical shops are abundant, I noticed at least four in this tiny village so you wont have problems finding some sunglasses.

• As a side note, We did not see many Thai people wearing glasses for seeing, maybe they all wear contact lenses or just have excellent eyesight here.

The mini mart in town is stocked well and should be a one of your fist stops to stock up on all those sun creams and toiletries that have been left behind at the airport security. 7-11’s , ATM Machines,Pharmacies and Banks for those currency exchanges can be found and even a tailor shop should you even need a suit.

There are lots of restaurants, some with quite an international flavour. Italian, Mexican and of course Thai. As you continue further along this road, the buildings become a bit more sparse and the spaces are take up by local food stalls and travelling markets.

Ban Saladan is small but it still can offer a nice visit and break from the beach.

Saladan and Sunset at Kaw Kwang, Lanta – Day 8

Weather – Would you believe it`s hot.

The morning was spent at the pool in Kaw Kwang. We could say we had it all to ourselves again, but not today. There was at least one other person taking a cooling dip although the whole resort was virtually deserted. All the sun loungers were untouched with the mats laid out to dry and the gardens remained empty apart from a few brave animals risking the sunshine. Here I caught a little bird taking a bit of shade under a sun lounger.

The bay here has its own little bit of mangrove and coral reef along with the coconut filled jungle. The secret beach still seems to be keeping its location hidden.

The afternoon was started with a trip to Saladan, well its such a small town we have seen it all before but we might have missed something along its two roads. Getting a little feel of town life after the remoteness of the beach does actually feel good, even if it’s a few minutes in a town as basic as Saladan.

Looking over to Koh Lanta Noi from Saladan Town

Down the empty streets of Saladan, I guess when the high season starts and the ferries begin their runs the town will become much busier.

It does have a few places to eat although and even if quite a few were still closed for the season the opportunity arose to sample the food again and how could we refuse. Butter fried chicken with peanut satay along with some deep fried onion rings. The O.H. delved in with fish and chips, no beer this time but a couple of cooling coconut drinks.

Today seemed to be an eating day and somehow we ended up down the strip and outside the German bakery. The lack of coffee the past few days seemed not to be affecting me at all, no caffeine withdrawal symptoms, short tempered outburst or aching sore heads. It must have been the thought of nice fresh cake that took us here and to justify it more, we never has dessert after out late lunch.

Like most of the places here, the bakery is open ended to the road and the local Koh Lanta life can be watched passing by as you sip your drink. The coffee did taste good and the cake reminded me of something my mother would make. The O.H enjoyed her slice just as much and never even voiced any concern that it might make her fat.

Popping across the road to the 7-11 to get a few more snacks and drinks then we headed back to Kaw Kwang Resort to laze beside the pool and catch a bit of the sunset. Nothing really seems to be happening, eating and sunbathing and eating more, the days seem to go fast and I think the long walks make up a lot of our day time are not really noticed. It`s a funny feeling not being bored while really doing nothing for over a week.

The football seems to be a regular thing and I`d guess with a few more holidaymakers that are a bit fitter than myself a few larger teams would be playing on the beach.

This would really be our first sunset at Kaw Kwang with the few days of cloud and catching the sunsets at Sanuk bar it seems we were never here at the right time to witness the scenes.

The rocky jungle outcrop here means the sunset comes a bit earlier and sets behind the trees rather than descending on the horizon but the site is just as beautiful to witness. The day is not over yet and I guess it will soon be time to eat, again and actually again. Luckily we have a long walk to burn up those calories. Koh Lanta, Thailand in the low cost monsoon season is turning out to be very nice indeed.

Day 6 – Very Hot Day in Koh Lanta, Thailand

Weather – Like an oven with the door open.

Started the day with what is becoming a bit routine in Koh Lanta, back at the pool, how boring!

All this clean air, sunshine and blue skies are starting to get us down, we don't know if we can take much more of this. And to make things worse the tide was out, far too far to walk for a paddle.

Well seriously, it would take quite a while, months or years, for us to find the slightest need for a change. We were loving every minute and were already thinking about when are we coming back. After the speed of city life, the rate here is much much more more slower, even the Thai taxis seem to get to their destinations at a leisurely pace.

Sun was shining brightly, so taking a sun lounger under the tree for a bit of shade, we relaxed. The occasional cool off in the pool was needed and still, mostly, all to ourselves. This is supposed to be the off-season but apart from the few downpours of rain the weather has been fantastic. We are still amazed at how deserted the beaches and resorts were.

The local fishermen were out in the bay just off Kaw Kwang beach, I have no idea what they were doing, couldn't see any nets. Maybe they were just waiting for the right moment.

We were running out of local currency and the weekend had just finished, so a trip into town was needed. The problem with Thai Baht, for us and probably other currencies is the conversion rate. At around 33 THB for a US$ and about 50 THB for the UKPound. Having a thousand THB seems like a lot of money and then spending 300 THB on a meal for two seems very expensive. But in reality it’s just the big numbers fooling us. A thousand is just around US$30 and actually can go a long long way in Thailand.

We were thinking of walking to Saladan but an excuse showed up in the form of a taxi sitting in the shade just outside our resort. Naturally the driver tried to offer his services and oh so reluctantly we accepted. From Kaw Kwang the cost was 40THB each. Speeding along the coast road at about 15 miles per hour was just enough to create a cooling breeze and a short conversation was started. A bit of confusion may have arose here, we were exchanging names and I passed mine and he said “mine is same”. Luckily I played safe and never said “bye same” just in case.

So off to the bank in Saladan and up to the money exchanger. We handed over a few notes and the cashier did quite a bit of typing, rubbing, looking, hoping for help from his colleagues – I guess they don’t see much of our currency on the island. With wads of cash now stuffed in our pockets we were going to hit the town.

Despite the smallness of Saladan we never got really too far, the heat was really too much for walking about. Refuge was sought in a restaurant complete with a good helping of food and 1 beer, large, 2 glasses just to get a bit of liquid back into our bodies.

It was going to be a really lazy day, had a nice slow long long lunch. In keeping with the theme of the day, we hailed over a taxi to take us back to the hotel. Not much more was going to happen today and we took up our spot under the trees beside the pool and let the day go by. We would probably die if we tried to exert ourselves. The heat was a bit much and tomorrow would show that even the locals found it too much to handle.

During our treks along the beach we stopped by a few of the resorts and restaurants hoping they would be open. Most were still closed, others were gearing up and be open in a week. Some were open but too far along the beach from us. Sanuk Bar was our regular place, not just because it was the closest ( or we didn`t want to walk any further), but also the hosts were nice and friendly. The food was also pretty good too. That was our destination for tonight.

The sun had gone and although it was still very warm, there was no burning sun bearing down on us and a refreshing cooling breeze from the sea.

Tom Yum Koong along with a chicken curry was sampled here. We asked for spicy and sure enough it was. Very tasty and completely addictive, we were both nearly licking the bowl clean.

While we were proud of on our ability to handle chilli (or silly) our nice hosts let slip that they have two versions of “extremely spicy”. One flaming spicy for born and bred native Thais and a baby spicy for the rest of us. We immediately lost all sense of achievement and ordered another large bottle of beer.

The day ended quietly.