On our way to Koh Lanta
Today we were up early to pack our bags and try to get breakfast before our shuttle to the pier in Phuket. Our ride was expected between 7:00 am and 7:15 am. Breakfast starts at 7:00 am. We got coffee and cereal with a bit of toast and jam, then we left.
Once at the pier we got on a big ferry with air conditioning. The ride was good and there was free instant coffee and snacks. We past some stunning cliffs and islands along the way. We got a few pictures out the side of the boat.
Once we arrived at Koh Phi Phi (pronounced pee pee) we had to change boats. What a gong show that was. They let people on the ferry before we could get off. There was mass confusion and they kept calling out hurry, hurry! We finally made our way onto the next boat which was a muslim run boat. No beer and no air conditioning. Bloody hell! Actually, the reason we said Muslim boat is because a passenger was complaining about no beer and the lady said “we are Muslim, no alcohol”. No air conditioning was just a stated fact. Two more hours of travel and we were at Koh Lanta. Gary sat beside a guy from Germany on the second ferry and they decided we could share a tuk tuk and save a few baht. Incidentally, he told Gary he was Turkish, and Muslim and he did drink. They had quit an interesting conversation about how he is teated in Germany when in fact he is a German born citizen. Definitely a nice guy, university degree, good job, etc. He bought his flight to Thailand at the last moment, only a few weeks previous. When we finally got to the tuk tuks and the driver wanted too much money for the ride, Gary said “let’s walk”. We all agreed, we started walking and the price of the tuk tuk dropped by 1/3. We hopped in and were at the hotel in 5 minutes.
We got ourselves settled into the room and then went to see the beach and find some food and drinks. The beach is very close, 2-3 minutes walking from the front of the hotel. We needed a cube tap so we could plug our charger into the fridge outlet, so that we can charge things when were are out of the room and the key card activated electrical circuit is shut off. This keeps the guest from leaving the room with the air conditioning on. We ended up buying a small power bar because there were no cube taps to be found. We also bought 2 cheap air mattresses for the beach and an eye glasses case as Gary seems to have lost his. We grabbed a bite to eat, sharing a beer and an order of guacamole tortilla chips with salsa. On the way back we found an ice cream store so we each had a small dish of chocolate ice cream. From there we stopped at the mini mart and bought some large bottles of Chang beer (620 ml) for 58 baht which is less than half what we pay in the restaurants. The same shop also had a fruit smoothie stand so we explained we didn’t want a smoothy but to buy the fruit, so we got 2 VERY large mangos for $120 baht and half a watermelon for 60 baht. We hauled everything back to our hotel and stuffed all the beer and fruit in the little fridge. Gary got the power bar and our electronic charging stuff all rigged up so we are good! We are cooling off now in our room. Even the owner at the mini mart commented how hot it was today! By the time we got back here our clothes were soaked with sweat. Thankfully there is a little laundromat across the street that has a sign out 40 baht per kg which is quite reasonable. Since we’ll be in bathing suits for most of the next 5 days we can get a bunch of stuff washed.
We ate supper next door and it was ok. The mango smoothies each came with an orchid flower on top.
Gary ordered pineapple fried rice with chicken and Linda had Pad Thai. Both were good but Gary’s meal was special! See below.
After supper we walked back to our room and got to bed early. It was a long and very hot day. We’re thankful for the weather we have been enjoying because we know it’s very nasty at home right now.
See below more pictures from today.
