Travelling South East Asia - Koh Lanta
Koh Lanta was one of the most chilled places we have ever been to and we are so glad we included it as part of our itinerary. Again, as with the other destinations we only gave ourselves 5 days on the Island and as day five drew closer we were debating extending our stay. There is something special about this island, it draws you in and calms your soul. Even in the rain we were so happy to be there. As mentioned in my other post we only had a limited time in each place so minimising travel times was a must. Koh Lanta is only a 2 hour journey on a passenger ferry away from Krabi or Ao Nang and you get there for less than 500 baht (£10) we actually had to get a mini bus which then took us on the ferry because we missed the last available boat. it worked out a little longer but it was fine, we just slept and woke up when it was time to get off. Just note when travelling, timings almost never work out don't get upset if you miss your bus or you boat, things run on 'Thai Time' in Thailand which often means things run a little late. Just relax it will all work out. Any way... back to the location. Koh Lanta is situated perfectly with a close proximity to islands such as Phi Phi and Koh Lipe which is the next island we visited. It also is an extremely affordable island and caters to all kinds of budgets and people. Here are a few of my tips about Koh Lanta.
Where we stayed
We started planning fairly early after booking our trip and I am so glad we did. I came to learn that travelling around Christmas time means there is good chance if you don't book early you just wont get the place you want to stay. After extensive research I knew I wanted to stay at this unique please on the beach called
At first there was no availability for us at the dates we wanted but thankfully for us someone dropped out and we were able to get a bungalow for our 5 days. I cannot recommend Time for Lime enough, it honestly was one of the best places we stayed in all of Thailand. Time for Lime is actually a cookery school built by a lady called Juni to help fund an animal sanctuary on the Island.
The Lanta Animal Welfare centre has helped re-home and save the lives of hundreds of animals. The cookery schools helps keep the centre a float as well as being one of , if not the best on the island. On top of that the accommodation was just lovely, nothing overly fancy but clean and eco friendly and smack bang on
. We loved hanging out on our porch, chilling on our hammock knowing we were 30 seconds from the beach it was heaven. The next best thing about Time for Lime is that they also home a number of Cats, dogs and kittens! They encourage guests to play with the animals and even have them sleep in the rooms with you (so long as you take a litter box) its the best! I can't begin to explain how lovely the atmosphere of the place is and having fallen in love with our very own Kitten Som Lek I found it so hard to leave Koh Lanta.
What we did..
Koh Lanta is actually a very large Island and there are a number of cool things to do whilst you are there. Things are also very reasonably priced so trips, and days out aren't as expensive which works out well when you are on a tight budget. Here is what we did.
Moped around the Island
Dan says this was his favorite part of Koh Lanta, he really loves driving at home and he used to have a motorbike so this was right up his street. Many articles you read about other places in Thailand will advise you to avoid riding a moped at all costs due to the sheer number of accidents that happen to tourists every year. Koh Lanta was the only island we chose to hire one, simply because every forum and blog we read mentioned how safe and easy it was using them. We hired ours through our hotel and it was ridiculously cheap at less than £6 a day! The freedom the bike gives you is wonderful and there is honestly nothing better than driving with the sun beaming on your face taking in all the sights around you. Some safety tips from Dan (as I don't drive)
- if you are not an experienced driver then wear your helmet
- don't over take people, its not worth the risk, Thai drivers do not drive like in the UK and will not wait for you to pass.
- Check for scrapes and scratches before you hire the bike so they don't charge you on return
- Return your bike promptly to avoid extra charges.
Visit view point.
If hiring a moped isn't your thing I would still recommend renting a tuk tuk driver for the day to take you around the island, a lot of Koh Lanta is on a hill which of course allows for some pretty spectacular views. There are lots of restaurants and places to grab something to eat which over look the view above not a bad way to enjoy you lunch aye? We stopped off at the first one along the way and I for the life me can't remember the name, yes I know worst blogger ever but I think I was just taking the view in too much to care about the name.
Be a beach bum
If you are looking for white sandy beaches and blue blue sea then Koh Lanta might not be the place for you, that said I personally loved the beach regardless of this. The islands beaches are still super gorgeous and they have smashing sunsets the sand on some of the beaches is more yellow than white but still soft and pretty, The whole islands is just so chilled and you get that vibe from each of the different beaches. The first picture above is Klong Dao beach the place where we stayed and we loved getting up in the morning for a nice walk along the beach, so peaceful and tranquil. The second picture is of Long beach or Phrae Ae, this was slightly more busy than Klong Dao with a lot more children but it had better options for food in my opinion with a number of street food stalls before you hit the beach. There are also a number of beaches to explore around the islands and you can find lots of information at Amazing Lanta.com.
We were pretty unlucky in that we had terrible weather for nearly all the time we were in Koh Lanta and due to this we missed out on doing lots of things that I already had planned. There a number of great boat trips to go on around the surrounding islands as well as lots of water based activities such as Kayaking and paddle boarding. I found lots of great ideas by searching the Koh Lanta hash tag on Instagram as well as scoping other blogs. If you have any questions about Koh Lanta do let me know in the comments below and I of course will try to help.