Ko Lanta, Thailand

Scuba diving at Ko Haa

With Ashley's 30th birthday fast approaching, the pressure was on Joe to choose the right location to celebrate.  But where in the world could offer the right mix of beautiful scenery, elegant dining, and fun nightlife, but without the hordes of the club-hopping UK kids to ruin it all?  After some secretive research and frantic last-minute phone calls, the stage was set for a birthday retreat in Ko Lanta, an island off the Andaman Coast of Southern Thailand.  The island is in Krabi province and is known for its great scuba diving and long white beaches, as well as some nice beachfront dining and nightlife to suit the occasion.  Best of all, it's just off the backpacker tourist track, which meant a welcome break from day-glow body paint and 4AM drunken revelry.  Sounds perfect!


Traveling from Ko Pha Ngan to Ko Lanta was a hell of a travel day.  We had to change to a different mode of transportation (bus, ferry, boat) every few miles, with each change including a seemingly endless (and pointless) series of muggy bus stations and ports.  They slap a new sticker on you every time you change to a new bus or boat, so by the end of the day we looked like a couple of cranky 5 star generals.


While we were waiting for our ride to the much-hyped surprise birthday accomodation in Ko Lanta, we came across this pet monkey on the side of the road.  He baited us in with by looking cute, then lunged at our faces with teeth bared.  We were definitely thankful for the leash.


While Ashley was capturing this Lion King moment, a stray dog was peeing on her pack.  Happy birthday!


After an exhausting day of travel, monkey attacks and dog pee, Joe was really hoping that the surprise birthday resort would not disappoint.  We followed the road all the way down the entire coast of the island and into the jungle to finally arrive at beautiful La Laanta Hideaway Resort - the perfect birthday destination!


We became really good friends with June, the owner.  She was an incredible host and proved to be even more generous than we could have imagined towards the end of the trip.


Knowing that food is the key to Ashley's heart, Joe arranged a surprise birthday cooking class.  We were able to pick 3 of our favorite Thai dishes to cook and eat.  Our teacher was excellent.  Here he is giving Ashley a lesson on chili peppers.


Sizzlin satay!  The key is in the marinade.


Chicken satay with homemade peanut sauce


Pad thai


Massaman curry – one of our favorite Thai discoveries.


Ashley’s pineapple birthday cake.  Minus the cake.


We made it home for some birthday sunset action.


The birthday girl.  Joe was feeling pretty good about his birthday performance so far, but had one more trick up his sleeve...


A private birthday meal on the beach! (and a bottle of wine – rare travel treat).  It was a dream come true!  The steak was not quite as overcooked in the dream, but all in all the birthday was a success.


On our way to dinner, Joe caught a frog just as he caught a fly.  Tasty.


We decided to walk to the national park and June recommended we take her dogs along as they would protect us from any aggressive monkeys.  We were a bit dubious about the little guy's ability to scare off a squirrel let alone a monkey, but there was no way of leaving him behind.


Ko Lanta National Park


Me Tarzan.  You Jane.  Vine break.  Joe fall.


The dogs led Joe into the middle of a group of monkeys, but abandoned him when this protective monkey mama showed some teeth.  Joe kept the camera strap on for this one - the monkeys have been known to snatch and destroy them.  Guess they don't like the paparazzi.


We reluctantly moved to the more affordable Banana Garden hotel once a few days of birthday celebrations were over.  We had heard we were in Ko Lanta for low season, but only fully grasped it once we were in the main part of the island and no one was there.


Small Buddhist shrine at the hotel


Hotel grounds


We decided to explore the island and rented a motorbike. We passed a “Monkey School” (more like Monkey Jail) and decided to check it out. It was a little sad to see the monkeys on leashes, rather than out in the wild, but they seemed to be well taken care of. This little fella was very friendly.


This one was not.


The highlight of the show was this guy – a regular Blake Griffin. Joe got a little competitive when he saw the talented monkey baller in action, so he challenged him to a shooting contest.

It soon became clear that Joe had bit off more than he could chew - the monkey was automatic.

Joe tried some old school psych-out tricks to try to level the playing field.

An obvious foul!  Ok monkey, if you want to play it that way then it's time for some one-on-one.

Joe got revenge with an emphatic rejection.  Judging by the monkey's face he's clearly not used to getting his shot blocked.  Sorry buddy, not in my house.

On the way home from the monkey school, we stopped by this beachfront bar, bathed in hand sanitizer, and then ordered some delicious coconut-crusted prawns.


Scuba diving was a big reason we came to Ko Lanta.  There is a cluster of 5 small islands about 2 hours from shore known as Ko Haa with some of the best diving in Thailand.


Here’s Ashley doing everything you’re NOT supposed to do in a regulation boat to water entry.


Joe and Nemo! Clown fish are hilarious – they are very small (a few inches at most) but extremely territorial. When you approach their coral home, they pop out and will often try to give you a warning nibble. In fact, you can see this one giving Joe the stink eye. We’re pretty sure this epic shot will end up in a scuba diving brochure down the road, and probably on our wall.


The Indian Bar – great spot to chill next to our hotel.  We joked about how politically incorrect such a place would be perceived back home.  A dark-skinned Thai man posing as a Native American (complete with long hair and bandana with feather) who owns a bar called The Indian.  He pulled it off though.


Taking down a few Sang Soms and soda.


As it was low season, almost every establishment on the island was closing (including our hotel), so we decided to call up June and see if she would give us a deal at La Laanta if we stayed a week. She agreed to half off!  In order to stick to our travel budget we stocked up on snacks, ramen, beers, water and scotch whiskey (from 7/11 oddly enough) and settled in.  One of the highlights of the trip was the day we stayed in during a crazy storm taking down glasses of 100 Pipers watching the new season of Mad Men.  A little taste of home.


We didn’t regret returning to La Laanta.  Days were spent chilling at the pool...


Relaxing on the beach…


Doing yoga (we have since sprung for proper mats)…


Playing beach volleyball and darts against the staff (who were way better than us)…


Admiring the perfect monkey shadows made by the pool umbrellas...


Eating delicious wings…


And drinking many a cozy-covered Chang.  Yup, we really hunkered down and embraced the frugal life.


La Laanta was a huge highlight of the trip.  The island was certainly quiet for low season, but we recharged and prepared ourselves for the next phase of our travels, which were sure to be a lot faster paced...

The rest of our photos from Ko Lanta are in the album here.

We finally got fed up with writing about our travel adventures weeks or months after they happen, so we decided to buckle down and crank out a few in a row.  We've reached deep down to tap into levels of productivity that we haven't used in months to prepare the photos, and now we're ready to go.  We're happy to announce a blitz of blogs in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.