Travel Day To Koh Lanta

From 11/18

We woke up quickly at 8am to get one last swim in before leaving Phuket. The water here was our favorite so far. It was the bluest and most fun to swim in because of the crazy waves. It's amazing how clean the beach and water have stayed because Phuket is a very visited destination.

We swam and reluctantly went back to the condo to pack up. As we were packing Alex discovered about one million ants crawling in her running shoes and all around her bag. It was not a good scene. We took it outside and shook out as many ants as we could. There were lots of signs of a colony inside her bag and we aren't sure where this all started. 

Once everything was cleared out of her bag we packed up and Alex ran to get lunch. I waited for our Airbnb host to show up so I could check out and pay for electricity. Alex grabbed our favorite Pad Thai to go and we got in the shuttle to the ferry. 

This ferry went to Ko Phi Phi before we had to transfer to another ferry. The first ferry wasn't bad, air conditioned and standard western ferry. 

(View from our seats)

They were playing some weird opera on the tv while we ate our take away pad Thai. 

(It didn't last long, but it stayed hot in the banana leaf)

The transfer in Ko Phi Phi was a joke, and we were already a bit late for our ferry to Ko Lanta. Once we got our bags onto the new ferry we enjoyed the views from the top of the boat. 

(Koh Phi Phi from the second ferry)

(Fighting the wind on the top of the boat)

(View of the Thailand coast from the ferry)

(View behind us as we arrived in Lanta)

Once we got to Lanta we showed our prepaid ticket to the hostel to some guys and we hopped in the back of a truck. They literally just say "come with me" and you follow them and trust that they're taking you to the right place. The Galileo Maps app helps me know, but we just hopped into a random guys truck bed and he took us to the hostel. 

(Trucks passing by behind me)

We got to the hostel called "Chill Out House" and checked in. The place is all open air and has a hippie vibe fer sure. It's super chill and is a fun area. It's a basic accommodation but has bug nets and incense to rid the mosquitos. 

We were walking to dinner when we saw this orange/red light coming through the trees. We had to walk to the beach to see the remainders of the sunset. And it was well worth it. 

(The Reds and oranges aren't quite captured in the picture)

Afterwards we got some bug spray and headed to get some massaman curry. It was delicious but nothing crazy special. On the way home we stopped at a shop that caught our eyes (mainly because of the dresses and purses) so we stopped in. It ended up being an awesome shop with a restaurant that had live music. We ended up staying for an hour or so to listen to the music and enjoy some tea. 

I was beat, after not sleeping well thinking about jobs and stupid real life stuff, and having traveled. I'm doing my best to keep that stuff for when I get home, but it's hard not to think about. At any rate, we just set up the bug net and called it a night. We have two full days here and have no serious plans so it will be filled with chillin around the chill out house and eating good Thai food. 

I'm going to miss these beaches and especially not wearing socks or shoes! More tomorrow. 

"We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe whose riches are differently dispersed. And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again- to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more."

- Pico Iyer