Ko Lanta (Yai)

The trip to Koh Lanta was driven by my passion for SCUBA diving (in between meals of course)!

Koh Lanta is off the beaten path for most tourists due to the travel time and steps to embark on  this under developed oasis.  My journey began at 6am, with a 1 hour car ride to the pier, catch the ferry from Phuket (city) to Phi Phi (2 hours), transfer (by means of hopping across a wooden board) to another boat, make 2 stops and finally to Koh Lanta (2 hours).  However, there are other ways, but for me this seemed the least painful of the three! Total trip time 6 hours!

Koh Lanta, or “Lanta” as the locals say is a melting pot of Buddhists, Thai-Chinese, Muslims and even sea gypsies. Possessing little knowledge of the island beyond what a few quick Google searches provided, figured how rough can life be? I there to SCUBA dive, check out the Southern Thai style of food, and get some well needed R&R before heading back home.

The beaches are peppered with dive bars, restaurants, and one massage place after another.  Sign me up, already in heaven!  My stomach was growling  for neglecting it of Thai food for more than 4 hours, time to find the local eateries! Rumor has it that the farther south you head in Thailand the spicier the food.

Prancing through the rain I took in the surroundings and then started picking off one  local joint after another.  The first stop was a tree house made of huge pieces of what appeared to be drift wood (probably left from the Tsunami) over looking the sea.  The sign outside simply said, *BBQ *Papaya Salad *Curry, sounds good, I’m hungry!  I hike up the uneven wooden stairway only to find a tucked away paradise. I quickly order Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad ,medium spicy), and a 350g  fresh BBQ snapper .  In heaven, out of the rain, listening to my Ipod, and rereading one of my personal favorite books The Four Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss (see photo)!

The food was dynamite!  The chilies from the Som Tum salad lit me up to consume over 1.5 ltrs. of water before the perfectly BBQ-ed fish arrived.  Now proven the Southern Thai food, even at medium heat, is too hot!  Just imagine someone rubbing all your innards with scotch bonnet peppers and then tossing in Thai Prik peppers to garnish!

The snapper was finished off with the traditional wedge of lime and small salad of tomato and fresh sliced onion.  I waited out the rain here for a few hours and simply embraced the surroundings of my new port of call, Koh Lanta.

Where next…more food? beers?, Thai massage?

One Response to “Ko Lanta (Yai)”

1. Armandina Schnabel says:

   March 31, 2011 at 11:46 am

   This was exactly the answers I had been looking for. Incredible blog. Exceptionally inspirational! The posts are so good and detailed. The links you come with are also very beneficial as well. Many thanks

   Reply