After saying goodbye to the Perhentians, Alicia and I hopped an overnight bus to the west coast of Malaysia and met back up with Leah. We were headed for Thailand again, we just could not stay away from the great beaches and low cost of living here! This time… the islands in the west! After an overnight bus and an interesting border crossing which involved hitchhiking our way into the nearest city, and a few other modes of transportation, we arrived in Ko Lanta.
We arrived after sun fall. Normally this is not a problem, and we find accommodation pretty easily, but since Ko Lanta was in the off season, most of the places were closed. After a long and unsuccessful walk on the beach, with our backpacks weighing on us, we were about to give up and sleep there on the beach… when in a last ditch effort we walked up to the road and found a decent place that would make due for the night at least. The next day we managed to rent a whole tuk tuk (motor bike with a side car) and take it for a spin around the island. The tuk tuk did us well, but could not reach the end of the island that we wanted to get to due to the steep hills. Leah and Alicia did some pushing on a few of the hills that proved difficult for our vehicle, hills that actually turned us sideways on the road when trying to climb them in first gear!!! It was still the perfect day and night!
And because of the tuk tuk we found the accommodation we had been hoping for- a simple native bungalow right on the beach, at a place called Sanctuary. The bungalow was my favorite accommodation yet, due to the fact that the bathroom was open to air, and natural, and the view of the beach from the hammock on our front porch was perfection!
Ko Lanta is in the low season now because the water is rough and boughs of rain come through. But, we were ok with the thought of lower prices and less tourists for a few days. We managed to make a good time out of the deserted place, and loved it for what it was! 3 fun ladies in a semi-deserted beach town = a lot of creative, stupid, but priceless fun!
Time to move on from the deserted and peaceful island of ko lanta, and we ended up here in Ao Nang. Ao nang is a refreshing change for us… it is still the low season, meaning that restaurants (heaps of delish indian food!), diving (off of one of the most amazing sites ever), and accommodations (clean but very hot bungalow) are all super discounted, but there are still plenty of people around and everywhere is still open! Just what we needed after the lonely island of Ko Lanta. Ao Nang was supposedly just a place for us to catch a little boat to Railey, where we had planned to do some rock climbing, but we liked this semi touristy, family oriented town so much, that we just decided to stay for a few days.
Leah, Alicia and I did 2 amazing dives off of a nearby island called Ko Phi Phi. Phi Phi is a little too expensive for us to stay, but it is astounding, and is where the movie “The Beach,” with Leonardo Dicaprio, was filmed. The diving was freaking amaaaaaazing and the scenery above water was stunning too. If only “the beach” really existed, then maybe I would join the commune and stay forever!! ;)
So awesome! A lot of work but sounds like...oh so much fun! You are making some great memories!!!!
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