Sunday, Oct 15, 2006, Ko Lanta.
Eager to see the much acclaimed Thai islands with our own eyes, we left Bangkok for Krabi about 5 days ago. Krabi is a coastal town on the West coast of southern Thailand and a good jumping off point for the many island destinations in the Andaman Sea. When we arrived in Krabi, we took a taxi, then a sawngteaow (like a covered pick up truck with bench seats in the back, then a longtail boat to Railay island (famous for rock climbing). It was pouring. For days, the rainstorms persisted, dampening our spirits and slowly sapping our enthusiasm. On Railay, we spent about an hour walking around with our big packs, looking for a suitable hotel.
We quickly realized that the islands are not as affordable as other parts of Thailand. There was so much constuction on that tiny island it was a little of a buzzkill. (to be fair, this coast was hit pretty hard by the Tsunami.) Fatigued from the constant moving, our overwhelming desire was to find the perfect spot and stay there until we leave for Malaysia. Railay was not it so we took the ferry to Ko Phi Phi (Ko-Pee-Pee)the following morning. This is the island made famous from its cameo in that DeCaprio move, The Beach. We had not given up hope and were excited to see our next destination.
We arrived into a zoo of tour operators touting accomodations on the island. We settled on a place based mainly on price. The room itself was not bad, per se, but it wasn't worth the price. It was also probably the farthest possible spot from the pier, through construction sites, scores of massage shops, internet cafes, restaurants, bars and tour agencies. The island does not have a good drainage system so with the constant rains, muddy ankle deep, sometimes foul smelling rivulets dominate the streets. Water was coming out of pipes that spilled into the street and we weren't sure if it was pure rainwater or rainwater mixed in with a little sewage we were trudging through. Really glad for our Hep shots. Ko Phi Phi was turning out to be more like Ko Poo Poo.
The islands are breathtakingly beautiful but the unfortunate thing is that beauty is being trampled on and eaten alive by the greed and inconsideration of a booming tourist industry. Paradise Lost.
We are now on Ko Lanta. Paradise Found. This is exactly what we were looking for. A fairly large island, entirely undeveloped. There is a law here that forbids any building to be taller than the palm trees. We are staying at a great place and have rented a scooter to explore the island. Speaking of which, the sun is calling and we must go....until next time!
(Sorry, photos coming soon, it takes forever to load them, promise to do so soon.)
