Week 18 - Thailand (Koh Lanta)
24th to 30th
of November
This little stop in Koh Lanta
just made all the difference!!!
After four months of
travelling we were all getting a bit weary of sleeping in different beds every
few nights, negotiating different menu’s and using challenging modes of
transport…it was time for a little stop. A little breather….and the island of
Koh Lanta could not have been a better destination for this. Close to Krabi and
Phuket on the western coast of Southern Thailand, the island is reachable by a
water taxi from both of them. We picked up the boat in Krabi and were on KL in
two hours. I think it takes a bit longer form Phuket. Another option is to go
by mini-bus over land, using two car ferries and do a bit of island hopping on
your way there. We used this option for our return journey to the mainland. The
island of Koh Phe Phe (the kids are still laughing about that name!!) is also
in this area and many tourist do day trips over there. So what makes this area
so popular? Well, it needs to be seen to be understood, but I’ll give it my
best go!! The clear aqua marine blue see-through water, with the yellowy sandy
beaches is almost enough…but then add on year-round 28 to 30 degrees seawater,
with visibility up to 30 meters on the hot summers days, the palm trees, great
cuisine and breath taking sunsets… Well, what more do one needs for a tropical
dream holiday destination? Maybe a hammock on the beach?? Well, they are there
too, plus the Thai-massage with the lull of the ocean in your ear and do not
forget the marvellous exchange rate!!
As you could gather from
Alana and Arno’s posts, we made the absolute most of this opportunity to rest,
to play to learn new skills and make new friends!
Our two bungalows were set
back form the beach on a hill amongst tropical vegetation. The Narima Resort
was started 12 years ago by a Thai family, who has worked all their lives away
form their birth island, but always had a dream to return and created a
business to serve tourists but also provide career possibilities for native
Thai’s. They secured a beautiful private beach and woodland area more than 20
years ago and then established the resort once they retired form their
engineering jobs in Bangkok. We were honoured to meet the owner, who was seen to
be meeting and greeting guests every morning at breakfast time. He even waved us
goodbye on our leaving day!!
We were having so much fun on
the beach and beside the infinity(!!!) pool, that we were really not too
interested in travelling to far from the Narima. During my early morning run on
our first day there, I located the Mini-marts and the big long white sandy
beach!!! So after breakfast we took a tuk-tuk over to the shops to sort the
little girlies out with new swimmies. We were sooo blessed to successful in one
out of the three shops. The only ones available for children were in their
sizes!! Ha!!! We decided to walk the 3 km or so back to our resort, but
stopping on the beach for a play and a swim. After a little while we realised that
it might be a good idea if we were to speed our walk back to Narima up a
bit……VERY dark clouds were gathering and we could not really hide from them!!
Thomas still has a bit of a ‘thing’ about thunder and lightning, so we were in
for an exciting walk back!! Long story short…we did not even put on clothes
over our swimmies but just walked back in another torrential rain shower. Here
and there we were hiding underneath trees, hotel lobbies until the big water
has passed us by. This was an challenging adventure back to our resort, but
this unexpected rain shower provided us with the best opportunity to work
together as a family. We had to be strong for one another, help each other
(either carrying a shopping bag or a little one!!) and persevere to the end…regardless
of the circumstances. I will always remember our two hour long walk back!!!!
Now, we met a fellow
traveller in Xi’an, Ceaser form Spain. He told us about the cliff top
restaurant with the bested sunset view in ‘all of the world’!! My word, Narima
Resort was right beside it!!!!! So an energy recovery stop had to be made at
the Diamond Cliff restaurant…and Ceaser…it is as marvellous and spectacular as
you were making it out to be!! Thank you sooo much. We had some pancakes,
coffee and mango-steamed rice (yum) there, while watching the lightning bolts
striking the ocean on the horizon. Absolutely magical!!!!
The resident scuba diving
school/shop (Scubafish) offered us a free come and try dive in the swimming
pool. I saw this as my chance to get a taste for this underwater sport. Thomas
joined me and our instructor John was so good at his job!! I did not feel
unsafe and had a great time swimming on the bottom of the deep pool! Alana and
Arno tried too, but they have already decided that they will be doing the 2
(Alana) and 4 (Arno) day training. You can read some more of their experiences here.
So the rest of us just
enjoyed the restful time in and out of the water, while A and A were watching
safety and training video’s, writing exams and practising in the pool.
This week turned out to be
such a great fun filled ‘holiday’ amongst weeks of extreme travelling. We made
friends with Isabelle, Florian and their two boys (Paul and Felix) form
Germany. Thomas really enjoyed all the cuddles with little Felix, who just
turned one. Paul and our little girls spend hours in the pool, jumping,
baby-diving and perfecting their underwater swimming. With the awesome layout
of the Narima resort (private beach with beach bar, half way up the steps was
the infinity pool and then at the top of the steps the restaurant overlooking
the pool) I felt pretty confident to let the children play in the pool or on
the beach at their own leisure. What a joy to have ‘swimming’ children. This
all gave me some precious chill out time sitting in a bamboo chair doing some
reading or writing AND working on my sun kissed look!!
The lovely Isabelle then
invited the kids and I to come on a traditional long-tail boat accompanying
them on a day trip to the Bu-Bu island on the eastern side of the island. I was
so thankful, because Arno and Alana was due to go on a diving boat for their
first deep sea dives and for Alana to complete her scuba diving certificate.
So, off we went early morning for the 45 minute drive across the island in the
signature pick-up truck taxi thingy. We were taken to the mangrove forest that
connect the two Lanta islands. A rickety walkway above the dark muddy swamp,
took us out to where we boarded our long-tail boat.
An interesting boat ride
followed, including a stop to feed the ‘swimming monkeys’. One actually boarded
the boat…I just tried to keep the kids and myself well clear from this little
mister. I’ve heard of so many stories where monkeys, which are used to being
fed, get a bit out of sorts and biting people. For that reason, I will never
trust a monkey to come near the kids or I.
Once docked on the Bu-Bu Island,
we found ourselves a little quiet spot and just enjoyed the lovely warm water,
pretty shells and the Robinson Crusoe feel of the island. Unfortunately the
visibility was next to zero, so the planned snorkeling did not happen. We
rounded a great day off, with a little trip to our nearby mini-mart for some
ice creams. We were also so looking forward to hear all Alana and Arno’s
stories after day on the diving boat….
The feedback was one of
overwhelming awe about the under-water wonder world. Arno could not wait for
his next dive and Alana was so pleased that she was now qualified to dive down
to 12 meters, accompanied by a diving instructor or master diver. She was also
looking forward in just relaxing for the next few days, examining the sea
world, chasing crabs and playing in the pool. So big, but still so little……
You can not visit Thailand
and not attend a Thai cook school of some kind. I was soo excited. Alana wanted
to join me, so the two of us were picked up by a driver, who was sent by the
Lanta Thai Cook School. We picked up a few other ‘chefs’ on the way and arrived
at the double story wall-less school. As a group of 7 people, we had to choose
4 out of the 10 suggested options. We decided to make a fried rice dish, a red
curry, a ginger stir fry and banana fritters. We first prepped all the veggies,
then we tackled one dish at a time, eat it (Yay!!!) and then moved onto the
next one!! It was such a great time for Alana and I to cook together and enjoy
learning together. The thing about Thai cuisine, I’ve learned during this
experience, is that you need to do ALL your prep and then just cook the food
quickly. Not one dish took longer than 5 minutes to fully cook…. This was just
the bestest afternoon!!!
Another little sweet moment
we had was a date night of just Arno and I dining out on our own, just the two
of us…yes…we managed to get the kids to bed early and then relaxed at the beach
restaurant. While waiting on our food we realised that background music was
actually a collection of worship music! We felt soo blessed!!
Then I saw something moving VERY quickly love the sand...with further investigation Arno discovered that the beach were filled with crabs. Apparently they know that there will be nobody to interfere with their own time on the beach, once it is night time...or so they thought.....
The following evening Arno took the kids, kitted out with torches, down to the beach. A new game of finding a innocent crabby AND than changing it to the water side with the light of the torch, excited giggles and delightful squeals following. The kids (and their dad) had the best fun! I even felt that I was missing out and just had to join in too!!!!
Arno’s last day of diving saw
him qualified as a Padi Open Water diver, down to 18 meters. He had tears in
his eyes as he was trying to describe the beauty of the unseen world to many,
me included. His little farewell present was to have the honor to see a whale
shark cruising by….
Thailand, especially the
Narima Resort, has completely ran away with our hearts. We would absolutely
love to come back here….meeting up with our new friends (who’s been here a
number of times now)..doing some more diving… Thomas joining Arno and Alana and
maybe even the mama……
Our Thai-time was running out
now. We’ve met up with wonderful locals and international globetrotters, animal
encounters to our hearts content, many hours spend on trains….curries and
pineapple-fried rice. Oh Thailand, I will be missing you..(minus the ants though….)
We were very sad to leave all
our Narima friends. We were getting a lunch time bus traveling across the
Lantas, using two short ferry boats, to the mainland, heading for Krabi Airport.
Our final night was spend in the Bencha Mountain Resort. Mr ….. sent a big
minibus to collect us from there and transport us the 20 minutes over to the
resort. We travelled through palm and rubber plantations and were surprised by
a little karst mountain, with the resort at its foot. In the process of into
and out of taxi’s, Thomas left his little day pack. We eventually tracked the
driver down AND managed to have it returned to us…but all his last saved pocket
money pounds were being used for the extremely high fee the taxi driver was
charging us for the return of the bag…. A big thank you to the owner of Bencha
for helping us to locate the bag and organising the return of it.
The Bencha Resort consisted out of a
collection of stone bungalows perch up a very steep hill. It was an mission to
get our luggage up to our house!! A
sweet resort, but a little bit rough around the edges. After our amazingly
enjoyable week at Narima, I felt a little bit cheated out of my happy Thai
memories. We were just booked in for one night before catching our flight to
Delhi, via Kuala Lumpur.
