Kho Lanta, Thailand

Our flight out of Bangkok landed in Krabi, a major city in southern Thailand. The hotel we booked online, Mook Lanta, sent someone to pick us up, who was at the baggage claim holding a sign with our name on it, and our luggage was the first two pieces off. We felt that things were smoothing out from the chaos of Bangkok. Koh Lanta was a long drive away, and included two ferry rides. The neighborhoods looked friendlier than in Bangkok, and we could catch glimpses of the ocean during the drive. And the van was tricked out, too. Cushy seats.

So, imagine our surprise when the van pulled up in front of a group of buildings at End of the Earth Hotel! We were on a dirt road that had huge muddy ruts and enormous red, muddy puddles. I recognized the hotel sign from the website, but that’s where the similarity ended. We were greeted by a very young, sweet looking Thai couple who were smiling and saying, “Yes, yes, you are here!”

Each room was its own little cabin built on stilts with elevated walkways to each one, and looked somewhat like the pictures on the website. The couple whisked our bags away to the third cabin with us following, put everything inside, had us go inside, gave us the keys and, still smiling, said “Good night” and shut the door. Jack and I stood in the middle of the room, speechless as we looked around. While the pictures on the website looked beautiful, it was obvious they had been taken some time ago, as everything had a lot of wear and tear. It’s also in the middle of the rainy season there and the room smelled like it had been closed up for a long time without having been aired out. The bathroom didn’t have a roof over the shower and reminded me of a bathroom at a camp site, kind of rustic. To top it all off, it was the hardest bed we have ever, ever slept on. So, there we were, at the End of the Earth Hotel with nowhere else to go and no way to get there. We did the only thing we could and got settled in and tried to make ourselves comfortable. However, we decided to wait until morning to shower because we didn’t know what kind of night creatures might decide to join us.


Our room at Mook Lanta Hotel

The next morning we went to breakfast and the same young Thai couple had a table ready for us. They fixed us an “American” breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, and coffee. It was pretty good except that the ‘American’ style bacon was not cooked at all, maybe just heated up a little. I decided that I didn’t really want any bacon that day. By the time breakfast was over, our shock had worn off a little, and we decided to explore. We went one way, through a similar place with individual huts and got to the beach. We went the other way and got to the town. Because it was the rainy season, some places were closed, but most were open, although there weren’t many folks around. Koh Lanta is a fishing village that is slowly being taken over by tourism, which is sad to see. There is a lot of new construction going on, along with the construction mess that goes with it.

Jack in the open air shower (He insisted I post this picture)

Almost everyone rides little scooters there. You will see men, women, women with children, entire families up to four or five people, and people with dogs; stuff tied on or riding in baskets and crates; putt-putting down the road. There are many creative ways to attach your stuff or your children to your scooter.

There is a large Muslim population in southern Thailand where Kho Lanta is located. The Muslim girls and women cover their heads and shoulders with very beautiful head pieces and scarves that they sell at the local shops.

There is also a kind of improvised taxi there called a tuk-tuk or took-took. The tuk-tuks in KL were motorcycles with a somewhat elaborate side car attached that had benches in it for up to three or four people. Tuk-tuks were everywhere too, most of them for hire. Whenever an available tuk-tuk saw Jack and me walking along, they would beep their horns and asked if we wanted a ride. Usually we were into the walking, but sometimes we would hire one. You let them know where you are going and always negotiate the price before you start. Even though everything costs much less here, you can still be overcharged in ‘tourist-y’ places.

We hired a tuk-tuk driver on our second day in KL who took us all around the island, took us to a very nice restaurant overlooking some fabulous scenery, and to the original Old Town of KL. It cost the equivalent of about $21 for him to drive us around all day and tell us the history of the place.


Our tuk-tuk gassing up for the day's journey


We booked and paid for the End of the Earth Hotel for four nights, and stuck it out to the bitter end, but we were ready to escape. We did not have another hotel booked because, in addition to everything else, the “internet was broken.” But, acting on faith (or stupidity), we had the inter-island van come and get us to take us back to Krabi. This was a public van and the cost was much, much lower than the private van who met us at the airport. However, we did have an unfortunate incident while on the trip back to Krabi.

There were two short ferry rides between islands to get back to the mainland. On the second, longer ferry ride, everyone got out of the van, including Jack and me. Well, I just left my purse on the floor beside where I was sitting. Not smart. When we got back in the van, I could tell that my purse had been gone through, and upon checking discovered that some money, about $30, and the local cell phone had been stolen. My passport and credit cards were all there, however. We can’t prove who did it, but I learned a lesson about taking my purse, and now we always lock our luggage whenever we’re in transit, too.

Since we didn’t have a new hotel, and we had been robbed, Jack and I got off the van the first time it stopped. It was The Maritime Park and Hotel Resort. We went up, and without a booking, got a room at the sale rate. And, the hotel was amazingly beautiful. We started out with two nights, but in the end, wound up staying five! We had a room on the corner of the 5th floor with picture windows on two sides that gave us an amazing view of the surrounding area, all parkland and tropical rainforest. After our time at the End of the Earth Hotel, it was such a great relief! We had a great breakfast everyday, went shopping at the local mall (I love malls), and went snorkeling on the reef. Those last five days in Krabi turned out to be really great.


A view from our room at Maritime


Another view from our room at Maritime



View from our room


The mountains as seen from our room


View from our room in Maritime



Snorkeling on Kho Phi Phi out of Krabi