Krabi Trip: Day 3 + 4, Koh Lanta

Semester break is here! That means I'll be churning out a lot stale blog posts of my Krabi trip and Joe Visits Malaysia series!...I'll try to do some product reviews too hehe So keep a lookout :)

Day 3 in Krabi started in Ao Nang and ended in Koh Lanta. For breakfast, again, we were determined to hunt for local food..or at least something home cooked that isn't fast food. No more McDonald's for this trip, pleaseeee..

Guess what we found? Porridge! Teochew porridge to be exact haha Well, it's better than having burger for breakfast. We got ourselves a bowl of porridge with half-boiled eggs...and some you char kueh-like thing. It's tastes the same, if not a tiny bit sweeter. Maybe it's just my tongue lol But yeah, it's basically you char kueh.

I don't remember the prices, but I paid 30baht(RM3) for one bowl of porridge with one egg and three you char kueh.

with her newly bought Thai pants

Went back to our guesthouse and sat at the table outside, enjoying our breakfast ^_^

Right when we were done with our breakfast, the man from the transport agency came in a car to pick us up. It's weird that he picked us up in a car, with 2 other tourists. I expected like a van to drive us all the way to Koh Lanta.

Char and I got a bit paranoid, so Char asked him if we're going to Koh Lanta by car..and nope. He was just in charge of driving us to the meeting point where there'll be other tourists.

On a side note, we witnessed some commotion by the protesters on the way, which was a bit scary...siren went off in my head lol It wasn't as bad as the ones in Bangkok though. Phew!

Meeting spot

We waited for over an hour for the van to arrive. Such a waste of time. Maybe that's the downside of taking the bus/van option as opposed to ferry.

No time wasted here!

Arranging luggage

Got into the van with 7 other tourists and began our 3-hour journey to Koh Lanta. While Char had a good time talking to the Canadians, I was in the backseat napping and getting annoyed at the woman on my left lol

She's such a spoiled brat! She was so irritable the entire journey, whining to her husband(in the seat in front of her) that they better not be taking the van back. Then halfway through, she tried to sleep but kept fidgeting. She's big sized, mind you...not much space to move around. Then guess what? She passed she hubby an inflatable pillow and got him to blow it before snuggling her face on it. Why couldn't she blow it herself? Cis, so manja!

in the van, on the ferry

I thought the Canadian next to Char looked like Simon Cowell from the back LOL

My first impression on Koh Lanta was desert. It was so hot that day, so dry too and because it's a rather new-to-tourist spot, it's very undeveloped like kampung. It reminded me of those The Hills Have Eyes kinda place, so all my senses were on alert mode lolol

Again like the airport bus, the van dropped every single one of us at our designated hotels/inns/guesthouses and so on, a very convenient feature. Most of us, if not all, booked through sites like Agoda.com so we just showed the driver the hotel's name and address and he'll try to find his way.

We all had our eyes peeled for each other's hotels cz they're quite hard to find...especially ours. The driver left us by the roadside saying that was the road our hotel was on. Not knowing where the hotel actually was, we went to 7-Elven and a cafe which looks like a Starbucks imitation, and asked if they knew where N.T. Lanta was. They had no clue.

As I walked out of the Starbucks-lookalike cafe, we looked lost when a tuk tuk man and his friend, chilling on their tuk tuk by the corner asked what hotel we were looking for. We were rather paranoid of telling them cz they looked like bad hats haha After like 2 minutes of contemplating, we told him and he said it's just next to that cafe. We thanked him and was later really grateful cz it really was there!!

There's this sandy path that led to hotels, which from the outside looks kinda dodgy.

The direction of the kids are from the outside towards our hotel.

Can you believe it? The tuk tuk men knew our hotel but the cafe that operates just by the corner didn't know of the hotel's existence? *face palm*

Our hotel!!! Have to walk all the way in to get to the reception

The hotel staff was nice enough to carry our luggage for us into the chalet heh I was crazy happy when I saw our hotel, but didn't dare to have high hopes while Char went to check us in. What if that's not to be our room, but somewhere else, right? lolol BUT IT WAS!! Been awhile since I stayed in a nice hotel haha

"Sawadeeka"

Steps leading up to the room!

Chilling area. It's quite nice to chit chat out here whether in the day or night.

Our big bed! We actually chose 2 single beds, but they joined them together =.=" We're not a couple, mind you.

Large window!

Bathroom was quite big, wish there's a bathtub though

Rested for a little while before going out to check out the beach! The beach was a 5-minute walk from our hotel. Along the way, there's other hotels and even chalets(not sure if it's the correct term) that has private pool!! So niceee...it's good for a group of friends or families :D

The pool was big enough for a man to kayak in! O.O hahaha Char and I saw and laughed. It's funny but actually quite cool and relaxing.. I'd do exactly that if I have a kayak and a big pool hehe

The beach was rather empty, I think it's because it's still a rather new spot for tourists..something like that, I forgot what Char said. But yeah, it's not famous like Ao Nang or Phuket and the likes. Soooo if you want a nice place to lay down a towel on the beach and chillax and chit chat with loved ones, or read a book orrrr play your guitar and compost a song(saw a girl with a guitar there), this would be a good place cz it's really calm, quiet and relaxing.

I forgot to mention that we were on Phra Ae Beach, also known as the Long Beach.

From here onward, I'm just gonna spam beach photos.

I hope that Joe and I can go to a nice beach to chill someday...Port Dickson was not bad la, but I want better. Wheeee!

ahh...pretty

Dead crab :(

I love crabs. But too bad these crabs on the beach are too tiny(to be eaten). I enjoyed chasing them around though hahaha So fun to see them run back to their holey homes.

I have this thing about a group of holes or tiny dots that bothers me. It gets to me..like I get so disturbed and just so geli. For example, the knees of a student that's been punished to kneel on frozen beans(Google it) and the viral photo of some worm on a woman's boob(also, Google it)..which was proven to be fake. Some asshole Photoshopped lotus seed pod on a breast =.=" Anyway, my point is grouped together round things or holes makes me really disgusted and just traumatized in some way.

Ps: I didn't wanna put the photos up here cz every time I see this post, I'd hate it lol

Back to the crabs. Guess what I found on the beach?

Crabs' holey houses

It was interesting to me cz I've never seen these...designs(??) as a result of the crabs' digging, but at the same time I was disturbed by those tiny sand balls *shivers*

Spot the crabby!

small streams of water so cold and clean ^_^

Loveee the water there! So clear and cold, unlike Port Dickson lol

printed this picture on a postcard for Gup! :D

Waited for the sun to set before going out for dinner. According to Char, Koh Lanta is known for its sunsets, which was mainly why she wanted to make a trip there.

To me though, all sunsets are similar- they're all pretty haha I'm quite ignorant of the artsy side of things :/ I do have a thing for clear, bright skies!..Where the clouds are so pretty and sometimes, with Mr. Sun behind it, there's that silver lining..and and even the times when the sun light shines through which makes it look like it's the light from Heaven haha Oh, the Heavenly light! So pretty!!

Anyway, back to the sunset.

For dinner, we went to the rather popular Red Snapper. It's about an 8-minute walk from our hotel. In case you guys wanna try it out and can't find it, just keep walking though it's quite jungle-y...cz to reach Red Snapper, you have to walk down a path with trees and bushes around. Very eat with nature concept, if you know what I mean lol

This is the map I used to navigate..no, I think it's another one, but this works too :)

Red dot: Red Snapper Blue dot: Faim de Loup French Bakery

(Source: http://www.lanta4u.com)

Faim de Loup French Bakery is not only a good landmark, but I've read good reviews about it too. Didn't get the chance to try that out for breakfast, but you should! And tell me how the food is haha

Menu for you to plan your budget haha I thought their menu was really messy, they should work on that..

I've read blogs saying Red Snapper is really good, but I couldn't find what's most recommended or worth the money..and I don't know the price range either. Now that I've taken the picture of the menu, you're welcome! XD

I had higher expectations for this place, but meh, wasn't that good. Or maybe I made the wrong choice... Before reading blogs, I kept thinking they sell crabs and lobster and such lol I know, I know...red snappers are fishes, not crustaceans. Basically, I wasn't impressed with the menu as I expected a more variety of seafood.

We decided to order something light and go for round 2 somewhere else.

Char's quiche. I don't remember which one was it on the menu

Mine. Green shell mussels in a fragrant coconut sauce, 95baht(RM9.50)

Char's quiche wasn't to my liking...very filling, but not flavourful..I wouln't reorder. My mussels, also not fantastic but at the same time not unedible. I probably won't be going back to Koh Lanta, but if I do, I don't think I'm going back to Red Snapper.

Although I must add that it's a rather romantic place for couples..or even for a nice family dinner cz there's a section where there are candles on the tables, a rather dimly-lit place that's romantic and relaxing.

Obviously our tummies weren't filled, so we walked the street and ended up at Galaxy Bar and Restaurant, a reggae-hippie kinda place. It was rather quiet that night, but they have parties weekly, I think...forgot the day.

while waiting for food, write.

Green curry!!!!!

It was my first time tasting green curry and it didn't disappoint! I didn't know what to expect...and I concluded that it tasted very lemak-ish..definitely a lot of santan (coconut milk). Nice nice hehe I'm gonna try more green curries the next time I visit a Thai restaurant :D

Before going back to our hotel room, we stopped by 7-Eleven for snacks. I love potato chips. Potato chips are probably my favouritest junk food :D I'm so glad Wise decided to bring back my childhood favourite Cottage Fries Potato Chips in tomato flavour!

Anyway, in the afternoon, Char went to get Lay's potato chips in Salmon(pink package) and one more which I don't remember...which were SOOOOO GOOOOOOD!!! I LOVE LAY'S!!! It's quite pricey to get it here in Malaysia :'(

So I went to 7-Eleven and tried more flavours. I kinda suck at choosing new flavours or food and such lol so I got I-don't-know-what-brand's unique flavours too..and they were...not good haha The Lay's one was good though!!!!!! Scored 1/3.. Booo..

Takoyaki, Chili Paste(I think), Kurobuta Steak

Not really enjoying my chips on the bed. I'm not usually grumpy when I have potato chips haha

Jotting down my expenditure that day. It's really nice to hangout there, but there were mosquitoes. UGH

This night was when I felt like I was on the verge of falling sick, so I got some Vitamin C drink to boost my immune system and suppress the fever that was coming. I should definitely bring Redoxon every time I travel. 

Woke up the next day, day 4 of the trip with a sore roof of my mouth :( Not gonna let it stop me from experiencing Krabi though!

Walked along the road and found ourselves a stall/shed/workshop. It's a workshop for making signage I think..there were woods and signboards at the back of the shop. The front part of this wooden shop lot is a small kitchen and a small room, which I think is where the family stays.

Decided to have breakfast here cz we don't see anything else around...I wanted to have breakfast at Faim de Loup, but I'm not sure why we didn't walk in that direction. Anyway, they had rice with a few lauk-pauk or dishes...which were mostly pork :(

I was rather turned off by it cz I don't like pork, so I try to refrain from eating it. If we were to walk away, I felt kinda bad cz we were probably one of their first customers..and they don't look like they'd have many customers..

Since Char was okay with it, I just went with it cz I mean, if pork cooked right, there might not be the smell..or just a slight faint smell(eww). There wasn't any chicken or beef, as far as I can recall..so I took some cucumbers(cooked with pork :/) and um...pork.

Breakfast for 50baht(RM5). The pork was a mixture of some organs, I thinkk..cz it looked like intestines. Ew ew ew ew!

I'm one of those Chinese that don't eat intestines. I just can't bring myself to...looks so disgusting! I didn't know there's other than the meat in the mixture cz the gravy is dark, I only realized when I chewed on something chewy *faints*

Okay, the reason why I refrain from pork is due to the smell. Some porks doesn't have the stinky smell, for example bak kua. So I like bak kua(though I rather buy chicken kua lol) But omg, this dish, the smell was so strong, I almost vomited, didn't even bother finishing it up.

The gravy was good though. I tried Char's pork dishes and I liked the gravy too. It's the smell of the pork that makes me uncomfortable. Let's say if those were chicken instead, I'd be happy with it

So, although I like homecooked/local food, I'd say this was my money worst spent on this trip. I'd take McDonald's over stinky pork any day.

Above is Char's with two pork dishes, on the right is a platter or raw veggies(we didn't order that, it just comes with every local meals I think), the round ones were bitter and the sauce to dip is was freaking spicy

Cute little girl playing around the workshop

she took out some wooden planks and sandpaper-ed it! Look who's serious about taking over her father's business haha

enjoying her fooood

almost doneeee!

After a day of relaxing by the beach, getting to know the area and chilling, it was time to go to town! The town we went on the fourth day was called Ban Saladan.

But first, pharmacy. My throat got worst, so I got some lozenges and vitamin C from the pharmacy. It was just a few doors away from our hotel. How convenient! :D

Ban Saladan was approximately 15 minutes away from Phra Ae Beach. We hired a tuk tuk to bring us to town and the ride was...windy. So windy, I looked like a man with all my hair blown away from my face hahaha

One-way tuk tuk ride to Ban Saladan costs 150baht(RM15).

He dropped us off, said he could come pick us up at 3pm and we said ok. But he never came back =.=" Wasted our one hour waiting for him...no idea why we were so loyal too lolol Good thing we didn't pay him for the return trip beforehand.

handmade necklaces, bracelets and anklets

Walked toward the town area and found some street food. I love street food, I had to check it out! It didn't look very attractive or appetizing from a closer view, so I ended up getting only one stick.

Deep fried prawns with Thai sauce for 20baht(RM2), I think

It was good, but I may have exaggerated in this photo haha

Walked around in the hot sun around town. Since it was near the sea, there were restaurants on stilts above water! Just like Kukup la..

Found a shop similar to the first handmade accessories shop and decided to get some. The lady at the shop thought we're Thais from Bangkok! heh She said it's because we're fair and we speak English. At that time, it felt like a nice big compliment, no idea why lolol but now that I think of it..did she mean we looked like ladyboys? O.o

One for 180baht, but she gave us a discount of 150baht(RM15) for one if we buy two.

Came across a shop called Catfish. It's quite a nice concept as it's a secondhand bookstore in front, cafe/restaurant at the back. Only drawback- cats everywhere.

yep, even on the desk

a pretty cool guesthouse

It was really hot that day, so it was exhausting. I find it energy draining when it's hot. We decided to go into a restaurant to chill while waiting for 3pm since there was nowhere else to explore, but couldn't decide which restaurant, so we randomly chose one that was really colourful..and a has Mickey Mouse standee at the entrance lol

While waiting for food, write postcards

The food came really late though there was only like 3 tables of customers :/

Char's coconut ice blended was really yumz! And so was my pineapple fried rice :D Pineapple fried rice is one of Thailand's famous food. We have it in Malaysia too, but not all restaurants serve in a whole pineapple. I GOT MINE SERVED IN A REAL PINEAPPLE!!!!

85baht(RM8.50)

seafood was fresh and so good! I love pineapple fried rice!

Tom yam soup for her

Just before going back to our meeting point with the tuk tuk man, we found this bazaar area where there's hair accessories, candles, Thai pants, handmade items, bags and everything! I really liked that place cz although it was all nett priced, meaning you can't bargain, the prices were low enough!

Like the bag we bargained for in Ao Nang, we got like 350baht each, while at the bazaar, 280baht nett! Pretty hair clips you can find in Malaysia for say RM12-RM15, I bought them for 30baht(RM3) each! Crazy crazy! So if you go to Ban Saladan, look for that bazaar area.

Got back on a different tuk tuk as beach time cameeee! I took a shower beforehand cz I felt sticky and hair all fried..so I didn't have my soak in the water.

model coming out of the water *wolf whistles*

Got back to our hotel so Char can swim around the swimming pool before it got too dark after dinnertime.

Chilling on the bench, while waiting for Char

Guess what we got for dinner? Local stall-ish food! Thai food, I feel is very similar to Malaysia's..of course they have their own specialties like Tom Yam and such, but they have rice with chicken..for instance Kung Pow chicken.

Except, you wouldn't know till the food arrives cz it's called something else haha We got excited to try local Thai food...till we eat it then we go "Umm...this is (fill in the blank)" lolol Just like this dinner, which was okay also la..just not very different haha

Char with her Wanton Mee haha

my rice with seafood cooked in oyster sauce, onions and all that

Looking at the menu, I didn't know what soda water was...so I was like, okay let me try it, I mean, if they meant 'ice cream sode', I'm cool with it...but it wasn't. And I regretted. It tastes like plain water, but gassy. WHYYYY? Why would anyone invent such a thing to be drank on its own? If you mix it with Ribena, it'll be good la...but not on its own! I ended up drinking only like 1/5 of the glass =.=" Wasted, wasted.

Spent 80baht(RM8) on dinner, which was pretty cheap!

I know it isn't the best idea, but after dinner we went for Thai massage. Of course not immediately, we went strolling before deciding to go for a massage. It's quite cheap there, but I think it might be cheaper in Bangkok. We both went for Thai massage for an hour, 300baht(RM30).

My goal is to try out all kinds of massages. There's like Thai, Swedish, Indonesian, Balinese and all that..there's a difference, but I don't know what, so I'm gonna try it all!

Thai massage is where the masseuse uses their palms, elbows, arms and knees to massage you. You'll be pressed and get this- crawled on LOL Be prepared for that!

My back, around the shoulder was aching, so I was hoping it'd help with the strain, but it didn't really haha When she pressed my back, because my head was turned to the side, it felt as if I'm gonna sprain my neck O.o I was scared, but I remember to relax cz being tensed during massages ups the possibility of spraining. So keep that in mind. Relax.

There's this tiny shop that sells secondhand items, mostly clothes, that also provides a postcard printing service. We printed one for Gup and Char's friend there, which costs 50baht(RM5) per postcard.

That's the friendly shop owner's nephew, called Pom(something like that). He's really cute! In the photo above is Char asking him to guess which hand has sweet haha

And that's all for Koh Lanta! It's a nice place to chill by the beach, especially in the evenings when the sun isn't burning hot.

If you like a quiet, chill and relaxing place that doesn't have much stuff happening, go to Koh Lanta. Catch it before more tourists find out about it and they start developing the area!