We had 2 more nights in Georgetown and met up with Agata, a Polish girl that we'd also met at Pulau Weh. We looked into the various ways that we could get into Thailand but in the end we opted for the ferry to Langkawi, had one night there, and then we got another ferry to Satun, Thailand.We cycled about 10km to the town centre and saw this telephone box, well we think that's what it is, although the sign states that it's a public toilet. Perhaps things in Thailand are not always what they seem!
We decided to stay in Satun and we found a really lovely small guesthouse that was very cheap. That night we met a guy from Newcastle that is working here for a year teaching English and it was very interesting chatting with him. At 10pm it started to rain and it did not stop for 24 hours. Due to the rain we ended up staying another night in Satun and then we headed off.
We cycled to La Ngu, only 50 km away and we got totally drenched. We had to keep stopping and taking shelter because it was so heavy but eventually we arrived in La Ngu, had lunch and found a guest house. Despite the rain, the cycling was fun and the locals gave us lots of support and smiles. Unfortunately, our guest house was right next to Karaoke (which means brothel in Thailand) so we had to put up with really loud music until 2 am.
The following day the rain was so bad that we only managed to cycle 25 km to Thung Wa. We took shelter in various places, including a shop, where we drank coffee and watched the children playing in the puddles:
The only hotel in town was next to a karaoke bar (brothel), so once again we had to put up with lots of noise.
The following day we cycled 75 km, mostly in torrential rain. Because it was still Ramadan it was difficult to get food but we saw a place with tables outside and stopped to take a look. It turned out to be a private function but we were beckoned over by a very kind man and we ended up staying there for an hour. First we got led over to a shrine, with a photo of an old lady, and we placed a lit josh stick on the shrine and then we got led over to a table and were served loads of food, plus water and a bottle of spirits. No-one spoke English so we had to use our phrase book and we think the event was a funeral but we can't be sure. We thanked everyone and then set off again in the rain. Here is a very soggy me with our lovely host:
We arrived in Trang and had 3 nights there in order to dry off and decide what to do. We had intended on visiting some of the nearby tropical islands but we didn't really see the point if the weather was going to continue to be this bad. Anyway, during our stay in Trang the sun came out so we decided to cycle about 50km to Pak Meng. We arrived at a very small beach resort on the last day of Ramadan and the place was full of Muslim families having a great time. We were the only white people in town and we were made very welcome. We found a very cheap place to stay and spent 2 night there. Here is a picture of the sunset:
Pak Meng is full of dogs. On the day that we left, 2 puppies came to say hello to us and I was very tempted to take this one with me:
We cycled about 20km on a quiet road with beautiful scenery to a jetty where we could get the ferry over to Ko Muk, a small nearby island. Here is Nic's bike arriving safely:
We cycled over to the other side of the island and found a place to stay. Because it's low season (also know as Green/Monsoon/Rainy) there were only a few places open, the one right on the beach was really expensive (relatively) and so we stayed in a small bungalow a couple of minutes walk from the beach. We stayed for 4 nights and had a great time hanging out with the locals and some other tourists.
Here is a very large gecko that lived behind our mirror:
We had 2 trips out on a boat with Mr Yung to visit some nearby beauty spots. On our first trip we visited Ko Kradan and did some snorkelling and then we visited the Emarald cave at Ko Muk. We swam through a narrow cave, partly by torch light and then we emerged in a opening in the cliffs, which has a small stunning beach with high cliffs that surround you, which are covered in plants and trees. Unfortunately we didn't take photos because we had to swim to get there but it really is a beautiful place.
On the second boat trip we went back to the Emerald cave and we also visited Big cave:
then we went back to Ko Kradan and had another snorkel in the crystal clear water. Here is Nic:
We wanted to get a boat to Ko Lanta, a larger island 3 hours away, and luckily we found 4 others to share the cost of the boat. Mr Yung took us there and here we are loading up the boat with a couple of gorgeous puppies that hung out with us on the island. I still miss those puppies!
So now we've been on Ko Lanta for 4 days and we've been out diving twice. Our first 2 dives were at Ko Haa and we had a wonderful day. We saw our first big Sea Horse (we've only seen pygmy ones before) and he/she was beautiful. During our lunch break we had a snorkel and enjoyed the views:
Yesterday we went diving again at 2 pinnacles in the middle of the ocean, it took us 1 1/2 hours by speed boat to get there and we had amazing visibility. Due to the stormier seas at this time of year they don't often get to dive here so we were very lucky. The marine life was abundant and we saw our first leopard shark. Nic also did his 100th dive and I did my 99th. A very special day.
We're staying in the old town at the moment and we've got a great deal on a very posh room with a sunning view of the bay. Here is a picture of the sunrise from our room:
We've seen so many sea eagles here and they look so majestic when they're hunting. Here's one having a rest near the jetty:
Tomorrow we're going to cycle over to the west coast of the island, where the beaches are. The weather forecast is not so good for the next few days, so we'll stay on Ko Lanta for a few more days and decide what to do next. A lot of the islands here are very beautiful but very developed and full of backpackers, so we're trying to work out a route to steer clear of the masses! I can't imagine how crazy (and expensive) Thailand must be in high season. I'm so glad we're here during the low season, even if we have to live with some heavy rain!!!
