· Thai Islands - Ko LantaKo Lanta, Thailand · Added 22nd Nov 2007
The Retreat - Ko Lanta
A crowd of sign-waving Thai islanders standing three-deep greets ferries as they arrive in Lanta. It looks like a very confused protest rally, but each sign represents a different resort on the island. There's no public transportation on Lanta, so any hotel with vacancies sends an envoy to collect as many tourists as he can cram into the back of a miniature pickup truck. This may seem chaotic, but it works with surprising efficiency. And it's well worth putting up with to spend a few days on the most laid-back of the major ko.
The west coast of Lanta is lined with an almost continuous string of bungalow resorts. Even so, it doesn't feel overdeveloped. The unbroken line of palm trees provides shade for wide, soft-sand beaches, and the single dirt access road that snakes down the island is sufficiently rutted and bumpy to give you the feeling you're way out in the sticks.
Relax Bay is aptly named. Set back from a private beach amid lush gardens, the solid, wooden bungalows have fan-cooled rattan interiors, floors made of dark wooden slats, and colorful hammocks strung on every front porch. A bridge arches like a cat's back over a stream flowing through the property. The dining area is open on all sides, and a breeze gently ruffles the curtains around the massage mats set near the beach. In addition to the wooden tables and chairs on the beach, there's an old canopy bed out on the sand for lazing away the afternoon. Nightlife revolves around a campfire by the water.
Just a few hundred feet up the beach from Relax Bay is the cheaper, funkier Lanta Marina Resort, a hodgepodge of cottages and bungalows run by a friendly woman named Nita. Her best bungalows--arranged around a U-shaped boardwalk--are built with loosely stacked branches. The wide gaps between them fill the rooms with a luminous play of light shafts on the gauzy mosquito netting around the beds. Nita describes it as traditional Thai construction and a primitive form of air-conditioning.
There's little to "do" on Lanta other than rest, sip fruity drinks, endure endless massages, and wander the beach admiring the swirling patterns left by miniature sand crabs.
Lodging:
- Relax Bay Phra-ae, 011-66/75-684-194, relaxbay.com, $18--$75 with fan, $33-- $45 with A/C
- Lanta Marina Resort Phra-ae, no phone, kolanta.net, $2--$23 with fan
Url: http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-dyn/content//article/2006/12/13/AR2006121301389_2.html
A crowd of sign-waving Thai islanders standing three-deep greets ferries as they arrive in Lanta. It looks like a very confused protest rally, but each sign represents a different resort on the island. There's no public transportation on Lanta, so any hotel with vacancies sends an envoy to collect as many tourists as he can cram into the back of a miniature pickup truck. This may seem chaotic, but it works with surprising efficiency. And it's well worth putting up with to spend a few days on the most laid-back of the major ko.
The west coast of Lanta is lined with an almost continuous string of bungalow resorts. Even so, it doesn't feel overdeveloped. The unbroken line of palm trees provides shade for wide, soft-sand beaches, and the single dirt access road that snakes down the island is sufficiently rutted and bumpy to give you the feeling you're way out in the sticks.
Relax Bay is aptly named. Set back from a private beach amid lush gardens, the solid, wooden bungalows have fan-cooled rattan interiors, floors made of dark wooden slats, and colorful hammocks strung on every front porch. A bridge arches like a cat's back over a stream flowing through the property. The dining area is open on all sides, and a breeze gently ruffles the curtains around the massage mats set near the beach. In addition to the wooden tables and chairs on the beach, there's an old canopy bed out on the sand for lazing away the afternoon. Nightlife revolves around a campfire by the water.
Just a few hundred feet up the beach from Relax Bay is the cheaper, funkier Lanta Marina Resort, a hodgepodge of cottages and bungalows run by a friendly woman named Nita. Her best bungalows--arranged around a U-shaped boardwalk--are built with loosely stacked branches. The wide gaps between them fill the rooms with a luminous play of light shafts on the gauzy mosquito netting around the beds. Nita describes it as traditional Thai construction and a primitive form of air-conditioning.
There's little to "do" on Lanta other than rest, sip fruity drinks, endure endless massages, and wander the beach admiring the swirling patterns left by miniature sand crabs.
Lodging:
- Relax Bay Phra-ae, 011-66/75-684-194, relaxbay.com, $18--$75 with fan, $33-- $45 with A/C
- Lanta Marina Resort Phra-ae, no phone, kolanta.net, $2--$23 with fan
Url: http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-dyn/content//article/2006/12/13/AR2006121301389_2.html
