30 Jan - 6 Feb 2013
Yet another long journey over night - this time a boat, then bus, then minivan and finally car ferries. We left Koh Phangan at 8.30pm and arrived at Koh Lanta at 2.30pm. I think it was our longest journey yet. The overnight boat was hot and smelly as we were all laid out side by side with no room to move. You couldn't even rest your arms next to your body without touching the person next to you. Talk about personal space!
We got the minivan to drop us off at Long beach as we had read this beach was very spread out with a range of accommodation including cheap backpacker and also 5 star. We decided that we'd then walk along this beach trying to find a place with all our luggage in the middle of the day in the burning hot sun . It was beyond difficult.
Walking Long beach
It didn't take us long before we were stopping for a break to eat. I was in intense pain from all the weight I was carrying and needed the break more then Sam did. We hadn't found many accommodation options, they were either out of our price range or fully booked. It is peak season after all I suppose...
It's lucky we did stop because we soon found out that the next backpacker beach which we though we were walking towards, was actually in the opposite direction. The beach was called 'Klong Khong' and was apparently mainly run by local Thai's with tree house style bars and bungalows and very cheap accommodation. Once we realized Long beach was too expensive for us we decided to head straight there by tuk tuk. The staff of the restaurant/bungalow we ate lunch at were extremely helpful and got their own tuk tuk driver to take us to several different bungalows in Klong Khong until we found availability. I cannot believe how different locals are on Koh Lanta to Koh Phangan - they aren't out to drain you of your finances every second they can - they actually genuinely want to help. It was a nice change.
We found a place called Isara Lanta with one bungalow available for 700 baht ($22.70) a night. It was out of our price range but we'd been spending this so far in Thailand anyway and it was a really cool place with excellent staff who made us feel so welcome. So we settled there. Our bungalow was very cute and the whole bar/restaurant and common area was all outside on the beach with a cool vibe and crazy artwork that reminded me of Kangaroo bar. We were so happy we locked ourselves in for the week.
Isara Lanta - common area
Isara Lanta - Restaurant/Bar
Isara Lanta from the beach
We then spent our days lying on the beach, drinking beer, watching sunsets, swimming, smoking weed.. basically chilling the fuck out. Next door to us became our favourite haunt. It was a bar called 'Fin's Stoned Bar' - a comic way of using the Flintstones. We didn't actually make it there til our 3rd night but we did buy joints off them earlier. They had a sign out the front with 'Bang Lassie, Special Shake, Shisha, Joint'. The bang lassie intrigued us and we were desperate to find out what it was. So on our first visit we asked. It turned out to be a weed banana milkshake! It was soooo goood! The staff there were amazing, they were all local Thai guys who were friends and went out of their way to greet every single customer that walked in and make them feel welcome. They'd individually go round to them and friendly chat about anything and everything. It was 5 star service in our opinion. They soon became very familiar with us as we'd come everyday as soon as we'd wake up, start with an early Bang Lassie and lunch then not move for hours. We'd sit there stoned out of our minds and watch the ocean, and eventually the sun setting over the ocean. The Thai guys would frequently come by and share their joints with us - keeping us well fucked. We'd chat with them and anyone who sat next to us. It was the most relaxed and chilled out bar I've ever been to. We were in love. Even on the days we'd come in and start with lunch first, deciding to drink later and not get stoned, the staff would come over and share joints with us so that no matter what we'd always end up stoned.
Day bang lassies!
Fin's Stoned Bar at sunset
We made some friends in this couple on our first or second night. They were from London and were also big stoners - so we found ourselves sharing joints with them. We convinced them to each get a bang lassie and when that kicked in everyone went silent and was laying down - I think it totaled us all. That night the locals also decided to cook up a BBQ and share it with the customers, so I got this awesome plate of chicken wings with this amazing Thai sauce and Sam got a whole plate of fresh prawns - too amazing!
Our new stoner friends getting on the bang lassies with us!
Sam - after his Bang Lassie
The local bar guys cooking up a BBQ feast of fresh seafood and spicy chicken wings!
Sam's pretty happy with his prawns
When our week in this amazing stoner paradise came to an end we both felt more miserable then we'd ever felt about leaving anywhere. We did not want to go. But sadly Bangkok was calling and we needed to get our visa applications in for Burma as we were already down to 1 week before our flight.
We told the bar guys that it was our last night and they made sure they said their goodbyes. They also did try and convince us to stay, and we wanted to so badly. We even tried to think of ways we possibly could stay but every way would cost us more money. We got them to have bang lassies ready for us in the morning so we could spend our day of travel stoned as fuck. We got a boat straight to Phuket and had the most amazing time high out of our minds. Then we caught another overnight bus to the smelly and noisy Bangkok. We are definitely planning on returning to our new favourite place in the whole wide world - Koh Lanta we are not done with you!
Yet another long journey over night - this time a boat, then bus, then minivan and finally car ferries. We left Koh Phangan at 8.30pm and arrived at Koh Lanta at 2.30pm. I think it was our longest journey yet. The overnight boat was hot and smelly as we were all laid out side by side with no room to move. You couldn't even rest your arms next to your body without touching the person next to you. Talk about personal space!
We got the minivan to drop us off at Long beach as we had read this beach was very spread out with a range of accommodation including cheap backpacker and also 5 star. We decided that we'd then walk along this beach trying to find a place with all our luggage in the middle of the day in the burning hot sun . It was beyond difficult.
It didn't take us long before we were stopping for a break to eat. I was in intense pain from all the weight I was carrying and needed the break more then Sam did. We hadn't found many accommodation options, they were either out of our price range or fully booked. It is peak season after all I suppose...
It's lucky we did stop because we soon found out that the next backpacker beach which we though we were walking towards, was actually in the opposite direction. The beach was called 'Klong Khong' and was apparently mainly run by local Thai's with tree house style bars and bungalows and very cheap accommodation. Once we realized Long beach was too expensive for us we decided to head straight there by tuk tuk. The staff of the restaurant/bungalow we ate lunch at were extremely helpful and got their own tuk tuk driver to take us to several different bungalows in Klong Khong until we found availability. I cannot believe how different locals are on Koh Lanta to Koh Phangan - they aren't out to drain you of your finances every second they can - they actually genuinely want to help. It was a nice change.
We found a place called Isara Lanta with one bungalow available for 700 baht ($22.70) a night. It was out of our price range but we'd been spending this so far in Thailand anyway and it was a really cool place with excellent staff who made us feel so welcome. So we settled there. Our bungalow was very cute and the whole bar/restaurant and common area was all outside on the beach with a cool vibe and crazy artwork that reminded me of Kangaroo bar. We were so happy we locked ourselves in for the week.
We then spent our days lying on the beach, drinking beer, watching sunsets, swimming, smoking weed.. basically chilling the fuck out. Next door to us became our favourite haunt. It was a bar called 'Fin's Stoned Bar' - a comic way of using the Flintstones. We didn't actually make it there til our 3rd night but we did buy joints off them earlier. They had a sign out the front with 'Bang Lassie, Special Shake, Shisha, Joint'. The bang lassie intrigued us and we were desperate to find out what it was. So on our first visit we asked. It turned out to be a weed banana milkshake! It was soooo goood! The staff there were amazing, they were all local Thai guys who were friends and went out of their way to greet every single customer that walked in and make them feel welcome. They'd individually go round to them and friendly chat about anything and everything. It was 5 star service in our opinion. They soon became very familiar with us as we'd come everyday as soon as we'd wake up, start with an early Bang Lassie and lunch then not move for hours. We'd sit there stoned out of our minds and watch the ocean, and eventually the sun setting over the ocean. The Thai guys would frequently come by and share their joints with us - keeping us well fucked. We'd chat with them and anyone who sat next to us. It was the most relaxed and chilled out bar I've ever been to. We were in love. Even on the days we'd come in and start with lunch first, deciding to drink later and not get stoned, the staff would come over and share joints with us so that no matter what we'd always end up stoned.
We made some friends in this couple on our first or second night. They were from London and were also big stoners - so we found ourselves sharing joints with them. We convinced them to each get a bang lassie and when that kicked in everyone went silent and was laying down - I think it totaled us all. That night the locals also decided to cook up a BBQ and share it with the customers, so I got this awesome plate of chicken wings with this amazing Thai sauce and Sam got a whole plate of fresh prawns - too amazing!
When our week in this amazing stoner paradise came to an end we both felt more miserable then we'd ever felt about leaving anywhere. We did not want to go. But sadly Bangkok was calling and we needed to get our visa applications in for Burma as we were already down to 1 week before our flight.
We told the bar guys that it was our last night and they made sure they said their goodbyes. They also did try and convince us to stay, and we wanted to so badly. We even tried to think of ways we possibly could stay but every way would cost us more money. We got them to have bang lassies ready for us in the morning so we could spend our day of travel stoned as fuck. We got a boat straight to Phuket and had the most amazing time high out of our minds. Then we caught another overnight bus to the smelly and noisy Bangkok. We are definitely planning on returning to our new favourite place in the whole wide world - Koh Lanta we are not done with you!
So and how was the beach, we can see something on the water, rocks maybe?
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