Day Five - Ko Lanta, Thailand

Another early morning. 7AM this time. Breakfast was a boiled rice and chicken soup. Lots of garlic, lemon grass, celery, and ginger. Immediately after breakfast we went for a dip in the bay. Pictures can't really capture how clear and emerald like the water is (and warm!).



After swimming for a bit we dried of while reading our books and trying to decide what to do next. We opted for renting a moped and putzing about the island. The resort rents mopeds for about 9 dollars a day. Without asking to see a license, no helmets, and no moped experience we were off.

We managed not to hurt ourselves or the bike in any way despite:
1) Driving on twisty, pothole-prone mountain roads
2) Driving on the left side
3) Never having driven one before



Fun, but extremly tense for the driver (read: Chris). The island really has 2 main roads: one that runs north-south along the west coast (where all the resorts are), and one road that cuts through the center of the island west - east. We chose the latter route and drove across the island, through the hills and small villages to Lanta Old town.



This was the original fishing and trading village on the island and has some very old Chinese influenced architecture. Feeling threatened by some gray clouds, we didn't stay long. After having a mosy and buying some cola we rode back to the resort.



We then decided we wanted to walk back along some of the route we rode to soak it in more. We walked about 1.5 km to the next beach town (Klong Nin) and did some window shopping (Thai five-and-dime beach kitsch!), and picked up some snacks at the 7-Eleven.



A stop at a street vendor for a banana Thai pancake was oily delicious! We got home just as it started to rain.

We managed to squeeze in some jacuzzi time (on our front porch) and reading before calling it quits at 8pm. (We're getting old).