Day 23 - Monday, March 7 - Travel to Ko Lanta via Phi Phi

I woke up and packed my things and got down to the Lobby. The bus picked me up to take me to Phuket Town to catch the ferry to Ko Lanta.

The ferry ride was ok, although pretty rough at times. I met a few people and slept a little too. I wasn't aware, but the ferry stops at Phi Phi for an hour and then you board another boat for Lanta.

Without getting into details, Phi Phi is a complete MESS. Or at least the center of town is where the pier is as well. Photos will only be able to further explain as there are no words to really describe the devastation. I was told that there are some beaches that are ok, but this place was really not to be believed. For people who have been to Phi Phi prior to the Tsunami, the place you call Paradise is a very sad place at the moment. While the natural beauty is still there with awesome blue green water and the limestone cliffs that jet out of the sea to meet the sky and then just a little stretch over the whitest of white sandy beaches, the destruction is unreal.

An hour later, we got back on the boat and headed to Ko Lanta. I met David, an Englishman who now lives in Sweeden and we compared notes on Lanta. My friend Dylan told me to stay on the north end of the island and Emma told me the south was quiet, peaceful, and secluded. I went with Emma's suggestion for the first night or 2 and see exactly HOW isolated it is.

On the pick-up truck ride to the Khlong Jack Bungalows, I befriended Tuci and Nadine, a German couple traveling through Thailand for a month.

The drive to the south end of the island is mostly on dusty dirt roads that fill the entire back of the open air pickup truck with the stuff. We were covered in dust and road dirt by the time we got to the southern most point on the island..... Khlong Jack Bungalows. This place is isolated alright. A bunch of bamboo huts on the beach, a huge ocean to stare at and that's about it. I THINK I FOUND MY PARADISE or at least found it for a night or so. There is NOTHING to do here and I love it. Coincidentally, there are 5 of us from the same ferry that ended up here. I think it was a little TOO remote for Dave, the English guy, so he went somewhere else. I have no idea HOW he got to where he was going as this place is at the end of the world and not near anything else. There are no taxis, no boat taxi's, and no civilization. I am now hanging out with Tuci, Nadine, Thomas, and Andre (all 4 Germans but traveling in 2 groups of 2) and there are 2 American girls on the beach as well. I think this place is going to be awesome.

I have my own little porch in my own little bungalow on the beach. A beautiful stretch of white sand and blue water with a 100 year old man giving Thai Massages about 25 feet from the water. The place has a little "restaurant" and 3 resident cats. That's about it. I just took a walk into town. HA! Town is a 10 minute walk and consists of an internet shop with VERY SLOW connection in the back of a little convenience store. That is IT! There isn't a restaurant, a shop, an Indian tugging at me to buy a suit, watch, or sunglasses, no tuk tuks, NOTHING. It's solitude. I actually feel like Gilligan. The restaurant looks as if the castaways of Gilligan's Island actually built it.

So here I am.......signing off for a few days. I wont be blogging until I can get back to civilization. I'm definitely going to stay here for at least 2 nights and then when Tuci and Nadine leave, I may head to one of the northern beaches for a few nights. It will give you time to cach up if you are behind, take a few days off from me and my antics, and please, just know, I am happy, healthy, and have found my beach bungalow that I have been searching and yearning for. Until next time.........