Lanta! (Part 4) - Glorious Sun, Glorious Son

Finally, the sunset pictures! Catching sunsets is one of the primary reasons why I chose to visit Lanta. Stunning sunset sceneries are common sights along the long western beaches of Lanta. But the first two evenings were rainy and cloudy, no chance of sunset. Suki earnestly hoped that I would manage to view sunsets before we left. I did!

It's so hard to select which pictures to upload from over a hundred photos. But here are some of them, unPhotoshopped, only cropped. A big thank you to Zlwin who was so kind to lend me his old prosumer Canon S3. He offered his DSLR but I declined.

The four pictures above were captured at a beach near Saladan town, at the top tip of the island., where we had our wonderful seafood dinner.

The following pictures below were shot at our very own Klong Dao beach at Ancient Realms. While Sherene was at the spa, I was alone with the Son, waiting and praying for the sky to bleed. It was a spectacular transformation.

I was so grateful for that moment, repeating 'Glorious sun, glorious Son' in my mind. How I wished I could fly up there, be one with the sky. That reminds me of a few verses from my favourite song 'Wonderful World' by Chris Eaton:

I am sailing an ocean of love
I am crossing the great big divide
Right out of the depths of despair
You lifted me high

There's a couple embrace on a hill
There's a child on the sand skimming stone
Over the break of the waves
Is the burning sky to which I belong

After all the rain
Comes the dawning of a brand new day
Oh, what a wonderful world
Oh, what a wonderful world

I almost wept at what I saw....simply because I don't have my DSLR anymore. Boo hoo!

I think the dog was bored of sights of sunset every evening

It was weird....while watching sunset in front of me, I suddenly realised the moon was already up, behind me. Rare to see the moon and sun share the same sky at the same time

Our final day in front of the reception with Suki the owner.
Goodbye Lanta, goodbye Ancient Realms, till we meet again!

I'll submit my pictures for the monthly photo contest at Ancient Realms Facebook page. The winner will win a week's free stay. You think any of my pictures stand a chance?

Lanta! (Part 3)

Been so busy at work, had to delay this post till now. But I had uploaded many pictures to my Facebook account. Will post some of them here with commentaries :)

Beachfront bungalow at Ancient Realm's. One of the few resorts that operates all year round, even during green season

The bed in our room with some fine decorations to welcome our arrival

Why can't everyday be as relaxing as this? Lying and swinging lazily with a good book on a hammock in a peaceful garden with the sound of gentle ocean waves in the background

The Spa! I loved the Thai and aroma oil massages there. One of the best ways to unwind and to release stored up tensions in the body and mind

The two pics above were taken at I-Yarade Residence. It's amazing how we ended up there. We were riding on the motorbike when it started raining. We stopped at this place because it was the nearest shelter. Soaking wet and looking pitiful, I requested to the reception girl for permission to stand outside the place until the rain stopped and for us to dry off a little bit. They gave us the warmest smile of the day and invited us in. One of them even took us on a tour of their 4 or 5 stars suite. Wow, such kind hospitality even to strangers like us!

My darling hasn't cease to surprise me. Discovered that she's quite good on the bike!

One of the few restaurants in Lanta that many were raving about. Since it was green season, we didn't see any customer beside us. We enjoyed the ambience of the rainforest-concept restaurant and the lovely beach, all to ourselves!

Really yummy fried fish


After having so much fun with wife at the strong waves, it was so relaxing to just lie down on the bed of soft sands and let the waves washed me over and over


We rode to the top of a hill to the Viewpoint Restaurant. Had a nice pancake with thirst-quenching fruit juices while enjoying the view of the distant islands. After quite a while, we realised there was a telescope beside our table!

View from the Viewpoint

Lanta Old Town. Where the gypsies reside. They were the original people that inhabited the island. The old buildings made the place looked like Malacca to me!

At a pier just after Old Town

Overlooking the fishing village of the sea gypsies

We actually went diving again! Diving wasn't essential to our holiday plan this round but it was good to have that option. First time diving without Ps John, I told Sherene that we had to be independent, decide on our own where to dive and which dive company to engage. We initially wanted to dive at Hin Muang and Hin Daeng (famous for whale sharks and manta rays especially) but the weather conditions during the low season meant they were not easily accessible, at least beyond our affordability level. So we went to Koh Haa instead which was very near Lanta. Visibility down there was great. Made good use of the dive "stick" given by Ps John.

The lady on the right Bianca, was our operator and personal dive guide from Holland. She's really good in what she does. Gave us wonderful personal service and attention since there weren't many divers that week. Normally there'll be many boats around the island but for that day (and thank God the weather was great), our boat was the only one. We had the deep blue sea all for ourselves!

This was our first time diving in this sorta small speedboat. New experience. There were other new divers in the same boat doing their open water. Sherene and I were considered the experienced ones. Haha. But we barely had time to assemble our gears (had to do it ourselves this trip) because we had to jump first before the new divers. Surprisingly I remembered how to do it easily even though our last dive was a year ago in Manado, and we didn't have to assemble our stuffs then!

My next (final?) post on Lanta will be on the sunset pictures (loads of them!) which I haven't upload to Facebook. I think the process of choosing which ones to omit is longer than the time to upload the pictures!

Lanta! (Part 2)

At the beginning of our five-day trip, we were disappointed by the conditions of the green season. The weather was very windy and wet, but it gradually changed for the better. Towards the end of our stay, we could go diving and see glorious sunset along the beaches. I even got a little sunburnt, not that I mind! The beautiful thing of the green season was, we had the perfect privacy: private beaches all to ourselves, private restaurants, and a private dive guide. And ohh...I paid the resort at almost three times lower than the high season rate.

Talking about the resort, we stayed at Ancient Realm Resort and Spa. All the raving reviews of Ancient Realm at TripAdvisor.com helped me made up my mind to book for this Lanta trip. It's a charming little boutique resort owned and run by a young couple Clinton (Australian) and Suki (Hong Konger). Unfortunately I couldn't meet Clint who was away at Bangkok. He was very helpful in our email exchanges prior to the trip. But we had the pleasure to meet Suki who provided great hospitality and great tips on the island.

Ancient Realm is located at the famous Klong Dao beach. This Thai-Balinese-Chinese styled eco-friendly resort is very affordable, probably the best value for money of its class. The rooms are fully equipped with all the needed amenities and more. It even has free WIFI access almost anywhere which is rare in Thailand, let alone Koh Lanta. I could use my PDA to surf the Net on my bed, the toilet bowl, the hammock at the garden and the beachfront. They even have cable TV, DVD player with hundreds of DVD titles to choose from. Oh, at the shower area in the bathroom, there's an opening where I could see the moon and stars at night!

Suki's a bartender extraordinaire. For Sherene's massage on the evening before we left, the masseur had forgotten to use the hot and cold stones. Suki was gracious enough to admit the Spa's fault and treated us to free cocktails that night at the resort's '360 Bar'. We contemplated whether to accept that offer, especially after a hearty western dinner that evening. We were glad we did. What a night it was! Sherene chose her usual favourite Margarita and I requested for Campari Orange. Unfortunately their Campari bottle was empty. Suki thought for a little while and said she'd make me a "surprise". Minutes later, she presented me The Zombie! Suki commented there were heavy mixtures of alcohol in it but they're well masked. She was right, I don't normally enjoy alcoholic drinks but The Zombie tasted just great! Suki then taught us and other guests (from Finland and Poland) how to play the drinking game called 'Bullsh*t'...something she brought from Hong Kong. Very simple game of probability, guessing and calling each other's bluffs, but so much fun. All of us absolutely loved it!

(To be continued with pictures and more)

Lanta! (Part 1)

I'd always wanted to have that castaway kinda feeling in a quiet island, away from city life and all the tourist hullabaloo. For this year's vacation, I was looking at Phi Phi...but thought it didn't match what I was searching. A neighbouring, less well-known island caught my attention and I began my research on it....it's Koh Lanta. Everyone I came across has never heard of Lanta. Neither did I until less than two months ago. I just returned yesterday from a five-day vacation at Lanta. Ahhh...Lanta!

Koh Lanta is actually an archipelago of over fifty islands of which only three are inhabited. The biggest one is Lanta Yai, a paradise for the discerning travellers. There're many information from the Internet and travel books on Lanta, but I'll write only on what I'd learnt firsthand from people who live there that I'd the privilege to talk to. Though I wanna write and tell so much on the charming island which left an impression on my heart, I do hope the island remains unknown and unspoilt, as much as possible.

The sea gypsies were the ones who founded Lanta, they're the indigenous settlers. They still have rights on strategic locations of the island which the government cannot take away. They're the Untouchables. I was told they're of the chinese origin. But Lanta is now predominantly muslims. The gypsies now mainly occupy the eastern side of the island which is less developed with fishing and farming their main occupations, whereas the west coast is where all the beautiful long stretch of beaches and resorts are found. The western side has better roads, which were built only about five years ago when the tourism industry really began. You probably won't read that the gypsies were the heroes during the 2004 Tsunami. They've the uncanny ability (sort of like a sixth sense) to read the sea conditions. Hours before the first tsunami hit, they sensed something strange from the sea and began to warn everyone at the beaches. Initially nobody heeded their warnings until the gypsies themselves started packing everything and headed to the hills. Everyone else then followed. Contrary to what you read on the Internet, only two people died: a woman who was doing yoga on the beach all by herself with earphones on, and a boy who was picking up abandoned wallets, watches and other "treasures" found at the beach. Miraculously Koh Lanta was spared the devastation suffered by neighbouring Koh Phi Phi where many died.

Lanta is still an unspoilt paradise, very serene and peaceful, with a sleepy and laidback feel to it where you can easily (very easily!) lose track of time. It's very common for travellers to overspend their time there, pass what they originally planned. Lanta Yai is not as conveniently accessed as other more tourist-friendly destinations like Bangkok and Phuket. Took us about two hours for the journey from Krabi Airport to Lanta Yai with two ferry rides in between.

I wanted a holiday destination where I could break away from everything, relax and nurse my injuries, and I was glad that Lanta provided all that. The squash injuries I'd been carrying for months were totally unfelt by the last day, and memories of other accumulated pains were easily forgotten as well. Instead, my heart was filled with the warmness from the people of the island, all the laughter, fun and adventure we had. In general, I felt that people from Lanta are the most warm and friendly compared to every other part of Thailand that I'd experienced, even Krabi. Although many of them still can't speak proper English, they're extremely hospitable and friendly, even strangers.

I was just sinking into the island life when it was time to return home! Sure, the thought of returning to city life was dreadful, but I could carry the relaxation and warmness back with me, and the messages from a book I was reading at the island which was The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream....

(To be continued with pictures and more)