Banana Pancakes

(Pictures are added on our previous post "An Indian Summary")




Our bungalow at Kah Tao

 

We've now been on 3 islands! They were very comfortable and unique in their own way. We loved the nature of them - the steep mountains, cliffs, long beaches and deep forests.





Koh Tao: 

On the first island, Koh Tao, we finally decided to rent a scooter and we went all over the island to explore. It was just after a heavy rainfall so the roads were a bit washed away. Astrid has gained so much weight that she had to walk behind the scooter in the steepest hills. We found a remote beach - Tanote Bay, hidden in the southern part of the island and we also found our way to several viewpoints. 

For our own wellbeing we decided to take a real thai massage for 1 whole hour (the fastest hour we've experienced in a long time). They bended our body parts in all kinds of angles and in different directions. With their force we become more flexible than we ever could imagine ourselves. We also tried snorkling without much luck and we meet up with some people from our group in India. But most of all we spent our time relaxing on the beach, eating good food and recovering from sickness. 



Tanote bay





Krabi: 

It took us a day to move on to our next destination: Krabi. We only had one night here and we decided to go to the local night market to have some local food. We meet up with some americans, canadians and a russian who we spent hours talking to. The hightlight was when he bought us a chocolate & banana pancake! 

Koh Phi Phi: 

We spent an hour tracking down our hostel with our heavy backpacks. It was during the hottest part of the day and we eventually found it by the foot of the mountain. So for us Norwegians, what was more natural than climbing this mountain? On the top of the mountain we found a weird drug dealer. Anyway, it became a dreadful night in the dorm - a room used as a refuge for insects. Randi got attacked by bedbugs, ticks and some other exotic creatures. Next morning we said goodbye to this swarming insect hole and changed our room. All in all it was a very charming and social hostel with an old, hippie, Scottish couple running it. 






Kah Tao

 

Phi Phi











On our second day we decided to go on a arranged snorkeling trip with a group. We stopped at different locations where we meet monkeys and we did some swimming in crystal clear blue water. We also watched the sunset in Maya Bay which is a famous place used as a location for the movie "The Beach". It was a nice, yet overcrowded by tourists. Both PhiPhi and the surrounding islands are really breathtaking with their distinctive nature..







Later on we meet up with some people from the trip and we watched one of the fire shows on the beach. We learned: Do not sit at the front row during a fire show! Randi suddenly had a burning stick in her lap, yet managed to escape. They day after she found burnt parts on her head and arms. 



Maya Bay







Maya Bay

 

Our bungalow





Koh Lanta: 

We moved on to a third island and found ourselves on a resort in the middle of nowhere - well, most importantly, it was next to the beach. Compared to the other islands, this one was not overcrowded by tourists but we were staying at a long white beach with only a few tourists strolling by now and then. So it was an obvious choice to spend some days here. 



The first night we were to sleep in a simple bungalow, but this bungalow was so open and full of cracks that we might as well could have brought our sheets and slept outside. But we felt determined to sleep there, armed with our king size insect spray. Real backpackers share beds with insects right? But when 10 cockroaches closed in our bed we decided to drop the backpacker image and head for the reception to change our cabin. The local staff were giggling at us pale foreigners when taking us to a safer residence. It was seriously like entering heaven..Not an insect as far as the eye could see.. In the daytime we've been enjoying the sunny life on the beach and this has been followed by rain, thunder and lightning in the afternoon. Astrid has been strolling around in an over sized rain poncho looking stupid - but dry. We've had some decent swimming and we used once again a scooter to explore the island. We have also meet up with some Germans from the snorkeling trip on PhiPhi. So we've been practicing our german a lot in Thailand - of all places. 

The last evening we had sea food with a huge coconut - naturally with coconut milk. Healthy? yes! Good? No. It was almost like a real full moon party with the full moon and Germans. After several evenings of heavy rainclouds, we finally had our sunset. It was absolutely stunning. It was a mixture of different shapes of clouds and I counted 20 different shades of colors. All in one sunset. Everybody should travel half the world to see such a sunset.      .  





View point at Koh Lanta



Old Town in Koh Lanta






















 

A tourist and a german