Where's Vic?: Thailand part 2- Phuket, Ko Lanta

I made it through my flight ok and arrived to a sunny and busy Patong beach. This was only really a stopping point on my way to Phuket town the following day. PT doesn’t have a beach, and I was curious to see a mainland beach*.

Naturally, by the time I’d checked in, got changed, made a packed lunch and headed to the beach, it was suddenly overcast. After setting myself up on the beach, I had literally taken two steps towards the sea before it started chucking it down. Diving into a nearby café (where a hot chocolate cost more than an entire meal in Chiagn Mai), I sat and did a bit of writing waiting the storm to pass. The constant rain was a sign of things to come as an occurring theme for the rest of my time in South Thailand. The rain did slow down, enough for me to dip my feet in the sea (deliciously warm!), and wonder around. Pantong is what I imagine Benidorm to be like. Hundreds of restaurants and bars serving western food and drink, music blaring and people touting for your business. Probably a bit too loud and busy for me, but I hear other parts of Phuket are a bit quieter. Luckily, I was staying in the nicest hostel I stayed in on my trip. It was slightly further away from all of the noise, and was more like a hotel with an ensuite, and the comfiest beds ever. My roommates seemed to be about my age too, which was nice (the average age is usually about 24) and I was almost tempted to change my plans. Instead of going out and taking in Patong’s wild nightlife, I bought some snacks and watched the Netflix documentary about Harry and Meghan. Not very exciting (the documentary).

The next day, I headed to Phuket town to meet up with my friend Sam from work in Melbourne and his partner Jo. I was super excited to be reunited and to see some familiar faces. It rained throughout the afternoon, but Phuket Town had a nice market and shops to wonder round. I was staying in what I hoped would be another ‘Posh-tel’ in the town that evening, but it was a bit worn and disappointing.

The next day, more rain, and time to head to Koh Lanta, an island in between Phuket and Krabi (on the Westcoast). I’d umm’d and ahh’d about where to go in the south of Thailand. My only criteria was somewhere with a nice beach, quietish and easy to get to. A few people had recommended Koh Lanta as ticking those boxes, with the added bonus of being close to lots of other islands for any day trips. I’d opted for a speed boat (2 hours) rather that a slower, bigger boat (5 hours), but it proved to be an interesting choice on a wavy day.

My hotel in Koh Lanta was great, run by a lovely woman called Thip who helped me out with booking a snorkling trip, airport transfers etc. The weather still wasn’t great, and thunderstorms were predicted all week, so I had decided to shorten my stay there, despite the great hospitality. Nearby Khong Klong beach was beautiful, with lots of lantern lit restuarants and a few bars. The tide was out quite far, so I had a bit of a walk before I found a bay to swim in, but it was magical.

The next day, with the weather looking better, I headed out onto a snorkling trip to some nearby islands. The sea was much calmer in the morning and the sun even made an appearance at various intervals. Though not quite as amazing as the great barrier reef, it was still pretty cool and I saw loads of clown fish. Interestingly, when you were swimming under water, you could hear an electricity like sound. After asking the tour guides, apparently this was the sound of the coral, and they often check if they are near alive coral by listening to the water. For lunch we were taken to a beautiful island with white sands and clear turquoise water, before heading to another snorkling spot. On the way back, the sea was choppy again, with everyone getting absolutely soaked. There was a German family on the trip and the Dad was an absolute dobleganger for my Grandpa, so obviously I told him. I hope your cringing in your seats reading that nugget of info. To be fair, he didn’t seem perturbed.

That evening, Thip organised for me to be picked up and taken to a restaurant on the beach. It was only about a 15minute walk, and did feel fairly safe at night, but definitely preferable to have a lift. After dinner I watched a fire poi show at one of the beach bars and got a lift back to the hotel.

The next day I had no plans but to chill out on Khong Klong beach, but the weather was a bit overcast and promising more rain, so I decided to visit Prae An beach, the more popular one and walk back. It wasn’t much different to where I’d come from and it was impossible to walk back like I planned unless I fancied some coatsteering. Back on an impossibly quiet Khlong Klong, I had lunch then a massage to pass the time (as you do!). The same company offered pedicures, so I opted for that too, which was an absolute distaster, resulting in non drying nail varnish going everywhere when I showered later on and them spending an hour trying to sort it out when I returned later. I didn’t know cowboy pedicurists existed until now. That being said, I wasn’t about to kick up a fuss over a tenna.

The following morning, I was sad to leave a still drizzly Koh Lanta, but glad I wasn’t hanging around for the rubbish weather. After a 2 hour drive (that included a quick car ferry to the mainland), I met a traveller friend Deardrie in Karbi town before my flight. We had lunch and wondered round, the place itself was a bit of a dump, but I hear wonderful things about the nearby beaches. Then it was off to Bangkok!

*I've since discovered that Phuket is an island, whoops!