Discovering the Thai Route: Day 4 - Koh Lanta
By Yacht Week
Posted on 11th December 2013
I have been traveling in South East Asia for fifteen years. There has been one location I have tried numerous times to visit. Due to seasonal timing issues, I have never made it to Koh Lanta. Today I finally get the opportunity to tick a box on my bucket list.
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This is our day of rest a chance to re-charge the batteries and re-group. A day for drifting in and out of consciousness with Jack Johnson and fresh coconuts. We cut the motor, hoisted the sails and cruised on the calm.
By mid-day we cranked into action, scrubbed down the decks, cooked a feast of pasta and grilled chicken on our yacht bbq.
Life here on Lanta is simple, but the people work hard. We saw petite, sun-hardened women walking down the dirt roads, barefoot, and with over-stuffed rice bags on their heads. Children, maybe as young as eleven, driving mopeds, with boxes of fruit precariously balanced on their foot-wide floorboards. Straw brooms briskly grooming simple storefronts. Koh Lanta is a step back in time, a quiet reprieve from the hectic woofer-thump of Phuket and the frenetic hustle of big-cities like Bangkok.
A place perfect for a short-stay, Lanta is not the typical resort island overrun with pasty-burned tourists and hordes of tchotchke shops. But there are some magical local eateries, terrific water sports and beach bars!
Crews embarked on the beachfront tackling a rather treacherous surf landing and head off in search of provisions and a massage. Long tail boats take us from our anchorage to the near by Long Beach. We occupied an epic beach bar, settled into hammocks and chilled out to Todd’s house jazz mix.
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To book your own yacht and sail in Thailand this December, have a look at our Thailand information page.
Katie enjoying the good life.
We have had neither wi-fi nor power for two days. For someone who spends their life online – this is turning out to be the unlimited digital detox. Our international crew has become a family; we all have nicknames and have bonded hugely over the past couple of days. Without social media and the distractions of the modern world, we bask in conversation – a luxury that is so often taken for granted in our busy everyday lives. I have no doubt that the people I have met on TYW will be friends for life. From Rai Le we sailed South West towards Chicken Island. From there we sailed down wind 25 NM towards our night destination of Koh Lanta.
Life here on Lanta is simple, but the people work hard. We saw petite, sun-hardened women walking down the dirt roads, barefoot, and with over-stuffed rice bags on their heads. Children, maybe as young as eleven, driving mopeds, with boxes of fruit precariously balanced on their foot-wide floorboards. Straw brooms briskly grooming simple storefronts. Koh Lanta is a step back in time, a quiet reprieve from the hectic woofer-thump of Phuket and the frenetic hustle of big-cities like Bangkok.
A place perfect for a short-stay, Lanta is not the typical resort island overrun with pasty-burned tourists and hordes of tchotchke shops. But there are some magical local eateries, terrific water sports and beach bars!
Crews embarked on the beachfront tackling a rather treacherous surf landing and head off in search of provisions and a massage. Long tail boats take us from our anchorage to the near by Long Beach. We occupied an epic beach bar, settled into hammocks and chilled out to Todd’s house jazz mix.
[clearboth]
To book your own yacht and sail in Thailand this December, have a look at our Thailand information page.