to infinity and beyond
i've always been quite zen about monsoons. in my experience they tend to punctuate periods of intense heat and, as such, the hour or so of rain, intense though it may be, often comes as a bit of a relief. consequently, even though the monsoon which rolls over the andaman coast of thailand started lumbering into action in late may we weren't particularly concerned that it would affect us too badly. waking up in krabi on saturday morning however it appeared that we may have been wildly optimistic, as we looked up to see nothing but grey skies dominated by unfriendly, positively aggressive looking grey clouds. binning the idea of going to ao phang nga, we very seriously contemplated another day on the road dashing across the country to ko samui on the other coast but, as the sun started to break through in the mid-morning, we decided to take a punt and head over to ko lanta regardless.when i visited ko lanta a decade ago it was just becoming part of the scene; as our minivan dropped us off it became apparent that in the last ten years it has become more than just a curio between krabi and phi phi, gone straight through backpacker must visit island and finally emerged as a fully formed resort location, with billboards for high end resorts outnumbering the flapping signs for bungalows on the beach. this was one resort however which did revere the rainy season; a virtual ghost town, with the vast majority of shops and restaurants closed, the roads devoid of tuks tuks or touts pushing services. it also transpired that, due to the lack of tourists, the boats out to phi phi which we had hoped to catch for a quick day trip were no longer running.
this all consuming off season does, however, present certain opportunities, and we had managed to wangle a really good deal on a villa perched atop a cliff with its very own private infinity pool spilling out onto the andaman sea (http://www.crownlanta.com/accom_oceanprivate.html that's our actual villa! Although that's not vicki.) my days ofshoestringing may have given way to midrange comfort but i had still never stayed anywhere like this before (nor indeed had vicki who has a less fleapit ridden history then me). the sea itself was a different beast to the crystal clear, smooth waters that surrounded the perhentians but i actually prefer this more tempestuous version, the waves crashing onto the cliffs and producing that incredible, perpetual sound i associate so inextricably with living by the sea.
the intense luxury made the fact that sunday was a wash out, with the grey clouds sticking around for the entire day and occasionally spitting out pointless UK style drizzle, not potent enough to get the job done and clear the clouds out but still wet enough to make doing anything seem an over exertion, a non-issue. we had known this was coming and were ready, a day of doing very little made considerably easier by the luxury in which we were living, and we easily whiled the day away watching pirated dvds and getting massages. by monday the sun reappeared and we went to an outdoor thai cooking school which, though something which i would never have even considered in the past, was actually a lot of fun (and we, well primarily vicki, can now knock out a couple of mean thai stir fries and a red curry). as for today, it was just plain hot, perfect for splashing around in our pool, lazing on our sun loungers and reading books in the sunshine.
all in all a really good, restful stay made as much by the accommodation as by ko lanta itself (although the clifftop setting is such a large part of the charm): a little extravagant maybe but given that it appears that the place in the perhentians had some pretty nasty bugs in the sheets which have munched their way through my back and vicki's arms, well deserved.
oh, and ko lanta will forever retain a special place in our hearts because it is where i, inexpertly and with some fumbling (and no help from vicki who was relentlessly distracted trying to work out which switches connected to which lights in the villa) asked vicki to marry me and she said yes... the next longhaul trip could be out to india next year.
posted by bicrom @ 11:14 am
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