Koh Lanta was my most favourite island from the ones we visited in Thailand. We arrived at the beginning of the rainy season and everything looked deserted. I think that was the charm of it.
We slept in a little bungalow on the beach, where we were served fresh breakfast every day made for us by the owner's wife. We would listen to the roaring sea and the violent thunderstorms every night. Almost like a lullaby.
One night the storm was so strong that I though we will be engulfed by the sea. This morning we woke up to see the palm tree in front our door broken in two, struck by a lightning.
The island was so small, that we decided to rent a scooter and explore. We were driving around with the scooter all day long, discovering black sand beaches, old villages and hidden bays. At one point we got so deep into the jungle that the road ended and monkeys and komodo dragons started crossing our way, hissing at us. Thats when we decided to turn around.
Here are two restaurants that we really enjoyed (and the only open at this time of the year):
They serve grilled food and authentic Thai, and you can find Ricky himself flipping meat and fish on the BBQ outside the restaurant. Great views of the sea and the watermelon juice is out of this world. We ordered many things and everything was great!
Little restaurant serving Western food (every once in a while you start craving it). Where we had an awesome burger and crepes. It's a bit pricey for the island, but totally worth it. The owner is a french man, married to a Thai woman. He was very kind and shared his story with us. While we were there an old English lady came to the bar and asked the owner for a bit of Marijuana E-Liquid because it helps her with her writing. Gotta love those little moments!
