Quarter Life Excursion

Khao Lak – Lanterns and Adventures

Khao Lak was a quaint little town that reminds me of Santa Barbara. It’s mid-sized and friendly, twenty minutes from the mountains, and 5 minutes to the water. We hiked, we swam, we celebrated, and we ate. Sound familiar?

Our adventure to get to Khao Lak (from Ko Samui) was another story. To start (at 530am), the trip consisted of a mini-bus, a bus, a ferry, a bus, a van, a scam, a van, and a bus. The whole time we were being told where to go, with little confidence in where we were going. We just kept repeating “Khao Lak” and people just kept nodding their heads. At one point (the scam), we were dumped at a crappy little travel shack in Surat Thani (a crappy town) and told to wait for the bus. Suddenly, apparently the bus wasn’t coming. They were busy with the full moon party, and if we want to get to Khao Lak, we need to pay 3500 B for a taxi or take another bus in 5 hours to a stop 2 hours short of Khao Lak, and take a 2000 B taxi. Of course this was all explained in fractured English so all we could do was grin and nod.

This all smelled fishy to start but we didn’t know what to do. We continued pressing our point that we already paid for a full and complete trip, and eventually elected for the cheaper bus. When the woman immediately offered to lower the cost of the taxi option, we knew she was screwing us. After she wandered away with our bus receipt (that we luckily took a picture of), we called the hostel we booked though and they confirmed our suspicion. While Grant was on the phone and strangly simoultaneously, it seemed the real van escourt that was suppose to take us to the bus station appeared. Four hours later we found ourselves in Khao Lak, dumped at the foot of our hostel, stoked to be done traveling for a few days.

Khao Lak, unlike the bus, was awesome.

We stumbled into the town during the floating lantern festival. The festival lets people release their bad thoughts, omens and demons and float them down the river. At the same time it is a celebration of life and the elements that fuel our existence. Of course we joined in and released our bad thoughts. Easy as that.

On top of the traditional aspects, the food was extra good and cheap: $0.30 for a pork skewer, $1.00 for the best fried chicken I’ve ever had (sorry Mom), and $0.50 for a coconut shake. Dinner done.

We got around on scooter in Khao Lak and did it more successfully this time. With our new found power, we covered miles (kilometers) with ease.

The first thing we did was hike because it had been too long. Our first hike was a five tier waterfall (Chung Fa). All the rain and growth in the jungle offers a unique challenge. It’s quite slippery, but this is remedied by pleathera of vines and bamboo hanging and growing out of every corner. While we were hiking we finally got a taste of the new wildlife. Nothing big yet, but lots of new lizards, salamanders, fish, butterflies and beatles. The second tier had the fish that fed on skin particles, so as we swam, we were nibbled at from all angles by a bunch of little fish. We were shedding from a sunburn in Ko Tao, so it worked out.

The next days we hiked some more, got lost some more, and ate the spiciest meal of our lives (even the locals next to us were sweating and crying). We went to the beach, body surfed, and got caught in a few storms. Grant was stung by a jelly fish, and his nightmares came true as we stumbled upon spiders the size of our hands.

On our last day, we were casually eatting breakfast a place with a view when we notice a log moving swiftly through a stagnant pond. After looking again, it definitely was not a log. It stopped to look at us as it went out of view, but we are pretty sure it was a six-foot water monitor lizard. A freakin’ monster of the modern age.

As a sad side note: Khao Lak was also one of the many towns devastated by the 2004 tsunami. The hostel we were in is a mile offshore, but was still under 10ft of water during this disaster. A large police boat was swept past our hostel in the raging waters, and the city left it there as a monument that anyone can see to remember (see picture below). This place is definitely up and coming again, and we were happy to see it doing so well now.

On to Khao Sok National Park….

Regards,

Grant and Danielle

 

 

 

Scary spider!

 

 

 

 

6 thoughts on “Khao Lak – Lanterns and Adventures

  1. Debby Yaconelli

    So happy to see your blog update today 🙂 Well we all knew there would be at least one scam and I’m glad it all worked out in the end. The floating lantern festival came just at the right time. Loving all your photos and stories. We all miss you guys very much, but are so glad your adventure is all you had hoped it would be. Be safe and happy trails! Love you two!

  2. Tony

    Amazing photos and descriptions! Feels like I’m following Paul Theroux or Kerouac. Keep it coming :). Great pic of you both looking stunned at the bus stop: ok~ now that you’re seasoned…give em hell next time! The photos of the skewers and the cocktails makes me want to bail out and go eat and drink. xxoo

    1. karen

      so enjoying your blogs.
      thanks for taking us along on your adventures and misadventures, a part of every great journey!
      hugs and love to you both.

  3. Harrison

    Great read! I bet you both had lots of bad thoughts to release after the scam! I can see the driving you both absolutely nuts. Sophia days that’s just the time you realized you got scammed. Hah!

    Sorry about the spiders – would have paid to see that! Miss you two and enjoying staying updated. Keep em coming

  4. Harrison

    Great read! I bet you both had lots of bad thoughts to release after the scam! I can see that driving you both absolutely nuts. Sophia says that’s just the time you realized you got scammed. Hah!

    Sorry about the spiders – would have paid to see that! Miss you two and enjoying staying updated. Keep em coming