Koh Lanta I - a bit like home and family

The flight to Krabi was pleasant. After landing, we are taken directly to a very small baggage hall. Then we walk through a very small terminal and buy a combination ticket for minivan and boat. The minivan takes us to the pier. There we come across many other backpackers - most of them on their way to Koh Phi Phi. Koh Phi Phi is mainly known for the infamous Maya Bay, which used to be beautiful and experienced a real hype thanks to the backpacker movie 'The Beach' starring Leonardo di Caprio. Unfortunately, a lot has changed on Koh Phi Phi since then. There used to be a few bamboo bungalows right on the beach under palm trees, but now it's all concrete buildings. The coral reefs have also died. There are often discussions about the government's idea to close Maya Bay or only allow a limited number of tourists per day. In Maya Bay, boats park side by side, sometimes behind each other. Only a small square is left free for a photo - if at all. Every day, boats drop off hundreds of tourists there, mostly Chinese.

For this reason, we decide not to visit Koh Phi Phi. Too bad, really. Koh Phi Phi lost its magic 30 years ago.

Only a few people want to go to Koh Lanta. The average age of backpackers who want to go to Koh Lanta is also much higher.

We wait with a few others at the pier and board the high-speed boat, going below deck. The ride is okay, and when we arrive on Koh Lanta after over 2 hours, we have to pay an island fee just to enter the island. We take a pickup truck to our accommodation. We booked a simple bungalow on Klong Khong Beach in the southern part of the island (Koh Lanta Yai) on the west coast through Booking.com. The northern part of Koh Lanta is very family-oriented, the east side is mainly mangroves. The south/southwest is a magnet for individual travelers and backpackers.

When we arrive at our accommodation, we are satisfied. The stone bungalows are set in a garden. In front of them are numerous bamboo bungalows. We have only booked for one night. The experience on Koh Kood taught us a lesson. When we enter our bungalow, a strong smell of cat urine hits us. Our bungalow doesn't have air conditioning, only a small fan. The air is stagnant. We sit on the terrace and drink cold water, deciding to explore the beach and the area. We look for an ATM because we are both low on cash. We find one next to a 7/11. I try one of the 3 machines and oh no! The machine says my PIN is invalid. I try two more times without success. Frustrated, I give up. We're hungry and thirsty, and we find a place to eat: in a nearby small bamboo shack, I eat Morning Glory with rice and have a watermelon shake. Yummy. We stroll through the bamboo huts, see alternative backpackers and dropouts - some even have their own bars. We walk through Bee Bee's Bungalows, its own little hippie village right on the beach. Only dropouts live here, some with young children and their own gardens. It has its own charm, it's like a commune. We walk back to our accommodation along the beach, passing massage bungalows with a sea view and Reggae bars. The beach here is not that nice. You walk on numerous broken shell fragments. We watch the sunset and have a cold Chang. Afterwards, we shower and sit on our terrace when suddenly we hear Oriental singing.

We noticed many Thais wearing headscarves on Koh Lanta, actually they are the majority. Based on the loudness of the singing, there must be a mosque nearby. Curious as we are, we follow the singing: the mosque is just around the corner and has blue and green colored translucent windows. We see a preacher dressed all in white and men wearing towels around their waists. We listen to the singing and then return to our bungalow. By now, a fat spider is waiting for us in our room. Edina chases it out. Since there is no mosquito net, we decide to set up mine, but the plaster on the ceiling is porous, so attaching a power strip is tricky. Attaching the ceiling hook is even more difficult. We secure the ceiling hook with duct tape and hang the net using cords and more duct tape on curtain rods and door frames. It works.

We sleep the first night without air conditioning. It is stuffy and uncomfortably warm.

The next morning we have breakfast with our hostel owner. She asks if we want to extend our stay and we decline. The smell of urine in the room and the stench in the shower, in addition to the unattractive beach, are too many negatives.

We go to an ATM and I try my luck with withdrawing money again. This time it says 'Transaction Cancelled'.

Frustrated, we go back to the bamboo shack and order a watermelon shake. We search the internet for another accommodation and find a resort with bungalows in typical Thai-style made of dark wood. We book for one night at first, as we have become cautious. We order green curry with rice and eat for less than 3 Euros. Yummy. We call a tricycle: this time it's a girl with a headscarf with an anarchy sticker on her scooter. We negotiate the price and ride over what feels like 37 potholes before she stops in front of the resort. It is a Muslim resort and the first impression is: WOW! Passing a pool with a waterfall, we walk through a jungle garden with palm trees and exotic plants - including white frangipani flowers, almost artistically arranged, lying on the ground. The facility is wonderfully clean and the bungalows look elegant and new - in the midst of this sea of flowers. We come to a bridge with a stream. Our bungalow is to the right. We climb the huge stairs and unlock the door. A floral, fresh scent greets us: we are standing in a very clean and beautiful bedroom in shades of brown and cream. On the bed is a brown runner made of Thai silk, decorated with golden thread. The tiles on the floor are so clean they reflect. From the bed, thanks to the panoramic glass, you can look out into the jungle garden. How lovely. We immediately run to the reception and want to extend our stay by two nights, but then the 'bad' surprise: the resort is fully booked. Disappointed, we go back to the room, take a shower, and get ready for the beach. We'll take care of finding new accommodation tomorrow. That's how it is with backpacking.

Since I am a bit worried about the visa issue, I quickly connect with my mother via WhatsApp: I find out that my credit card has been blocked and I can unblock it by calling in person. But unfortunately, this function doesn't work with my Thai SIM card. I try it from Edina's phone, partly through a WhatsApp video call. No chance. Since my battery is only at 2%, I decide to leave my phone at the resort on the charger. We go to the beach.

We cross the street to the resort's own restaurant and the beach. On an elevation, we see a bamboo pavilion with many white scarves waving in the wind. THAI MASSAGE! Finally! We walk to the pavilion and 3 nice women greet us and wash our feet. We get fresh towels, lie down on the mats, and look directly out to the sea while the sun tickles our skin through the cracks in the scarves. The massage lasts for 90 minutes and costs only 400 Baht. Deeply relaxed, we walk to the sea and decide to go for a swim right away. The midday sun shines on the sparkling water and with great anticipation, we rush into the water. We start swimming and after just 6 meters, I feel sporadic stinging on my body and suddenly there are stings and a burning itch on my back, legs, arms, and especially my buttocks. OH NO. Panicked, I look around to check if I swam into a jellyfish, some of which in Thailand are poisonous. Nothing to be seen. I swim to the shore and run out of the water, with Edina following. It becomes clear to us what happened. Upon our flight to Krabi, we read in an online backpacker group for Thailand that certain areas of Koh Lanta currently have stinging plankton. Little mini jellyfish and plankton that hasn't been researched much yet. There are no long-term effects, but possible allergic reactions in the form of welts. Scratchy, we stand on the beach and see red bumps on our skin. We rub ourselves with a towel and lie in the sun. No wonder nobody is in the water, we think. We observe newly arriving tourists, see them spread out their towels, undress, and walk towards the water. We count down and laugh, '5, 4, 3, 2, 1...he goes into the water...up to the knees...hip...he swims away...and...Watch out...look at his face...He'll be dumbfounded in a moment...Like this: Huh? What's going on here?...and...Here it is!! Haha. Do you see the question mark on his face? Haha. He stays in the water. What an idiot. The stinging won't stop, right? He's confused. Haha. It will burn soon...and...Yes, exactly...Now...' Our protagonist panically runs out of the water and we laugh. Mean, I know :) Shortly after, the next couple arrives. They also leave the water and come straight to us. English. They ask if we know what burns and hurts in the water. We start a conversation and learn that everything was normal on the previous section of Klong Khong beach. After a longer conversation, we are alone again. Since I am still looking for a solution to my credit card problem, I decide to go to the resort and ask if I can make a phone call for money.

Back at the resort, I am bitterly disappointed. The resort cannot make international calls. I go to our bungalow, get a cold coke from the fridge, and sit on the veranda: what a mess. I watch a French resort guest standing on the bridge, gesturing wildly towards me. At some point, it annoys me and I get up and go to him. He points to something in the bushes and I suspect he has discovered an animal. After a while, I ask 'Monitor lizard? Lizzard?' and he nods, picks up a stone, and throws it into the water, hoping the lizard will show up. No success. I get fed up and decide to ask the next resort if I can make a call: no success here either. I walk down the street, passing the restaurants and resorts, and end up in a pharmacy. No success here either. The saleswoman with the headscarf even gives me her private phone, but nothing works. An Italian guy gets involved, but he can't help either. Frustrated, I go back to the beach. Edina is already in conversation and has sat down on a chair in this group. His name is Pepe and his wife's name is Ingrid. He works for a company that deals with hail damage and she works for the bank. They treat us to a beer and the evening at the Blue Moon Beach Bar enters the second round. In a nice sitting round, we talk about our backpacking tour, the things we have experienced so far, and learn a lot about Thailand 30 years ago and today. Our round seems to infect others, as soon another European man around 50 years old joins us. Toni. I noticed him in the beginning as he was constantly sitting at the bar and apparently is Gen's best friend. He brings another round of Chang and before we know it, Gen joins us too. At midnight, Gen decides to close the front of the bar, so we have the whole bar and the beach to ourselves. He starts talking...about everything.

Gen himself is also over 50 years old, which you can't tell at all. He is a real dropout...has been running this bar since 1980 with his sister (the cook). Originally, they are from Trang. He talks about tourism, nature, people, music, and politics. How the islands have changed and why Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi used to be paradise. How Thailand looked 30 years ago and what has changed. And then he talks about the 2004 tsunami. Koh Lanta was only slightly affected, but the wave of destruction was enough to bury the livelihoods of many locals. Many faced ruin, lost wives and children, bars and restaurants, houses and money. He remembers like yesterday when he went downstairs from his apartment, which is right above the bar. Half of the bar was destroyed and where friends like Toni left everything behind to rebuild their livelihoods elsewhere, he saw his favorite chair standing unharmed among the broken and the devastation, in the exact same spot as before. For him, this was a sign not to give up and to restore the bar.
While Gen speaks these words of shocking truth, this moment also has a certain magic and comfort, while only the waves crash against the sand and the sea consoles. The conversations become more philosophical and we feel like we have found a little bit of friendship - almost a little bit of family.

Toni talks about Koh Phi Phi over 30 years ago. He himself comes from England and back then, when the recession cost almost everyone their job, he went on a world trip with his then-girlfriend. He tells how they went to Canada and started working in a circus. She was a stripper and painted her body with fluorescent colors while directing a Bengal tiger to jump through a ring of fire. The story couldn't be more bizarre.

After many years, they went on to Southeast Asia and landed in the Philippines, where they heard about the beautiful Thailand from other backpackers - including Maya Bay. They landed on Koh Phi Phi and found paradise: no roads, no hotels...only a few bamboo bungalows right on the beach under coconut palms and with wonderfully beautiful water - magical like in the movie 'The Beach', you could see the plankton glowing at night in Maya Bay.

That was the cue. 'Plankton?' 'Are there specific areas where I can see plankton in Thailand, with the exception of Maya Bay?' I hear myself saying. Gen looks at me: 'Oh yes, I can show you if you want'. Wait, what? I think Gen is pulling a prank. He stands up and says, 'Come with me, I will show you'. Suspiciously, I stand up and follow Gen, lighting my way to the sea as the sand is teeming with large hermit crabs on a walk. When we reach the water, I prepare myself for a stupid joke. Gen says, 'Go in the water and everything will glow around you'.

I look skeptically at the pitch-black water and say, 'But there is plankton that aches and burns on the skin'. Gen laughs and says, 'No, not now. Not at night. Trust me.'

Skeptically, I walk into the sea, luckily I still have my bikini and sarong on. I stand in the water up to my belly button and move my legs and arms when everything around me starts to sparkle and glow blue - as if the stars have fallen from the sky, the Orion belt into the sea.

Gen comes to me, grinning, and has a single glowing plankton on his finger, saying, 'Real Thai people use it like this', while standing on tiptoes and placing the plankton between my eyebrows on my forehead. It feels like a baptism.

He goes back to Ingrid, Pepe, and Toni. It's as if he has adopted us a little bit into his family.
Edina and I are so fascinated by this magic that we splash around in the plankton for almost 20 minutes - it's unbelievable how beautiful nature can be.