Day 23: Lanta Island Tour

Rented a scooter to tour the island today - two days of relaxing is enough. Drove across the island through Old Lanta Town (western shore) and all the way to the end of the road. That portion of the island seems almost unchanged from when we visited 5 years ago with Andy and Noha. Heading up the west shore we wrapped around the northern tip and started working down the eastern shore. The tourist map is a smattering of dots listing all the resorts closest to the pier and heading south along the first few beaches. But as you work farther south along the coast it still feels very similar to when we were here last. Groups of resorts with undeveloped patches of green space in between and beach areas that are still undeveloped. Yes, there are some higher class resorts replacing the older ones, but thankfully most are still small and quaint. Considering the change from when we first here in 1997 with dirt roads and grass huts it was nice to see a slow down in development. I am sure mostly due to economic conditions on not island preservation. We finished out the afternoon tour with sandwiches on fresh Rye bread at Nang Sabai (German bakery) and picked up a brownie and coconut cake for desert of course.

On our way back we noticed a bunch of people pulled over and stopped to see what they were looking at - monkeys - YAY! They must have noticed them on the side of the road then decided to throw them some Banana's, bad for the monkeys but good for photos.... We stayed back and waited for the crowds to disperse and then Gary worked his way in to get some great shots of a mother and baby actually eating what they were there for in the first place, flowering vegetation and seeds on the side of the road. Rounded out the day and our last night on Koh Lanta with another beautiful sunset, never get tired of watching the sun melt into the ocean.
Link to the Photos