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| Our ride |
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| Diamond Cliff Beach |
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| Mrs LTF at Mook Lanta |
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| Amoi |
KOH LANTA
Claudine woke up to a rainy morning. She got down from her comfortable bed to creaking floor boards. Having slept on a rock hard bed at Yamawa, the mattress at Mook Lanta felt heavenly though there were subtle imprints of the many bodies that have slept on it.
Without her spectacles, she was caught off guard when she entered the bathroom! The airy outhouse shower was strewn with leaves, blown in the night before. She had thought they were buffalo leeches!!!
Brushing her teeth was like playing a game of peek a boo! Being an eco resort, Melissa had installed water saver taps. The tap spilled out water then trickled before spilling out again. When the water gushes out, quick cup your hands together!!!
It also seemed like the wash basin was built for very tall people. Standing at 165 cm, it was hard to constantly tip toe. Adding to her woes was the mirror which was placed at the side.
While there were many faults to the bathroom, the room was cosy and romantic. Built in a Malay design of wooden walls and teak furniture, it had a modern twist with a wide sliding door that opens up to a nice verandah. Here, one can spend hours reading a book or just sitting on the deck chair, soaking in the magic of Mook Lanta.
It took awhile to wake VT up. Finally, at Mook Lanta, there were English language programs! VT had spent the night surfing the channels.
Breakfast at the resort was served at the open verandah near the lobby. As it was still drizzling, Claudine and VT donned their wind breakers and walked gingerly on the raised concrete platforms that connected all the chalets together. 4 feet below were a mixture of mud, cow grass and pools of water.
When they arrived, George and Wendy were already seated. The rest of the team slowly made their way in. KC looked rested. Celia had given him ear plugs the day before. Papa Mike's "frequent nocturnal conversation with his Lord" had been keeping KC awake!
The resort is really value for money. It serves a good choice of breakfast from an ala carte menu. If the 3 choices that comes with the room rate is not enough to fill one's tummy, just top up the difference for a bigger meal. This gives a person a chance to eat good quality food without wastage as opposed to the many inedible buffets!
Melissa adds on a thoughtful touch by providing complimentary tea and coffee throughout the day. A water dispenser behind the registration desk gives one free refills.
Breakfast though was a bit confusing. There's English Breakfast, Light English Breakfast and Full English Breakfast! Claudine ate Papa Mike's Light English Breakfast by mistake. He had to make do with oatmeal and banana and the meagre English Breakfast meant for Claudine.
Accessing the situation, Celia took pity on Papa. She offered Papa her bacon and sausages. Papa took only half a sausage so the balance went to the resident dog.....but not before George sucked out the salt first!!!!!
When breakfast was done, it was still drizzling. The idea of a round island tour on scooter was scrapped . Instead a pick up truck was called for . VT was the only one who brought a driver's license. He was made driver. Papa Mike took the front passenger seat. Size does matter ! George, Wendy, Claudine and YC climbed up the cargo area. The rest took the back seats.
Our first stop was by a beach. We were the only souls there.
When we got back on the pick up, Lance was conned to the cargo area. No safety harness, he did not feel safe. So after our next stop, Alvin took his place instead!
Our next stop was at a roadside stall. The BBQ smoke and smell of pork satay lured the ones in the cabin to conspire for a stop. Indeed it was a good stop. Best pork satay and papaya salad!
Alvin now sits at the open cargo area.
We went to the Old town.
We shopped for hammocks. Our group bought 4! The shopkeeper promised to give Papa Mike the same discounts if he returned the same size in future! Perhaps she has a fetish for fat men???
While the boys shopped, the ladies went to the stall across the street for many rounds of ice blended fruit drinks. Lance and Alvin scoured the street to check out some old hotels.
Then, we went for lunch in a restaurant a few doors away from Hammock House. The food there were terribly watered down. Watered down green curry, watered down tom yum gung with no flavour of lemon grass!
After lunch, we continued our round island tour of Koh Lanta. As we moved along, Claudine caught a whiff of fried cempedak. Coincidentally, VT made a U-turn. But he drove past the stall! Claudine banged on the glass screen for him to stop. She was not giving up on her fried cempedak!
As we were a little off the stall, Alvin gallantly escorted Claudine to the stall.....
Krakkkkkkkkkkkk....went his pants!!!!
Nobody would have known as the truck was noisier than the sound of the tear! But he
blurted it out anyway!
We ate fried bananas and cempedak by a shop's five foot way while it drizzled. When we were done, we continued our tour.
To make up for our terrible lunch, YC took us to Diamond Cliff Beach Restaurant. He was here previously with his family. We spent a lazy afternoon sipping coffee, chatting and playing with our phones.
VT dozed off while KC was recounting tales of his adventures at sea with beautiful Russian women, barter trading and Moscow. Tried as we might, we could not get him to tell us if he had broken any girl's heart. Bored, we went down to the beach.
Getting down to the beach was a harrowing experience. The rough, uneven and big steps were a challenge. The beach itself has rough sands. The magic though lies in its colony of hermit crabs. According to YC, there were just as many on his previous visits.
Over here, Celia unleashed the inner child in her. She spent a long time building a little alcove to imprison her hermit crabs. By the time we left the beach, there were at lease 10 in her little enclave!
Celia also showed us how to conduct a hermit crab race. Twice, Alvin's crab won the race!
Besides hermit crabs, there were also small baby crabs. Lance tried catching one but they were too fast for him. But nothing was too quick for VT. He caught one and in it went to join Celia's crabs.
After a lovely time, we left. We all trooped back to the Hammock House as it was about to close. Lance had an afterthought to buy a hammock!
After the purchase of yet another hammock, we went back. The ride home was a long and winding one. Almost reaching Mook Lanta, Claudine felt sick. She turned to throw up. Thankfully, the pick up came to a halt. It was the turning to the dirt road leading to our resort. With that, everything went back in!
Everyone dismounted except for Papa Mike and KC. VT drove them to a nearby pharmacy. KC's chin was still looking like Desperate Dan even after more than 24 hours on topical antibiotics. Apparently, he had contracted some sort of infection.
We went for dinner at May's Kitchen. This place was recommended by Melissa. The BBQ pork ribs were superb. Sadly, there was only 1 left for our party of 10! Because of that, we have a fusion dinner. A mixture of BBQ and Thai. Besides the pork ribs, we had BBq chicken, an excellent fried Kai Lan, egg omelette and sour soup again.
After dinner, we walked the town. Papa and Wendy bought ocean packs bags from the stores.
We ended the day on yet another round of 7 Eleven's food. This time, besides the staple ham and cheese croissant, we have expanded our taste bud to microwaved corn!!!!
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