Day 6 — Royal Lanta Resort

We woke up at 4am to get ready for the day and head to the airport to catch our flight to Krabi. Alison split our trip into the portions. The first part was all about culture and learning and the second part is all about relaxation. Yesterday we wrapped up the culture and learning section, today is the start of the second part. We are excited to visit some beautiful beaches, enjoy good food, and relax.

We took Victoria’s advice and booked a private car to transfer us from the airport in Krabi to our hotel. It was the way to go. There was a man waiting when we got off the plane holding a sign for Ms. Alison. He helped us with our luggage and loaded us into an SUV. We drove for about an hour until we reached the ferry. This particular ferry was built for vehicles so our driver drove right onto the ferry. We crossed from Krabi to Koh Lanta. The area around the ferry was beautiful. We watched monkeys play on the beach while we waited for the ferry to cross. The ferry ride was not long and we only had a short drive once we reached the island.

We arrived at our accommodations - the Royal Lanta resort. It is a beautiful resort, It was a little early for check in, but we had an errand to run anyway so we asked our hotel to get us a tuk tuk. We needed to stop by the dive shop to check in for dive tomorrow and show them our certification cards. They got us all situated and told us they would pick us up at our hotel the next morning.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped at a little shop and bought some beach towels. Towels take up so much luggage space so we opted to buy them in Thailand, rather than packing them along. They weren’t great quality, but they would work.

We ate lunch at the hotel restaurant while they finished preparing our room. They had some good Thai food and we got a couple of ice cream shakes. The sun is so strong and it is plenty humid so ice cream was the perfect treat. The location of the restaurant is hard to beat it is just above the beach and has views of the ocean. Everything in Koh Lanta revolves around the beach.

After lunch, our room was finally ready. We were so glad. It took a while for them to prepare the room. The first part of the day was tough. We were tired because we only slept four hours the night before. It was really hot and humid and all we wanted was to relax by the beach or the pool. We considered changing into our swimwear earlier, but our room was close enough to being ready that we decided it made sense to wait and change after it was ready.

We are staying in a cute bungalow. It is steps always from a pool and the beach. We settled in and relaxed in the A/C for a few minutes. It felt divine.

Then it was beach time. It was a perfect beach day. The sun was hot and the water was warm. It felt so good. We went out in the ocean and swam and floated around. When we got tired of the water we laid out on the beach on our towels. Alison finished an audiobook while I took a little nap.

Next we wandered up the beach and found a place to get a massage. It was incredible. Getting a massage is already one of our favorite activities, but getting a massage on the beach takes it to the next level. I got an oil massage and Alison was adventurous and got a Thai massage. A Thai massage involves a lot more pressure and is kind of like assisted stretching. It can be intense. Alison loves it. I enjoyed a more relaxed massage. It was so relaxing to be laying on the beach listening to the ocean while getting a massage.

After our massages we found some beach chairs and an umbrella to provide a little shade. The sun here feels relentless. It is nice, but so strong. Laying in the shade was perfect.

When we started to get hungry we began walking up the beach to find a place to eat. There are a bunch of shops and restaurants all along this beach. We found a place with a menu where we were sure we could each find something to eat. They seated us at a table just off the beach. However, the table was in the sun and within a couple of minutes of sitting down we were both sweating bullets. No way was this going to work. We noticed they had a second story that was mostly shaded so we moved to a table upstairs. It still looked over the beach. I had a noodle dish for dinner and Alison had chicken with green curry wrapped in roti. Her meal was seriously so good. One of my all time favorites. While we ate we watched a stunning sunset over the beach. The sun turned a dark shade of red and slowly sank into the water.

When we finished our meal we walked along beach and enjoyed the afterglow of the sunset. It was very comfortable now that the sun was down. After a nice walk on the beach we headed to bed where we were both out like a light.