February 11,

Big transition day!🙃😝 We were up and about, packed our stuff, and had our Javas and normal breakfast. Today we leave Koh Tao & the Gulf of Thailand going across skinny tail of mainland Thailand to Koh Lanta & the Andaman Sea.

At 1015, we checked out of our place Koh Tao Regal Resort. By 1030, we were in line to get our e-tickets changed to their paper equivalent. At 1040, we board the boat. It is a ferry-speed boat. Right off we took motion sickness pills as precaution. At 1102, the boat was underway – only two minutes late. We are told to put on life-jackets, declining was not an option. This particular boat can hold 72 people and we are probably only six short of being full. There's five staff or crew. The boat has 5 engines, revving at 47-4,800 RPMs once we hit full speed – I don’t know mph, but we were skimming along, quite nicely. The ferry/speed boat was smooth riding. Jeff noticed that we are probably the oldest people on board. We passed on the other side of the Five Islands we had jet skied to from Koh Samui.

Around 1315, we docked, and we are on mainland Thailand in town of Surat Thani. We were directed to the appropriate van. The driver took part of our tickets and said 10 minutes, so we snacked on our peanuts and some pickled mango we had. Then the driver signaled and we got in the passenger van with six others, starting at 1331. Now we were driven across the narrow part of Thailand, in a southwest direction. At one point, the driver was going 130 kph, which is 81 mph! I don't know the speed limit, but he's probably speeding. We are on a very nice, two lane divided highway with big U turn places. At one place we were diverted to one lane the other way via one of the U turns. Construction I assume(?). It wasn't for very long and we were sent back over. It was here I think I saw the speed limit sign of 90 kph, and another sign showed a speed camera. The driver now stayed at 90 kph.🤣😂  The terrain is hilly & small mountains with lots of palm trees planted in rows, for palm oil harvesting – most likely.

The van arrived in Krabi, at a Lomprayah “office” at 1541. We were greeted and told we would be picked up at 1600. So we sat in the lounge area, and waited. But two of our group left – their destination must be here in Krabi. Jeff bought us a little tray of pineapple… yummy.😋  At 1615-1620 two big, full-sized buses pulled up and unloaded a bunch of people. Then we six were directed to another minivan, #2, and joined 4 others. At 1635, we were off. We are dropped off at Matcha Tours, and we gave our hotel information for Koh Lanta. He booked us on a ride after the ferry to our hotel, costing 50 Baht ($1.47) each. Now we waited as everyone was sorted.

At 1655, we boarded another van, #3 – the passenger count is 12 now. It feels like musical minivans!! WOW!! But thankfully it was our last one. At 1701 we start off, but at 1705 we stop for gas. Really!?! Jeff said we were back in Peru! 🤣😂🤣  We drove by a temple with a bunch of elephant sculptures; and then the Mud Crabs Sculpture – it was on Google maps, so must be an attraction. I couldn't get a picture though. Fun! 🤗😆 A crab sculpture in Krabi. We go on secondary roads to another main road, passing around and by many Karst topography.

At 1825,we arrived at Hua Hin Pier and at 1833, our passenger van boarded a ferry, #2 for us. Once the ferry completely loaded up we were underway. We were able to get out of the van and caught the last of sunset. At 1855, the ferry pulled up to the pier and our van exited off. In only a minute, we were on the roads of Koh Lanta. This is our destination, finally.

At 1915, We arrived at our place, Ocean View, got checked in, and dumped our bags in our new place for five nights. We went down to the close – Koala Restaurant & Bar – for supper. We had Pineapple-fried rice with Chicken and Cashews in a pineapple; and Chicken Massaman curry with Rice. I had a glass of red wine and Jeff had a beer. Nice meal right on the beach with sound of the waves and many different languages in the background.

   Welcome to Koh Lanta!!