ONE of the reasons we select Koh Lanta island as our base for exploration in the region is that we have connected with a potential “workaway” host of appeal to us.
Workaway, is an incredible global network for travel on tight budgets which allows one to select a suitable “host”… where you work a few hours each day in exchange for lodging. We filtered through potential hosts for work/activities which would be interesting and of appeal to us. We have a few of these (in our back pocket) for different regions as we make our way around Thailand.
(One is North of Chiang Mai and is of an artistic and creative nature, another is also in the islands and involves helping with rescued animals, and a third selection is a large Buddhist monastery where we look forward to the opportunity to learn about Buddhism, meditation, natural healing and do yoga daily.)
This particular workaway spot turns out to be a funky, fun, interesting location but it is clear to us that in this case, we might stay for a day or two, but not actually do the workaway. Its low season and what was supposed to be a natural (using earth, straw etc) building opportunity turns out to be manual labor construction work. The thriving community is not here as it is the middle of the low season. The rooms are as rustic as it gets and $5 a night. Okay for a few days, but not a lengthy stay.
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| Communal area made totally out of natural materials: Earth, wood, thatch and stone. A laid back hippy vibe for sure. |
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| Workaway volunteers have left their personal artistic touches such as this earth wall with 3D relief designs. |
The island of Koh Lanta makes a perfect base for exploration of numerous smaller islands nearby. We arrange to share a long boat which will take us to four different islands.
Our travel companions for the day are mostly French, and two Thai girls. The Thai girls live in Chiang Mai and work at a travel agency. They both speak good conversational Hebrew, with perfect accents. This is due to the fact that almost all their customers are young Israelis (on their extended after army trips.) Too funny!
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| Sitting on the prow of the long boat. We are off! |
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| First of three snorkeling stops. The water is very clear and there is a good variety of brightly colored fish. |
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| Ben surrounded by lots of striped glimmering little fishies. |
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| Many of the small islands we pass are made up of dramatic rocky limestone cliffs |
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| Stop the boat. Jump off. Put on snorkels. Enjoy the underwater viewing. |
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| The scenery is dramatic and its great fun alternating between boating, snorkeling and swimming. |
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| To get to this “pool”, we had to swim through a DARK (pitch black in places) cave.. Not exactly a favorite of mine (PK). A bit scary due to the low ceiling of the cave in places and the height of the waters with the tide flowing through. (Emerald Beach) |
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| Ahh back on the boat. Clear turquoise waters and a blue blue sky! |
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| Arriving at the best island: Ko Hai. This is the “postcard” Thailand. Clear see through waters, soft white sand. Awesome!! |
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| As we get off the boat, we encounter a huge live starfish in all its glory. Perfect geometric design with orange dots in the center and at the ends of the five tentacles. |
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| Doesn’t get much better than this! |
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| For Ben it DOES get better…… 🙂 |
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| Perfectly gorgeous sunset ends the day. |
These pictures rock. Ben with the fish, where you can see all down into the water, layers of them, and the starfish with all the doors are my favorite. Are these higher resolution than you usually post? So clear and detailed.
I love these pics as well! Nope, not higher resolution, same same. Glad you are enjoying!
Not doors on the starfish, dots.