Last Day in Lanta

I had one last amazing day in Koh Lanta before leaving for Koh Phi Phi. A group of 10 of us got scooters, I was paired up with Diego since I'm still too chicken shit to drive a bike, and toured around the island visiting Old Town and a cafe owned by Sal's friend who ised to work at Jackie Bamboo. At one point we lost Joy and Esteban when their tire blew but someone magically they were able to find us on the other side of the island. We ended our day with hitting up one of the markets and grabbing fish and veggies so that we could have a beach BBQ. Something that is extremely illegal and difficult to do on Lanta (several locals watned us) but we stubbornly did anyways. Armed with a metal grill, a knife, and some bottles of whiskey we made our way to the end of Long Beach and even though it was extremely late when the food was finally ready it was so worth it and was such an amazing night with a great group of people.

Joy, Herbie, Charlie, Diego, Sal, me, Ben, Esteban

 The next morning we realized multiple people had lost multiple items of clothing or other things but again, still worth it an my pack is now lighter! By 12:30 I was saying my sad rushed goodbyes with Esteban, Joy, Luisa and all the other amazing people I had met and soon I was on a ferry solo again and heading for Koh Phi Phi.

A goodbye selfie with two amazing people

Lesson learned: You can change first impressions. I arrived in Koh Lanta as a feverish hermit that people didn't see much of and probably thought was a recluse and when I left I had one friend (the wonderful Esteban) saying I was one of the craziest travelers he had met. He's been traveling 7+ months.