Holiday @ Ko Lanta (Day 3) - Part 1

It feels good to wake up every morning knowing you are mine and I am yours. It feels even better, even more awesome, knowing that I was having a wonderful breakfast with you in an island away from home - Away from everyone we know, just the two of us.


Facing the sea and having my breakfast felt therapeutic. I enjoyed watching the fierce swirling waves this morning, as it splashed and crashed to a relatively great height.

Breakfast (This was just a part of it).

Latte.

Bbb.

Piping hot waffle - Prepared upon order only.

Cereal with fresh strawberries and milk.

Remember I mentioned in the Day 2 blog entry about the flowers being arranged into shapes? This is what I found at the same patch of grass on Day 3. (See pic below).

It immediately brightened up my day upon seeing it!

After breakfast, we headed back to the room to watch a movie DVD which we borrowed from the hotel's library. Afterwhich, we headed out of the hotel to this particular place.

He is my full-time driver/rider. For life.

Where were we heading to?

To a secret cave.

We passed by a rubber plantation en route to the cave.

Close-up.

We also saw animals kept by the people living in the houses which we passed by.
One house even kept a goat! Goat milk, anyone? :p

When we arrived, I saw this small little chick, along with other cocks, hens and chicks.

I spotted this butterfly too.

Is that..... *gasp* SHIT?

And I witnessed how one butterfly was chasing the other one. So sweet~

We were told that the tour guide was out taking a group for the cave expedition and were told to come back an hour later. With nowhere to go, we rode aimlessly before we stopped by a row of houses which were built on the hilltop, just by the sea. It was constructed completely but most were not occupied... Abandoned, in fact. We decided to do a mini exploration...

This was one of the few occupied units.

The view from the outside of one of the unoccupied units.

Imagine waking up each morning and looking at the sea?
With no islands nor boats in sight but a boundless horizon?
BEAUTIFUL! I would say!

There was a mini pavilion too...
Simply perfect to practise yoga while enjoying the sea view.

Awesome place for yoga and meditation. Right? :D

Nearing to an hour, we headed back to the cave site. Before turning into the small dirt road which leads to the cave, there was this unique and queer house. I thought that the house itself looked like a gigantic roof! LOL!

Once we arrived back at the information house, we saw that the tour guide had not returned. After about 15 minutes or so, we saw a group of Westerners emerging out from the tropical jungle with the tour guide. They were perspiring and I noticed mud stains on their body and clothes.


So once we paid the entry fee (200 baht per person), the tour guide provided me with a Crocs-lookalike sandals to wear as he said my slippers were not suitable. Honestly, I was pretty grossed out to wear it since it was worn previously by one of the ladies in the earlier tour and it felt dense. However, I got used to it after awhile and later on, I felt extremely thankful that I chose practicality than aesthetics!


We were told to leave our bags at the information house (Hence, please do not bring much valuables if you plan to visit this cave). The guide told us to bring only a bottle of water (which he kept it for us in the drawstring bag he carried) and our camera.


Our guide also told me to pass my camera to him. And he took lotsa photos for us along the way, of which some were taken without us being aware of it. I have no idea how he could climb the slopes and all with one hand, since he was holding my camera with his other hand. Experienced already, perhaps? :)


In order to head to the cave, we had to trek through the dense tropical jungle for about 30 minutes. Giant flowers and plants grew everywhere - I felt like Alice in Wonderland where she shrunk herself by drinking a bottle of water so that she could enter into the small little door.

A giant tree trunk.... Like the one I saw in Taman Negara then! :p

A photo of us, before we went on the adventure. :p

Climbing up natural rock steps and slopes that were rather slippery.

Not all slopes had ropes for us to hold onto for support while we climbed. For some, I had to hold onto some rock formations (which most had dense moss growing on it) in order to pull myself up. Other times, I had to tug on the aerial roots or tree branches to be sure of its strength before using it as my support as I climbed upwards. In no time, my palms and legs were slightly covered in mud. Taxing? Yes. Tiring? Yes. Exciting? YES!

So this was the secret cave we were venturing to....
Khao Mai Kaeo (or Kaew) Cave... (Not exactly a secret cave) :p

And no, we have not reached the cave even though we saw the signboard. In addition, we passed by a small stream which the water was EXTREMELY clear despite that there were mud and dead leaves around it. We then climbed for another 10 minutes or so, before reaching the entrance of the cave.

This is the entrance to the cave (Yes it was that narrow).

And from far, the entrance was so indistinct that one wouldn't even know that there is an entrance there. I was so surprised when he pointed it out to me yet I still couldn't spot it!

The entrance into the cave issomewhere in this pic...
Which I am still unable to figure out where. Oh mann!

Once Bbb and I descended from the rope ladder into the cave, the guide passed us flashlights that were attached to a headband to wear. Without the light, it was pitch dark in the cave. You can't even see your own fingers!

I thought that we looked like the mole cartoon character.
(Can't remember the exact cartoon, anyone knows?)

So we climbed... Venturing deeper into the cave.
Practically holding onto the natural rocks as support.

Carefully planning my next steps to take. :p

There were many unique beautiful rock formations in the cave.

The guide pointed to us several fossils

Able to spot the fossil?

Our guide. Without him, we would have gotten lost in the cave and died.

Plenty of ladders to tackle too.

And not forgetting crossing a suspended bridge made of bamboo.
One wrong move, you drop deep down into the valley of darkness.....

All those ladders, ropes and bridges were all built by our guide's family, whose sister and brother-in-law discovered the cave and made it more 'friendly' to visit the cave. Still, this cave will not be suitable for those Mr and Miss Clean, nor for those who adore their manicured nails and afraid to get rough and dirty (sounds sexy though~). Also, there were some parts where the horizontally-challenged people may have difficulties to squeeze through, so if you think you belong to this category, please do not try it... Especially the bigger-sized Westerners, for example. *no offence*

I could feel that Bbb was looking out for me along the whole
1 hour plus of trekking in the cave. <3>

This was not a flat ground and I had to walk across a slope.
I was really scared at this part that I eventually went on all fours to go across. I felt that I would slip and fall. And if I was that unlucky, I would have fallen deep down.

Nearing the exit of the cave, we had to crawl through a small tunnel, even tinier than the hole I crawled through at the Cu Chi tunnel in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, last year.

Throughout the cave journey, I was asking the guide repeatedly, "Where's the bats?". He replied me, "Not yet" with so much patience each time that I asked. And the final time when I asked him (it was all dark except for our flashlights), he promptly shone his handheld torch up to the top and this was what I saw:

He gave me a scare!

Once we got out of the cave, I wanted to climb a little higher to pose for a photo.
And the guide snapped a photo. See.... Bbb was still looking out for me. Sweet!

He helped me down after that, and notice the mud stains all over my legs?

Don't think that the water is dirty.
It was SO CLEAR and SO CLEAN that I would dare to wash my face with it! :p

It was another 30 minutes or so, of trekking back to our starting point. We reached back to our bike and we proceeded to our next destination for the day.


(To be continued...)

Read my other Ko Lanta entries:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3 (Part 2)
Day 4 (Part 1)
Day 4 (Part 2)
Day 5