Travelled to: Koh Lanta, Thailand

Stayed at: Moonlight Bay Resort

Stayed there for: 5 Nights, 5 Days

My favorite Meal: Phad Thai at Moonlight Bay

Winters in Norway can be pretty rough. Not necessarily that it’s so cold. But it’s also dark and wet and boring. To get a much needed break from it this year, we decided to go away for a week. Unfortunately when you live in northern Europe you have to travel quite far to find somewhere warm. This time we decided on Thailand. Wow – that´s a long way to go for just a week you might think. And yes. It certainly was.

We left Kristiansand Wednesday morning and flew to Oslo, before an almost 12 hour flight to Bangkok. And to make matters worse we had decided on an internal flight to Krabi, which meant a two hour bus ride between two Bangkok airports. When we got to Krabi we took a three hour bus ride to get to Ko Lanta. A mere 36 hours that took. But oh so worth it. Plus we travelled with carry on bags only – which really helped.

We arrived in Krabi in the South of Thailand early Thursday afternoon without having any plans. We booked a place to stay on the bus from the airport to the island of Lanta, not really expecting much from the accommodation, but boy were we lucky with what we got. First of all the room was probably the nicest hotel room i’ve ever stayed in, with lovely tiles in the bathroom, a huge bed and a balcony overlooking the pool and forest. When we went outside to have a look around we walked on concrete paths raised above the ground, and everything was lit up in a beautiful way. It was amazing, and instantly worth the long journey, and we decided to stay there for as long as it was available – which meant five whole nights (which we got at half the price because it was so last minute).

Even though January is high season in Thailand with an average of three rainy days, the weather forecast was grey and rainy every day. We spent a lot of time just lounging around the resort doing nothing, which was wonderful. At night we netflixed on the balcony. One day we rented a scooter and drove around on the island. We got a bit lost, and it started to get quite uncomfortable to be on the bike, but in the end we found the most amazing beach. The far south of the island was the most quiet and secluded area and it was just lovely.

Thai food is delicious, and even though we tried a bunch of different restaurants, the best food we got was actually from the resort we stayed at. I also had some amazing fresh spring rolls on the southern side, and the best watermelon juice in the north.

It was an amazing trip and a much need break from everyday life, but there are some things we´d do differently next time.

Here´s some advice:

• Don’t underestimate how exhausting a long journey is – limit travel time where possible, especially if you are only going to be gone for a little while.

• Prebook accommodation to avoid spending holiday time with the hassle.
• Put on suncream many times each day. Especially after swimming.
• Use mosquito repellant. And have cortisone around for when you forget.
• Traveling with carry on only is brilliant.

If you ever go to Thailand here are some things you might want to be aware of: 

• You might need to show your passport and departure slip when checking in to hotels, and you will also need it for be able to leave:)
• Don’t expect to find toilet paper in bathrooms in more remote places
• The ATMs charge A LOT to withdraw money, so pay with your visa where you can and plan to withdraw money fewer times
• You can buy a traveller’s sim card at the airport to save data traffic.
• There is a free airport shuttle bus between Bangkok airport which comes in handy if flying domestic.
• Prepare for it being dirty, loud, with beautiful nature, a lot of tourists and friendly Thai people.