About three weeks before Christmas I was asked by The Yacht Week if I wanted to join them in Thailand over Christmas. Naturally – who could say no to a week of sailing and sunshine around the Andaman? I’ve found myself with almost three and a half hours worth of video footage and have decided to split this epic week into two parts because cramming everything into the one video was just a feat I wasn’t ready for and quite frankly wouldn’t do the trip any justice. So here goes.
Our first stop was Railay Beach and when I say first stop, keep in mind that we’d probably been sailing for a good five hours before we anchored for the evening. It was Ben’s birthday so naturally after we took a long-tail taxi to the beach; we headed to a massage joint where he got his first Thai massage. I think my favorite aspect of Thailand – Phuket specifically, despite it being the epic tourist trap – are the massage joints on every corner. Need to unwind on the beach? Watch the sunset whilst having every knot kneaded out of your back by a surprisingly robust Thai woman? Phuket has you covered.
I digress – the massage was followed shortly by a lovely dinner at the Last Bar and this was enjoyed whilst listening to a lovely man singing covers of 80s and 90s pop. Hello Goo Goo Dolls and Tracy Chapman. I retreated back to the yacht shortly after and opted out of the evening activities. Something that I have noticed with age is that my body clock has grown incredibly precise. An early riser by nature means turning in at sensible times every night and with a three-hour time difference, these habits flew with me across the Pacific to Thailand. I found myself waking up at ludicrous hours of the morning and morphing into the walking dead by 9pm. Positives are that I enjoyed some beautiful sunrises and my favorite was definitely the sunrise over Krabi.
We sailed off to Chicken Island shortly and had breakfast before heading to shore to check out the beach during low tide. It’s 400 Thai Baht to walk along the beach and whilst I didn’t stay long – having opted to go snorkeling instead; it looked amazing. We went snorkeling just off the island and the water was surprisingly clear as you can see from my video. After a couple more hours of sailing we finally reached Koh Lanta North and anchored off Long Beach. A quick swim and cramped dingy ride later, we were exploring the island and getting a sunset massage before heading back to the boat to freshen up for dinner. Strangely enough we decided on Greek for the evening and had an amazing feast. We could’ve comfortably fed a small town with the amount of food we had.
Quite possibly one of my favorite moments on the trip was lighting lanterns along the beach. It’s a little pricey by Thailand standards so if you’re good at haggling then there’s no better time to put it to the test. The price you’ll be quoted is anywhere between 300-350 Baht. My action camera didn’t really give the moment any justice but you’ll just have to do it yourselves to understand!
Can you believe that concludes the first half of my video diary? Let me know your thoughts on my video guys! Always love receiving feedback.
Stay tuned for Part II and don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel here.
