Old Town Koh Lanta

For the past couple of days we have wanted to get to Old Town to explore the area. The only thing holding us up was trying to find a scooter rental place with big sized helmets, for Moi. We gave up the other bike because I had to ride without a helmet, which made me uncomfortable, not just because they have helmet laws (which most of the time are never enforced) but because a lot of the young people here drive like maniacs. This is our third morning searching and I'm so frustrated I could spit! In and out of endless scooter rental places, when Marie spotted one we hadn't checked for helmets. Just as the last 30 times I went in and started trying on all the lids. Imagine my surprise when one actually sort of fit. OMG! Marie grabbed the helmet, prepared to fight to the death to keep it! LOL. Plus one helmet, minus one bike. Hmmm. The guy said most of the bikes were gone but showed me one he had available. Yikes, what a beater! Before renting I learned to check the tires, brakes and basic condition. This one had tires, bald ones; it had brakes, well almost; and the basic condition was, well lets just say basic. Aside from a couple of deficiencies the only thing wrong with it was the front brake lever was bent (somebody obviously dropped the bike) and it did not work. I graciously declined the bike, of course our guy was eager to rent us a scooter so after a quick cell phone call we walked across the road to look at another. This one, although well used, appeared to be in reliable shape, had good rubber and working brakes. After the paper work was complete and my passport relinquished as a security deposit, we were set to go. Marie was getting fitted for a helmet so I took mine from her hand and was horrified when it didn't fit. OMG, what the heck. Marie laughed at me and pointed to the one outside on the bench, "that's yours". Each with a helmet securely fastened, we were finally ready to start our adventure.
We mounted our trusty motorized steed and headed west to the other side of the island. The road was paved, the traffic very light and the scenery infinite. We wound our way along he blacktop enjoying the landscape of gentle hills covered in trees and acreage plots with houses along the roadside. We came to a steep windy hill which delivered us to the intersection of the highway heading south which more or less followed the coast.
Old Town is small, basically a main street lined by the sea front shops on one side and more shops on the other. The buildings are a mix between old and new with a lot of restaurants and souvenir/clothing shops. We walked through several shops to the pier restaurants on the other side and in one where several other tourists were sitting we decided to stay and have a Thai soup. After our quick bite we wandered about the shops. The sun was sitting high and we were getting cooked. Very hot today!
Driving to the south end of the town our attention was drawn to a Fish pond in front of a small boutique cafe called Shanti Shanti run by a young man from France. We parked the scooter and as we often do we left our helmets on just to have a quick peek. A very distinct French accent sounded out, "come in come in, have a look around", "Take off your helmet zee sky will not fall". It was quite funny and our host was interesting. While Marie was browsing the clothes on the racks I snooped around at the menu and the kitchen through a small opening in the wall. The French man, Luke I think, was enjoying a freshly made crepe, the fragrance still lingering in the air and along with the aroma of an espresso, the thought of having the same was very inviting. Okay, this guy is not playing fair! On the other side of the kitchen was a small deck extending out over the ocean. It didn't take much to convince Marie it was time for our afternoon coffee. We sat on the mats on the floor, sipped our cappuccinos and nibble on our delightful crepe while gazing out over the ocean. A specialty of the cafe is homemade ice cream and sorbets. Luke gave us a sample, quite delicious!
Thoroughly spoilt we got back on the scooter to head further south to a "Gypsy Village". After several kilometres we stopped at a restaurant (no not to eat again) on a viewpoint, just long enough to snap a few pictures and continue on. We found the gypsy village, a small stretch of town on the edge of the sea. Not much here so being that the sun would soon be setting we decided to head back. Just before town we stopped at the market for some limes, mangosteens and mangos.