The Bananas – Ban Tha Lane

I wasn’t much of a fan of Krabi Town, so I was quite anxious to get to our New Year’s destination: The Bananas (or Bananas Bungalows). Located 2 km away from Tha Lane Pier, it has been the most remote location I’ve been to in Thailand. Not much is around, and even the Pier, which services ferries to Koh Yao Noi, consists of small boats and a handful of food shops. An ATM doesn’t even exist until you head back to Krabi Town or Ao Nang.

The Bananas is a great budget resort. From bungalows ranging from 300 to 800 baht, it’s certainly a great value. There are some air conditioned concrete homes as well, but everyone knows its much more fun to stay in a bamboo one. While they certainly were nice, I don’t think they had the same charm as Yawning Fields. The remoteness of the location makes it little difficult to get around and buses only come so often, if at all. Luckily, if there are other people staying you can split a taxi to Ao Nang (30 minutes away). But I wouldn’t recommend this place if you’re looking for daily activities in town or something unless you feel like forking over a few hundred baht everyday for transportation. It’s a great place for relaxation and to get away from the hustle of bustle of the touristy southern Thailand beaches. I’d probably recommend renting a motorbike and taking it there as the roads are fun, beautiful, and it’s probably the more economical and convenient choice. The food that is cooked up actually some of the best I’ve had so far. Smoothies aren’t the greatest, but if I were you I would stick to the Thai food there. If you’re lucky a big group dinner is served up for only 150 baht. After a day of New Year’s eve kayaking, we were lucky enough to enjoy some pumpkin curry with prawns, rice, and a tasty salad.

Besides the kayaking, I spent my time exploring the area and taking in the great scenery/reading in the hammocks. Best hammock view ever. You got your rickety old dock and Phang Nga Bay in the distance. At low tide, the beach in front of the resort is fun to explore. Millions (seriously millions) of tiny crabs scatter across the beach as you approach. I wish I had a video, but didn’t have my phone at the time. It was a bit eerie to see them scatter about and the starfish floating/crawling along the shallow waters. It was pretty humid the days we were there as there was a downpour the day I arrived. My mornings were filled with fruit shakes and watching wild monkeys run about (slightly alarming as I find wild monkeys a little creepy).

The owner, Ollie (Oliver) is from the Black Forest (as he calls it) and has been living in Thailand for 20 years. So he speaks English, Thai and German. He reminded me of Andus, and although their personalities are quite the opposite, their stories are pretty similar. Ollie was great and very relaxed, and more than helpful when it came to making transportation or activity arrangements for you. If you’re looking for an oaisis getaway, The Bananas might just be for you. Do expect to be cut off from the world though. While there is a communal computer to share, the internet is a little slow and the wi-fi a bit dodgy. But then again if you’re on holiday you don’t need to be connected 24/7. Also during our time there, there was a family of 19 staying there as well. As you can imagine it was a bit overwhelming and a little chaotic at times, but I’m taking that as a pretty rare occurrence for the resort.