Archive for December, 2001
The eve of New Year’s Eve. Brent and I ventured into town today in an attempt to book a ticket to Ko Mok for New Year’s. We were planning to go for the night to meet up with Martin and the Alaskan couple, Brian and Dana. Anyway, Brent wanted to rent a motorbike but while he was looking for a place I stuck out my thumb and got us a ride. He couldn’t believe how easy it was to hitch into town! Once there we checked out the boat ticket prices but the boat was already full. So then we decided no problem we’ll just stay on Lanta but we booked a one-day 4-island snorkling trip for tomorrow.
Of course we ate some food in town since it’s such a treat to have different food than what we have at Long Baech so we had some sandwiches on real grain bread. Mmmmm! As an added bonus it happened to be Sunday which is market day so we walked down to the market to check it out. Brent bought some fried dough and I scored some lychees. Then I saw a booth selling durian fruit so I decided that I finally had to buy one and try the elusive foul-smelling sweet-tasting durian.
Brent left the hitching to me to get us back and the thumb worked it’s wonders once again and I got us a ride right away. This time it was a car full of Thai tourists from Bangkok down on Lanta on holiday. Very nice of them to give us a lift!
Back on Long Beach we snacked on our purchases and yes, I finally got to sample the durian! Apparently it wasn’t really ripe yet so it actually didn’t smell bad at all. The fruit itself was like a custard texture and it wasn’t bad but it didn’t wow me either. Anyway I got to try it finally which was cool.
December 30th, 2001
So I finally added a hammock to the garden yesterday, and yes, pretty much ever since, I’ve been laying in it and reading and relaxing in my new spot. The hammock was given to me by Martin who had bought it in Bangkok but then didn’t need it because his bungalow had one already. It fits very well in my garden I must say. Martin is now over on Ko Mok (another island) so I guess that was his going away gift to me. When Jim left he gave me a beach mat and for the time being I’ve been borrowing Brent’s speakers and CD’s so yeah, I’ve got a nice set up.
Didn’t do too much yesterday besides add some more coral to the garden and get the hammock up. Finished another book and started a new one and well that’s about it. Brent and I hung out for a bit last night (him testing out the hammock) listening to some music and then we both crashed early. All of the late nights at the Reggae Bar had finally caught up to us both.
Mixture of sun and clouds today (perfect hammock weather)… Already went for a one-hour walk along the beach this morning (not much coral to collect because the tide is all the way in). Think I’ll check my email after lunch and then go back to the book I’m reading. One of these days I’ll get to the caves on the island and do a one-day four-island snorkling trip, but so far I’ve just been too relaxed to bother.
This evening will probably involve more card playing between Joe, Brent, and me…Brent is heading to Bangkok in 2 days so we’ve got to take advantage of him as a good card player while we can. He’s planning to head over to India next I think (plans always changing).
December 28th, 2001
Recovery mode. Long night last night. Vaguely remember Brent mentioning something about 4am. We closed the Reggae Bar. Watched the moon set over the horizon during the time that we were there. Several empty bottles of Sang Sum (Thai rum) laying under our table. Many, many laughs being had. Good Christmas.
My present to myself yesterday was a one-hour Thai massage – the first one I’ve had actually in a few weeks. Then, in the afternoon, Brent and I went over to Joe’s place and we played cards and drank ice cream shakes with Bailey’s (Brent bought a bottle in town yesterday). Later we went across the street for a Christmas dinner of garlic bread, red wine, and spaghetti. We made a short stop at the Sanctuary to say hi to some people and then set off for the Reggae Bar. Already there were Martin and his friend Marjoric. After a bit Brian and Dana showed up (the American couple from Alaska). That’s when the heavy consumption of Sang Sum and Coke began. Good people to spend Christmas with…Lots of laughs had by all. We almost sent Martin to Phi-Phi in an inner tube… An excellent fire show by Leo, one of the Thai guys at the Reggae Bar…universal fun.
December 26th, 2001
Christmas morning on Ko Lanta! I just had a veggie omelet with Martin and we are getting ready to head over to the Sanctuary for some coffee and toast, mostly in an effort to recover from last night…
Yesterday Brent and I decided to walk to Sala Dan, the main town on the island, which is about a 4-5 mile walk along the beach. The sun was out and we were happy to spend the day outside in the sunshine after the past few days of rain. It took about 2 hours to get to town – it was a little slow going around the rocky stretch in between Long Beach and the next beach north but we were really in no hurry so we just took our time and talked and looked for shells.
In town we were faced with the Christmas Eve hustle and bustle of all the tourists trying to buy snacks and drinks for their holiday celebration. There is only one bank on the island and it has an ATM but it was out of order so I had to wait in the long line of tourists to get more money. Not so bad though – after 30 minutes it was done and I was restocked with plenty of BAHT.
We had a nice relaxing lunch at one of the small restaurants on the waterfront enjoying the breeze and occasional boat passing by. Then for whatever reason I said why don’t we walk back too and Brent said ok and we were able to watch the sunset as we headed back along the beach. We scaled the rocky section just as it was getting dark – lucky for us because it would have been difficult at best to negotiate in the dark.
After 4 hours of walking we were happy to sit down and drink several rum and Cokes outside my bungalow. Sitting, drinking, talking, and listening to music somehow passed the time for the next few hours and before we knew it a bottle of rum was nearly gone and we were off to the Reggae Bar for dancing under the moonlight. Not a typical Christmas Eve by any means but a great one anyway if you ask me.
Today I plan to eat pizza for lunch and maybe drink some red wine in the afternoon to get into the holiday spirit.
Hope everyone at home has a Merry Christmas!
Scenery on Ko Lanta
December 25th, 2001
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