Koh Lanta. Island paradise. Bamboo cafes and cute bungalows line the beachfront. Music wafts out and bathes the beach babes in happy vibes. Kilometre after kilometre of soft sand stretches out in front of you, begging to be wandered down. Warm midget waves lap at the edge, gently connecting you to the vast ocean, as fishing boats perch on the far-off horizon.
After dark the ambience is even more magical. Colourful lanterns hang from the trees, fairy lights seem to transport you to a make-believe land. And after you pinch yourself, you realise it is all real, and you're the lucky guy who's living in your own dream. Koh Lanta is fabulous.
The water is toasty warm. We've swum a lot, often with pale little fish swimming near the waters edge, trying to blend in with the white sands. Bry's enjoyed reading a stack of books, and Blandy's head's been chocka with daydreaming about projects. The beach is such an inspirational place to be.
The pad Thai we've manged has been amazing. If anyone knows a tried and true recipe then please comment below. There's gotta be a secret ingredient in the pan (and us vegetarians are hoping it's not fish sauce!)
On Lanta it's pretty easy to hire a scooter and buzz around to explore the decent sized island. We stumbled across this reggae restaurant (one of many on the island), and passed the afternoon watching the dark grey cloud gather in the sky around us. Playing Russian roulette, we stayed as long as we could before the skies would open and an ocean's worth of rain would drench us (and our cameras) on our 30 minute ride home. We made it home at the same time as fat raindrops started to fall!
Exploring again the next day, we cruised across the island to the eastern flank. Long straight rows of rubber trees create a sense of orderliness to the otherwise sprawling and meandering countryside.
Old Lanta town was once a thriving trading port, with vessels stopping overnight in the sheltered waters before heading on to distant ports. We found a cute shop called Melee Melee, which is worth a visit if you're in town. Tastefully arranged, there is a creative collection of handcrafted items ranging from clothing and jewellery to cute wooden creations.
The sign above caught our eye! We've seen tons of spelling whoopsies, which at first may drive the OCD to despair, but they're sometimes hilarious. "Deep fried crap (crab)" was a goodie.
New Years Eve was a relaxed affair, we watched the sun set for the last time in 2014, with her bright orange hue dipping below the silver waters. The setting of the sun seems more significant and tangible rather than a few numbers on a watch in the middle of the night... and it was great to experience sunset in such a beautiful spot. We happened to look at the time when it was NZ new year, so we 'cheersed' in sync with our countrymen on the other side of the planet.
After dinner we headed to the beach with our friends Leila and Robin to let off lanterns. Seeing the hundreds of lanterns rise into the sky was super cute. 2014 has been a happy year - as we chatted about all the adventures and fun, a massive surge of thankfulness welled up.
Music blared from restaurant after restaurant down the beach, we fell into a half-asleep in our music-en veloped bamboo bungalow, with an eye open for stray fireworks landing on our frond roof.
We are entirely fortunate. Our eyes function, our minds are positive and sharp (most of the time!). Our arms and legs work. We have amazing people who love us and we are to glad to be loved in return. We come from an insanely beautiful and well-organised country, where people want to do the right thing. We've been able to have this month-after-month fabulous adventure to exotic spots on the other side of the world. That's just the start, there's so much to be grateful for!
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