Day 25 - Wednesday, March 9 - Ko Lanta

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - no, not to me, to the person who's birthday it is today. Just like tradition, my card will be late.

Woke up at 6:30A and got ready. I was the first one out and the beach was as peaceful as I've seen it yet. There are barely any waves here, sometimes a tiny little ripple. I waited for the rest to wake up, I wrote a little in my journal and took a walk on the beach. By 6:50, Tuci and Nadine were out and we had settled our bills.

From the time I had arrived in Lanta on Monday at noon, until this morning, my room and food bill had reached 840 baht and my bar bill was 600 baht. That totals 1440 ($37.89) baht for all food, beverage, and my bunglaow. It would have been even lower if I wasn't such a sport and bought a few rounds of drinks for others. If you really want to, and you don't abuse the bar (including the fresh fruit shakes, soda, beer, etc,) and drink bottled water, you can very easily live on $5 - $6 a day. I love it here!

We got back in that awful pick-up truck and headed back over the dusty windy roads along the various beaches. Tuci and Nadine were going to the pier to catch a boat to Phuket and I was going just a bit north on Ko Lanta to a different beach. While I loved it down south, the beach I'm heading to next is a little more populated. Still no stores, shops, and blatent signs of tourism, I hear this stretch of beach has a few guesthouses / bungalows and not just one like the little beach of Khlong Jack that I had grown to love over the past few days.

The truck dropped me off at Lanta Miami - the suggestion of Alex Sohn's sister. I immediately fell in love with it. The water is great, the bunglaows are clean and newer looking, not as rustic, and the beach, beautiful. They showed me to my bungalow and I settled in. I think I have found 2 great spots on Lanta and managed to avoid all the tourism it has to offer - if indeed there is any. I had breakfast on the beach, and although like Khlong Jack, there are no waves on the beach, just a constant ripple coming in from the sea that gives it a nice relaxing feeling as the swoosh sound hits the beach. I'll just call this place Paradise #2.

After breakfast, I walked the length of the beach (maybe 1.5 miles) and saw some places that looked like they will be great for drinks or possibly dinner tonight if I don't eat at Miami. There even seems to be somewhat of a nightlife in the form of a reggae bar on the beach under a straw hut and another bar that advertises they have "fire show" at 10PM.

Back at MIAMI, I sat on the beach, swam, snorkeld a bit to get ready for my big day trip tomorrow to Ko Rok, an unbelieveable snorkeling sight I'm told, and even managed to take a nap.

That wasn't just ANY nap. This was a nap on a hammock, outside my bungalow, on the beach, in the shade that this great banana tree provided, listening to the sounds of the sea as exotic birds sat overhead singing a song. If this is what heaven is like, sign me up!

I woke up and on my way to the bar, I met Katie and Dave sitting on their porch just a few bungalows down from me. This is a great story. Both 38, he from Boston but living in Seattle and she from Seattle, are traveling for an indefinite period of time. They got married 4 years ago and have been working at the same company for years. They both quit their jobs, sold their condo, sold their cars, and put whatever they wanted to keep in storage, sold the rest, and started the first leg of their trip in Bangkok and now in Ko Lanta. They have no plans and will make it up along the way. They could be gone for 6 months, but probably a year to a year and a half. I would love to talk to them at the end of their journey to hear where they ended up visiting. After a long chat with them, we had a beer at the bar on the beach. After a long while, they headed back to their bungalow and I had dinner. Unlike at Khlong Jack, there are a choice of restaurants here but I chose to stay at Miami.

I wish each and every one of you could be here to experience this with me. Ko Lanta is peace on earth. Lanta Miami is a huge thumbs up and must be put on your list of places. Of course, one mans paradise is another mans shithole so maybe you shouldn't come here and I'll just keep it as my own little hideaway. This isn't the place to come though if you want a wild nightlife, although, I haven't been to the northern beaches where I hear there is a little more action. I don't need to see that in fear it could be anything like Phuket and spoil my image of this place.

I hope to sleep like a baby tonight and wake up well rested for my trip to Ko Rok.