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Published: March 1st 2011
Our last week in Thailand! We have mixed emotions about leaving. We will definately miss our time here but are looking forward to Vietnam. Here's a quick summary of what we have been up to this past week!
We were at a 1st birthday party this week. Beo (owner of Sweet and Sour Restaurant) has a little boy who turned one. (Bot!) A cute little guy who dances, says "crap"(means hello) and does the Thai bow! We all had icecream and cake with candles and singing. He plays in a little paddling pool in the middle of the restaurant floor! He actually lives with his grandma and grandpa about 2 hours away. This is very common when the parents work wherever they can get a job. When we show pictures of our grandson Parker, many of the Thai people wonder why he is not with us here!!
We actually had a few hours of cloud and a little wind during the late afternoons this week. It was a welcome relief, especially a breeze on the beach. Basically I would say there is a weather guarantee here in Lanta during the dry season for tourists!
We were on a
searching mission the other day!! (aka paparatsi sp??) According to a map, Leonardo DeCaprio has a house on the island just behind where we are staying! We thought we found the road so started the ride in by scooter. After awhile the road seemed to take a major climb so we thought we had better turn back. However, the road and scenery were beautiful .... a lush forest of lovely sweeping palm trees. I think Leonardo has a house in every exoctic place in the world!! Local people have heard about it but no one seems to really know!!
I treated myself one day and booked in at The Dreamy Spa. It is an unusual and upscale spa for Koh Lanta in that it is partly indoors, provides music, waterfalls, birds and a very calming atmosphere. The chairs are all covered in silk and seems very professional compared to the massages on the beach (which I might add are fantastic as well!)They offer every service imaginable. I opted for the Thai Royal Oil Massage and a pedicure. The only difference from the beach massages is instead of paying $8 you pay $18 which is crazy when you compare it
Supper at Boy's
Boy is in the red shirt and did the cooking!to what we pay at home! The massage was excellent! Another great thing is if you get a haircut it automatically comes with a cranial massage!
Another highlight of our trip so far would have to be our supper invitation from Boy (31 yrs) who is the chef at our resort. We have gotten to know him quite well. He speaks a little english and is always so friendly and smiley. On Thursday we followed him on the scooter to his family's house behind the main road. We met his mother (Suzanne) his wife "A" and a brother in law and nephew. They were so welcoming. They spoke quite good english so it was a fun evening. They have a very nice and spacious Thai home in a lovely garden and a few rooms to rent for 200 bhats ($6). We all sat around a large round table on high stools and were offered beer and some herbal Thai whiskey. Then Boy brought out the food he had been cooking. Wow, it was fantastic. Dried pork, singapore noodles, ginger beef, wild rice, morning glory etc. What a treat! We were each given a little saucer and you just dig
in. We all took a shot of the Thai whiskey from the same glass! Thai culture is great. The mom wants us to stay with them next time we come to Thailand. In fact she said she will let us have her big fancy bedroom!!The only drawback would be no A/C or pool! Anyway, it was a memorable evening.
On our last morning we went to see a Swedish friend of ours house that she rents for $800 for a year!! Nila stays on Lanta for 6 months of the year. Her 12 year old son attends a Swedish school when they are here. She has the type of job she can leave for 6 months and considers Thailand her second home. Her flat (as she calls it is true Thai style - concrete, small, compact, with a Thai toilet, very comfortable and all she and her son really need. She buys furniture, appliances, clothes etc here and just leaves everything here when she returns to Sweden. Her home is up in the hills and quite scenic. She took us arouind to meet some her Thai neighbours who live in the real traditional bamoo huts. Very interesting!
As
we start our journey to Vietnam, we decided to spend a few days in Phuket. We found a lovely resort on Latestays.com on a quaint little beach called "Nai Yang" (north of the busy and crazy beach of Patong that we were at last time). A drawing point for us is that it is only a 5 minute drive from the Phuket aiport where we leave for Bangkok on Monday. Another plus for us is that the resort has 3 pools including one designed for swimming laps. Besides the beautiful beach and water there are lots of little shops and seafood restaurants with dining on the beach. We would highly recommend this place!! It is somewhat eerie when you look out into the calm blue sea that the tsunami almost destroyed this place. There are pictures of places before and after and people who died. It is hard to believe.
We fly to Bangkok on Monday and then on to Hanoi on Tuesday. Apparently it is only around 20 degrees there! Yikes! What will we do??? However a few days south of Hanoi it will be hot again. Thanks for reading. next report from Vietnam!
Mallory and Warrren
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Linda and Maurice
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Great photos!
It's good to see you folks out active and having fun. Enjoy!