Christmas Thai Style!

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Well the day had finally arrived! And no we don't mean Christmas.... The Sock had arrived in Thailand! (Mike for everyone who doesn't know him, and of course he didn't come alone, Kari too!)

Mike and Kari arrived from Vancouver via LA, Bangkok, Krabi and then finally Koh Lanta on the afternoon Christmas Eve. And Christmas Eve being the bigger celebration than Christmas Day itself, preparations were in full swing at La Lanta. Still didn't really feel like Christmas but I am sure we can get into the swing of things!

The resort put on a huge buffet filled with Thai specialties, alongside a couple roast turkeys, salads and probably every kind of seafood you could imagine. It was amazing. Along with the guests staying there which is about 40 people probably, some of the staff and owners families and friends were there so it really was a good mix of people. Felt like a big family gathering.

And then there was 'The Show'.... where to begin with that.... We didn't really know what to expect but let's just say I think it exceeded everyone's expectations! It started off with some traditional Thai dancing, then the power went out (think the 3 massive trees strung with lights that they erected might have had something to do with that...), then some more Thai dancing, followed by some games where they gave away a snorkelling trip, then some more Thai dancing then to top it all off – out of the stage appears Chico the manager of the resort dressed in drag lip-syncing and dancing around and making eyes with all the men in the resort! At one point the power went out again and he said "Ladies lock up your husbands!". Needless to say he had Brett and Mike running! It was hilarious. He/she performed another couple numbers, even emerging out of the pool one time and decided to later fit into one of the girls skimpy Mrs Claus outfits. The pictures hardly do it justice! Think Mike was wondering what he got himself into coming to Thailand if this was his first night (Kari has been to Thailand before....)

All in all in ended up being a fun night – although a bit late Kari and I managed to sneak off to our rooms at about 2am while Brett and Mike were about 3, and we heard there was quite a few people up til 5am. Glad it wasn't us! Christmas Day wasn't to eventful, we had some brekky, a swim, exchanged a few gifts, sat in the sun and chilled and then Brett started to feel worse.... We all thought it might be a hangover since him and Mike were behind the bar more than they were in front of it I think mixing Mai Tai's and various other concoctions.... But seems as if he did pick up some sort of bug since he didn't barely leave the room for the next 4 days. Poor guy. We did have some antibiotics with us so he took those and he had a few Thai home remedies from the staff. The rest of us were lucky we didn't get it!

The last day we were on Koh Lanta before heading to the next island, we did manage to get Brett out and onto a scooter for an all day event of cruising around. Probably not the best thing to be riding around on a small scooter with no shocks and bumpy roads, but he pulled it off quite well and was a trooper. We went to the other side of the island which took about 40 minutes and to check out Old Lanta Town which was a long history dating back 500 years when the first Chao Lay fishermen (now sometimes referred to as sea people or sea gypsies) who came from Indonesia, and then Muslims from Indonesia, Malaysia arrived and then 200 years ago Chinese merchants arrived. And to this day, Old Town is predominantly occupied by Thai Chinese families who have descended from those original settlers and you can see this reflected in the buildings, gas chinese lantern street lights and the Chinese influence food on the menus of most of the restaurants. There is no beach here just a few restaurants and some shops, and we made a pit stop for some lunch and ended up having some of the best Spicy Noodle soup here. It was so good and just what we needed in the heat!

And a day on scooter is never really just a day on a scooter without a few adventures.

This time it included Mike almost high fiving a monkey on a guard rail. Then next the 4 of us came around the next corner to see 2 monkeys having "a moment" in the middle of road. This then caused us all to start laughing our heads off at as they scampered away. Which then must not have impressed the male monkey as he turned back and lunged at Mike and Kari on the scooter. Fangs and all! He was not a happy monkey to have been interupted doing his business. He was literally a foot away from attacking them which proceeded to make Brett and I laugh even harder as we road past.

Brett and I also managed to get a flat tire going at a pretty good speed and of course none of the helmets fit our big Canadian heads and you are wearing flip flops so could of not been so good... but luckily we were on a straight stretch and were able to pull off and slow down. Of course we were in an area with not much around so we started pushing it up to a pullout when along came a local on a tuk tuk who stopped and then proceeded to load our scooter into the side of his tuk tuk (which is basically another scooter with a side cart built on the side with bench seats and a little roof). Of course it barely fit and with one wheel hanging out, we both climbed in just as Mike and Kari pulled up and they started cracking up! It was pretty hilarious. Plus they were probably happy to see this instead of us sprawled on the road!

Other than that, we did spend quite a bit of time around the pool, relaxing (well the 3 of us did anyways, as Brett barely left the room for 4 days.) Before we knew it though our time at LaLaanta was over and it was time to head to our next island. Will be hard to top LaLaanta that's for sure, but we are excited to check out a new spot, but we will definitely be back. It's that kind of place....!

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