Far From Worries

While planning this trip I had the occuring feeling that it wasn't going to happen. I guess with an adventure this grand it just seems almost too much; fantasy like in a way. Our computer's screensaver in Santa Barbara had a picuture of a beautiful beach in Thailand on it for months. Every once and a while it would change to a waterfall or some other picturesque location, but always Thailand. It's a strange feeling when you seem to have jumped inside the screensaver. That's exactly what has happened. Mike and I have been spending time on the most stunning beaches we've ever seen. We joked that we feel like we are in a Corona commercial. It's a bit nuts.

How did we get so lucky to see this beautiful place? We just have to pinch ourselves to make sure its true. Life is sweet, so sweet and the only worry we have is the slight tug back to reality. Our adveture is a little less that two weeks shy of being over. This cloud does have a silverlining though; we miss YOU! And by 'you' I mean our wonderful families and friends. We are excited to get back to you and catch up. Until then, we are playing extra hard and making the most of our precious time here.

This is how we play...

After a 17 hour train ride, a 2 hour bus ride, and 1 hour on a speed boat we finally arrived on Koh Lipe which is an Island off the Southern tip. We spent 5 wonderful days on the spectacular beaches of Koh Lipe. We went snorkeling and just lounged with our toes in the white fine sand. Mike even found Nemo! We ate fresh barbequed squid that melted in our mouths. Yummy! We stayed at the Mountain resort on Sunlight Beach which had views that took our breath away. We also stayed on the other side of the island near Hat Pattaya Beach at Koh Lipe Resort which had lots of cool restaurants.

Both accomodations we're lovely. We had an extra treat at Koh Lipe Resort though. We had the pleasure of enjoying the company of the sweetest puppy. She was adorable. I just melted. We even let her sleep in our Bungalow. She just rambled all over the resort getting scraps from everyone and sleeping on which ever blanket she wanted to. It was hard to leave her behind but she's got a great life; she lives on Koh Lipe after all.

Though Koh Lipe was beautiful we had a bunch more to see so we reluctantly said, "Goodbye" and took a speed boat back to Pak Bara and then to a bus up to Krabi. Krabi is such a beach cute town right. We spent a night in Krabi hitting the food stalls which are so unbelievably yummy and inexpensive you eat AND eat AND eat for next to no money. Very cool!

We spent Valentines Day at Ao Nang. We splurged on a fancy room with airconditioning, a pool, HBO, and a balcony for $2300 baht (about $60 in America). My super romantic boyfriend took me on a sunset longtail boat ride (see why he's the best!). After a dip in the pool at our hotel we had an amazing dinner with a table over looking the beach at a nearby restaurant. We could hear the waves lapping on the shore as we ate. So Romantic! We drank wine and ate delicious steak. It was the best Valentines Day of my life! No work; just me and Mike having a blast together.

Ao Nong is a great beach town with a beautiful promenade right along the water. The shopping is great. There are lots of great art studios and great bars to belly up to and get a drink. We spent a day at Railey Beach which you have to take a long tail boat to and had a great time.

We are just enjoying being beach bums and relaxing by the Ocean. Today we are heading to the island Koh Lanta. We're going to spend a couple of days there. Then we are going to go to Koh Phi Phi, Koh Samui and Koh Phang Nga. You may notice that I am not mentioning Cambodia at all. We decided to skip Cambodia. We would rather unwind before we head back to the states than kill ourselves trying to visit the Angkor Wat.

So the Island life is what we are embracing. We hope this blog finds you happy and well. We love hearing from everyone so post some comments if you have a chance!

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Erin and Mike

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