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Young Boy on a Motorcycle
Every time we've seen a big group of kids on a bike I haven't had my camera ready. This is as close to an example of it as I've been able to shoot. Now I'm keeping my camera at the ready whenever we are out, who knows what shot I might get?King is in town! We didn't realize it until a procession of flashing royal vehicles and police cars brought everyone around us to their feet in a deep wai, but apparently HM is on vacation in Koh Lanta. It was a very special and great honor to catch a glimpse of the most important person in Thailand, right outside our front door! He is the soul of the country, and all the Thai people feel a deep respect towards him. His photograph can be found on the inside of every restaurant, shop, and store in the country. Luck is smiling on us 😊
We've been here in Lanta for two weeks now, and the place is really beginning to feel like home. Seth has grown into driving around on our little yellow moped, which we use to get all around town. We've seen four moped crashes so far, luckily none of them serious. We're going to start carrying around a first aid kit on the bike so that Kendall can apply her nursing skills when needed. The traffic situation in Thailand is unique - there are three accepted lanes on a one-and-a-half lane wide road. There are the side lanes,
which are for mopeds allowing traffic to pass, and then there is a nebulous middle lane of death that belongs to the brave and the strong. In a Darwinian fashion, the Thai people are whittled down to a population of ever more deadly drivers. It is not unusual to see four six year old children, one holding a toddler, taking a corner at 60kph with one hand on the wheel. Thankfully our hotel is near everything we need, so we don't spend any more time on the roads than necessary.
We have already had one injury on this trip-- Seth tore the entire callus off his right big toe on his first day at Muay Thai, so we went to a fish spa to have it cleaned. The Garra Rufa fish eat dead skin and leave living skin unharmed, and have been used in the middle east for centuries to help people with skin diseases. This being the low season, the fish were starved! We sat, Seth read and I did some sketches of the Dr. Fish while our feet were devoured by tiny mouths. It tickled but was very pleasant.
While we are on the subject of
Boy Snake Master
This is a Sea Krite.... in his mouth. injury and health, I'm happy to report that as of yet we have suffered no sunburns! The constant application of 100spf sunscreen is tedious but effective, even so we are still accumulating tans. We are beginning to run low on the precious substance. Due to the high demand from pasty white tourists like ourselves, and the fact that the locals don't actually need it, sunscreen is outrageously priced. One bottle can cost up to 700 baht (about $20). Seth has been suffering a terrible head cold for the last week, possibly due to the high humidity and large amounts of dust in the air, and his knee has been bothering him after we hike too much. But none of this has been holding us back, and we've been having adventure after adventure.
Yesterday went out to see the Lanta Snake Show. We turned off the main road down a long dirt path that lead to a house surrounded by a green garden. Two young boys ran out to meet us. Shortly after a man drove up on his motorbike to greet us and show off their snake garden. When locals discover a snake in their yard or bungalow, the
Sizzling Meat on a Stick
One of the food stalls we frequent. owners of the snake garden are called to remove it. This humane effort allows the preservation of local snake diversity, and keeps the untrained locals from being bitten by one of the five deadly snakes that inhabit it island. All of the venomous snakes can kill within one hour, and a full envenomation from a king cobra takes less than fifteen minutes. The snakes in the snake show are fanged and deadly, and the handlers milk the snakes at the end of each show then send the venom off to the local hospital to produce antivenom for the island. Amazingly, it is illegal to possess antivenom if you are not a doctor, and the hospital is 40 minutes away, so the handlers are flirting with death every day! And they have a ten year old boy doing the second half of the show. Thailand, y'all.
We were able to see a massive four and a half meter long King Cobra from about two feet away, as well as yellow banded sea kraits, monocled cobras, a variety of vipers, coconut snakes, and others. In the first half of the show the owner performed with three cobras,
using his knees to direct them. You have to be fast, careful, and courageous to kiss a cobra. Limbs and lives have been lost doing these shows. In the second half of the show one of the young boys who greeted performed with two sea kraits, the world's most potent poisonous snake. I struggle to reconcile the two worlds I see here. For us, the island is a place of peace, beauty, and escape from reality. The people we meet live with a smile on their face and Bob Marley posters on their walls. And yet this land breeds hard people. People who can withstand 106 degree heat, who ride motorcycles with infants strapped to their backs helmetless, who fight against monstrous summer storms that force them to rebuild every few years. And children who can hold a sea krait in between their teeth.
Here, children go to work with their parents daily. Restaurants, bars, food stands, and even snake show swam with children. There is one restaurant that Seth and I have begun to frequent right across the street from our hotel. With 40baht salads and 100 baht main dishes it is hard to pass up their incredible
Dinner Side Fire Show
Seth and I were enjoying a fresh seafood dinner on the beach when we were pleasantly surprised by the neighboring bar's fire show. homestyle food. It is more than homestyle, because the restaurant is run out of this family's home. Their eldest daughter helps serve, while the mother cooks, and the 3 year old helps to take the orders and entertain the customers. Up until now we have eaten at a different place for each meal. Food is such a huge part of the culture here that there is a restaurant or street food every few feet. And the food is incredible. I never knew how good the "on a stick" preparation of food could be. The fish is freshly caught, the beef is lean but full of flavor, and the chicken you'll eat tomorrow is grazing next to you while you eat your dinner. And if you are looking for a show, there could even be some firedancers right down the beach from you!
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KC
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KENDALL DON'T TOUCH SNAKES
Wow! What an amazing trip. And amazing photos. KJ, you're getting good! Seffypoo, how's the training going? Hope your toe is feeling better after the fishies. How much longer do you think you'll be in Lanta? What good fortune to see the King. If he's vacationing in Lanta, it must be a good place to be!