"This Lanta's my land..."

There is one thing lovely Laos does not have. Beaches. So we set off on holiday to the alluring beaches and islands of southern Thailand. Our initial travel day from Vientiane to Bangkok was, as they say, una pesadilla (I’ll save that story for elsewhere). But, after a couple of pleasant days in Bangkok, we flew down to Krabi Province, picked up the minivan, and a couple of hours and car ferries later, arrived on Ko Lanta, a good sized island in the Andaman Sea.

It has been really nice the first few days, discounting Jen’s getting sick on our first night and her spending the subsequent day in bed. Scratch that. Our bungalow is beautiful and mere steps from the sea, set on a sweet two kilometer swathe of clean sand. The sea is warm and smooth, the people are nice and the weather warm and breezy.

We have met a few characters here. The proprietress of the bungalows, Annie, is awesome and has apparently taken a shine to us. Today, she took us on a tour of the island, and tonight cooked us a delicious  Thai meal featuring the fresh prawns we bought this afternoon from the Muslim fisherfolk on the other side of the island. Unbelievable. The bar on the beach is run by Pas, a local cat who somehow identifies with American Indians and has the costuming to prove it.

Last night, I sat in with some local musicians at the “Guitar Bar”, knocking out versions of tunes from Chuck Berry to Hank Williams. Good fun. We walk on the beach, and swim in the sea, and drink beer and relax. So far so good!