Put the lime in the coconut...

The freshest, most simple drink in the universe:

Beached as bro!

We're loving life at the beach so much, that we have resolved to spend as much time on various sea fronts as possible before we have to leave south east Asia at the end of February. Cambodia and Laos may have to make way for a further two months of living like sandy hippies, mostly in Vietnam, which we are heading to after celebrating the New Year in here in Thailand. Our two water babies are thriving in the pool and sea and these subsets at the end of a busy beachy day are sublime:

We're jammin'!

Bernie and I both enjoyed an hour (plus) massage on the beach before we left the bungalow that had quickly become home. We made some nice friends; a single Canadian lady called Nicky who kindly shared the costs of our trip to the elephants and old town, a German family we plan to visit in Berlin next year and some Swiss and Anglo-French families too. We ate breakfast and dinner at the nearby Sonya restaurant. despite it sharing the name with a cheesy 80's pop star, it was a Thai family owned and operated restaurant that was great value for money, had heaps of kids toys and they even took the time to take Bernie into the kitchen to learn how to make the Pad Thai dish she enjoyed most nights. Due to the hot weather and being busy at the beach, we skip lunch each day, but loved our first proper taste of Thai holidaying at the friendly beach resort.

 

This is our masseuse who can be as gentle as a butterfly and as strong as an ox at the same time - the best $12 / 5 quid I've spent on a massage!

 

Today we moved to the aptly named Dream Team resort which is simply stunning. This is what I dreamt of visiting when we hatched our travel plans. We were kindly upgraded to a more deluxe room (we always book the 'standard room' option) which has a sea / pool view and air conditioning. Plus we have no less than two double beds for the four of us rather than one - living the dream or what?!

 

Here's a fly-by of the place

 

The sea is warm, but the pool has a slide, waterfall and is crystal clear so we spent most of the day here:

Sweet little Lily: 

The lace is pretty quiet - we cant wait for Liad, Tanya and David to arrive tomorrow!

 

We had good fun playing with my cheap Chinese Go-pro rip-off today; Will's been perfecting his "Cannon balls!"

 

 

He is getting so confident in the water and his sister isn't far behind:

 

Boom!


 Merry Xmas everybody... it may be winter here, but it certainly doesn't feel like it!

Sunset at dinner!

Not too shabby a place to eat dinner; the Mangrove restaurant is next to out new resort and is the Café del Mar of Koh Lanta... but without decent music and pissed-up chavs... you can't have it all right?! As usual with phones and sunsets, the pictures do not do justice to the staggering beauty of the experience, but I want to remember this evening where Lily had an accident in the toilet department, got bitten by a dog (not badly thank feck) and nearly got her head knocked off by a rock launched by her 'energetic' brother... the sun then sank, as did a fine banana daiquiri and the world was fine again... I hope this blog doesn't fool you into thinking that it's all plain sailing and double-rainbow moments too!

Pics

Elefantastic!

We are truly living the dream here in Koh Lanta. Most of the day is spent at the beach; swimming, snorkeling, playing Frisbee, and collecting cool shells and pieces of coral. Will can now swim without flotation devices and Lily is getting more confident too. 

Our day with the elephants yesterday was truly awesome. After riding them, we got to feed them pineapple and bananas. Watching Mane use his trunk to eat whilst looking into his eye was such a great experience, one I celebrated with many Chang (elephant) beers! We have some great neighbours here and shared the cost of a driver for the day who took us and out Canadian friend around the island for the day. The Thai people are such positive and humble people. The Buddhist way of life makes for a very genuine and trusting people who will literally do anything for a few dollars. This island is very peaceful and without sleaze, but learning about the sex trade and human trafficking on other island is so sickening. I can't believe they will lock up a tourist for smoking a joint, whilst selling a young daughter to a life of pristitution. 

Rant over, life is idylic on this island. They appear to have a policy of employing 6 people for each job so staff are plentiful and appear to challenge each other for the biggest smile! Thailand is not as cheap as we thought, but we're happy to pay a little more when we hear that it goes towards paying for an education for their children; school ain't free here sadly.

This is our view from our bungalow:

And this is the beach at sunrise

Wow! Does Palin travel like this?!

So the train beds were comfortable, but we did have to share... The train wasn't the only thing running out of Bangkok, my tummy was too, so poor Bernie had to share one bed with both of the kids, whilst I went between the other bed and the hole in the floor!
Our beds were at the far end of a carriage, where huge bang's sounded out every few seconds. It sounded like a heavy metal door slamming, but came from under the floor and there was no way to stop it... Sleep was intermittent for Bernie and I at best, but our awesome kids mostly slept through it all as we rattled and banged through the Thai countryside. We were then kicked off shortly after 4.30 in a railway town and have to wait until 7.30 for our connecting bus towards the coast... We should be there by noon... Not very Michael Palin-esque and not what I had in mind, but we're somehow still smiling and as long as we get to our island, Koh Lanta (and can find accommodation for tonight!) We'll be in a much better position than before... Fingers crossed!