Koh Lanta- the island life.

this was my inspiration for my trip. its all i wanted.

pictures to be added when i can go upstairs and get my cameras card.

After picking up a bunch of snacks and goodies for the hours on the train we were off. The goal was koh lanta, a medium size island off the west coast, but we made goals of south, a ride to the coast, a ferry, and a guest house on any island were the only requisites. After we were on the train for an hour or two I made the statement that it would probably be about this time the next day when we alas put our toes in the sand at our hotel. At the time it sounded pretty wild but it eventually turned out to be true. The train wasn't nearly as bad as the last time I took it by a long shot. For one thing there were leas than half as many people on it and more importantly I had someone to talk with. Jess is a super cool German
chick. She's into alternative music and puts nirvana, white stripes, and audioslave amongst some of her favorite. She is 22 but will start university next year. She has a bunch of cool tatoos and at one point I
used the line" I can't wait to see you in a bikini to see all your different ratios" even before unsaid it I knew it sounded ridiculous but that didnt stop me. Haha. she told me all about them and there
meanings and it was pretty awesome to hear their story. She had 8 stars around her body that stood for her birthday on 8/9/88, a pinup girl on her leg, some white stripe lyrics on her ribs, and two birds on her back. She also told me about her girlfriend who at the moment was traveling in central America. They couldn’t agree where to go so one went east and one west. Wild. That's one way to counteract all the couple I have see traveling. We had great conversation on the train and both got significant sleep.
This night train also didn't have nearly as many hawkers, or at least it didn't seem like it.

When we got to Trang we had to find a bus that would take us to the island. About a 2 hour drive and 2 ferries it cost just as much as our 14 hour ticket! By the time we got to the island we were feeling a
little weary so weren't to excited at the prospect of having to find some cheap accommodations. We would have had to take a tuk tuk abiut 7km south to find a place but didn't want to pay that fare. We
started walking and eventually gave in to paying for the taxi. I hate getting nickel and dined and it's the easiest way to bleed money but it was hot and we had our bags and it was what had to happen at the time. When we told the driver where we wanted to go he suggested somewhere else. Favorably priced he also said he would take us there for free. Generally a bad idea to take advice like this but we went with it. If we did t like it, at least we were closer to somewhere else. The place he brought us to wasn't very nice and didn't have a great beach view. We thanked him for trying and hustled off down the beach to find another place. About a hundred yards down we found a sweet reggae bar and bungalow. nice views, restaurant, stereo, wifi, cheap, sold. We dropped our bags in our beachside bungalow for 350b a night and called sea culture our home for the next 3 nights.

On the island I did a whole bunch of not much. Sitting on the beach and reading a book was the main source of entertainment and for a change of scenery I would take up residence in the hammock I brought. The island was pretty nice but as would be expected was extremely touristy. So full if westerners in fact hat it was difficult to find a decent priced and tasting Thai meal. By far the most rouble I have had trying to find something to eat. A quiet first night was spent on the beach with a few beers to ring in my birthday. I walked the beach but it was relatively quiet on our little inlet. The next morning I awoke to the waves crashing on the shores and I was super nice because it hadn't
been high tide when we arrived an everything looked much much nicer with higher waters. Anyway a book on the beach was how I spent the morning until Jesse and I took the moped we rented the night before out for some exploring and lunching. We enjoyed riding along and had freshly picked bananas for lunch. (like they were hanging on the tree a few hourds ago) We rode by some poorly treated elephants on the side of the road and an interesting entertainment complex with a man made lake you could fish in. Kind of cool I guess, but your on the ocean....there should be some cooler stuff to catch than a stocked pond smaller than a football field. Regardless. we rode around on he moped for awhile and explored the island and it's multiple beaches and busy areas for half if he day For lunch we
stumbled upon his market that had some sticky rice ( a wild phenomenom I don't think I've given justice to...) with little bits of fried onions mixed in. I started with one packet but needed 2 more before I left.
I grabbed my first freshly squeezed sugar cane juice for a drink and we headed to the hostel to sit on the beach. By the time we rode back I was craving the deliciousness of the onions I had just devoured and
made the decision that I was just going to drive back and get some more. 6 little packages total (most people would have 2 or 3 with a piece of chicken and be plenty satisfied) i was sitting on the beach
with my book in hand. I had traded the Dan brown book digital fortress for an Ozzy Osbourne biography. Although highly entertaining it didn't get very personal or delve to deep into anything but just told alot of very funny stories. (addicitve though, as I finished it the next night) Before dinner Jesse and I wandered around the edge of our little cove area into another seemingly deserted beach. There were no
bars or hotels on that little patch and it was pretty cool to see such a nice uninhabited little stretch. We didn’t have our camera with us so we didn't get any pictures but a few times we took mental snapshots
that we won't soon forget. For dinner I had some fried rice (surprise) and a papaya salad with some Orange fanta. It was delicious and Jesse said happy birthday for the first time when she went and paid the bill. As we were riding back we found this coffee shop that looked like it might have ice cream
so I pulled an abrupt stop for a visit. I ordered a big ice cream sundae with chocolate chip ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream and cherry. Yum yum yum is all I can say. Not an ashleys cake but a close second place. The coffee shop was really well designed and had some comfortable furniture. Apparently it was attached with a high end reality company so all around were brochures and guides selling these absolutely amazing and beautiful houses on surrounding islands. Houses that cost millions of US dollars but that would have multiple pools and levels on a cliff face overlooking the waters of Bali or some other serene location. Amazing. We stayed there until it closed looking through the phot books and before heading home for (suprise) some hammock laying and reading while Jesse used her computer. By far the most mellow and low key birthday I ever had I think I only heard the words 2 or 3 times all day. I had a great day on a beach which was all I really wanted anyway.

The next day we again spent exploring on the moped checking out the island again. We made our departure plans for the next day and did a loop around almost the entire island. At the very south of the
island we found some nice resorts that would be worth commuting to if we ever went to the island. When we got back in the late afternoon we narrowly missed a massive rain shower that poured it on for about 3 hours. Luckily the hammock was set up on the covered porch!! We were supposed to return the moped at night but the shipowner wasn't around when we went (scared off by the rain is our only guess why) that allowed us to go a little farther and explore a little bit more before we left and so a few more hours on a bike were a nice little closing time. The next morning I would be up and out by 7:30. I had a massive travel day ahead. Before I went to sleep that night though I used Jess computer to hop on facebook and see all the goodwishes everybody sent my way. That was pretty awesome and the picture Nate and Alex took on haight st. was a major highlight. So cool. It definitely made me miss alot if things and people back home but it's ok though because I am pretty ready to head back. I have alot of awesome stuff to look forward to and it starts up Boom! right when I get back..