Ko Lanta

I slept maybe half an hour in the hot buggy bungalow last night and gave up around 6. I walked out to sunrise beach and caught the tail end of sunrise before stopping in a bunch of places for breakfast. The street which had been so busy the night before, was deserted and quiet. I bought an egg roll and got a toasty and smoothie to bring back for Gretchen when she woke up. Drinking coffee and walking up and down the deserted beach was a good way to start my morning. 

Our ferry left at 9 and now I understand why they say it doesn't operate in bad weather. The boat was a 45 foot long speed boat with three 250hp engines. The waves were so large at the start of the journey that they were coming way over the bow and soaking all the passengers and their bags. We rode into a small rainstorm and the waves got bigger but it calmed down a little about an hour in. Holding on to the seats was more of a workout than it should have been. The ferry was about 3.5 hours total and stopped at a bunch of islands. Sometimes to drop off or pick up one passenger. We often pulled up to a smaller longboat to and traded passengers there as well. 

There was a Danish couple traveling on the ferry as well and we haloed them hold up a blanket to keep the spray off their 6- month old. 

When we got to koh lanta, we took a tuk-tuk to our hostel on the beach. A tuk tuk is a scooter with a covered side-car cart attached to it. They'll hold about 5 people and are the Thai version of Indian rickshaws. The receptionist was super friendly and told us about all the things to do on the island. It's the biggest one we've been to and it felt like a place where Thai people actually live for things other than tourism. After a quick meal, we rented a scooter and went to explore the island. We had some great views along the scenic road and went to the "old town" which had a bunch of markets, temples, and a historic port. I almost bought gifts for my sisters but I wouldn't have had room in my bag. 

On the way back we stopped and relaxed on a quiet beach and watched the sunset. 

We had booked two tickets to a Muay Thai boxing match for that night and we got picked up in a tuk tuk around 8:45. The fight was held in a warehouse converted to a boxing gym and there were at least six fights. The early ones were children, some looked as young as eight. They wear gloves, which is good, but no other padding. There's a lot of elbows and knees in Muay Thai and watching children fighting was crazy. The match starts with the Thai national anthem and then each fighter does a small ritual. They wear lei's and something that looks like a tennis racquet with the strings removed before the fight. 

There were a few knockouts and the adults hit super hard. It's easy to look at the kids fighting from a western point of view (violence is bad, they should be wearing pads, etc.) but this isn't our world. Having the discipline and direction that comes with martial arts can be a postive thing for young people and all of the fighters showed great sportsmanship and camaraderie, even while kicking each other in the face. The fights ended around midnight and we walked back and passed out immediately. Ferry ride at 8am to koh phi phi and leaving Gretchen in the morning. 

-AB

Glinting on the waves

Reflections of our journey 

The sun sinks lower

This is how they sell gasoline.