Wow, it’s been a long time since I wrote anything here. I guess I’ve been on island time (yes, I know, even before we got to the island…).
OK, this wasn’t actually our resort – just one of several amusing sights on our walk
We came here from Bangkok and have been taking it easy. Really easy. A bit of a long walk one day, a little poking around, but really a lot of not much besides beach, beach restaurants, laying around reading, cards and vodka in the evening before dinner. Some of it, of course, has been the joyous reading about Democrats actually winning a battle in Congress; how often does that happen? But while there’s not much here, we’ve enjoyed our stay – so much, in fact, that we’re staying an extra day!
This is practically the definition of flexibility: we’re at breakfast at 8:00 AM yesterday, and are scheduled to get on a truck at 9:30 to take us to the port where we’ll catch a boat to the mainland. It’s been raining for a couple days, but the morning sky was mostly clear so I asked Mark, “Should we just stay another day?” Within 30 minutes we’d changed our reservation to just one night instead of two in Chanthaburi and added a day here.
The beach on a sunny day
The beach on a stormy day
We love our hotel – a little low key, but right on the beach, nice pool (that I haven’t been in … why would you go in a pool when you’re on an island in the Gulf of Thailand?), very relaxing. Except it appears as though someone took Mark’s sandals when he left them outside the door to keep from bringing sand in the room. Strange.
On the other hand, the good news is that Mark’s shoulder and back problems are much better. It’s probably some combination of just time, affordable massages, and tiger balm. Apparently the charge is about $8 for a 40-minute massage. Between that and the $12 lunches (that are really good), we can’t afford not to be in Thailand…
Colorful vendors
And colorful kids
From here we’re moving inland, first to Chanthaburi, a small town where they sell gems, mostly just as a stop en route to the Cambodia border. Then we’re off to Battambang, Cambodia, an old colonial town that we’ve heard good things about. In fact, when we were chatting with a manager at the hotel and told him where we were going his eyes lit up and he told us he’s always wanted to go there. Well, that’s where we’re off to soon!