November 5-19.
I lived on Koh Lanta for two weeks. It was my happy place! :D The original intent was one week for travel burnout rehab, but I was cured within the first two days and I just loved this darn Thai island so much I ended up staying until my visa expired (and then one day more, oops!).
Every day began with a morning swim on my nearly-private beach.
For most the time, I had my own bungalow for US$10/night. When I was in French West Africa for a month, I had been daydreaming of it haha.
It was basic, clean, comfortable, and ALL MINE! The beach was a minute’s walk away.
I almost felt domestic, keeping it tidy inbetween hammock sessions.
Scooters were US$5/day and the same for a full tank. (FREEDOM! JOYRIDING!) Sam, the owner/manager(?), was really sweet.
Blog for a few hours, long leisurely lunch, floating meditation in the afternoon in the ocean, hanging out with other (interesting!) travellers who also fell in love with the place… There was such an absence of any stress at all, it was blissful. The biggest concern was deciding what I wanted to eat for dinner.
Part of the reason I love Koh Lanta was all the fun/amazing/interesting people I met.
Everyday was a new story.
Sunset was a social event.
There were beach bar parties but I never went to them.
Chill Out House was a treehouse-idea community that my travel best friend Kenan had recommended.
His sixth-grade ex-girlfriend, who owns the place, said that he had ended up staying about three weeks.
I could always go there to meet people or hang out.
There was a group of five French guys who had gone to uni together and met up periodically. They were super fun! I met up with Julian and Stephane when I passed through Bangkok on my way out of the country.
Rawy had fallen in love with Koh Lanta as well. He and I were kind of the last ones left of the original group when I left.
Skinny dipping team!
Other days I would just ride around the island to see what I could find. A super cool girl from Los Angeles named Diana joined me for this particular day. We had a lovely date together hahaha.
I forget what we ordered but I went back to this restaurant/cooking school that Emilio and Simon introduced me to several times.
Some days it rained in the mornings or evenings.
My buddy Phil who I had met way back in the beginning of my trip back in January was finishing his travels and stopped by before he went back to the UK.
One snorkelling tour took us to the Emerald Cave, which will require its own blog post. It was remarkable.
One of the other islands on the snorkelling tour.
Definitely a place I could return to. <3
V for Vacay! 