The strangest thing happened on the boat from Railay to Ko Lanta – I’m pretty sure I entered a black hole and fell into a time warp where the world stopped moving and all that has existed for 2 weeks are beautiful sunsets and lazy beach days. I planned on spending a couple days here but once I arrived I gave up all notions of leaving. I’m pretty sure I am becoming part of the furniture here, blending into the hammocks and becoming a fluid part of the waves. Ko Lanta brings a different taste of Thailand with it’s population being almost entirely Muslim, which creates a beautiful fusion of cultures and continues to boast the most wonderful people in the world. My days have blended into one, waking up for breakfast on the beach, a motorbike trip to somewhere on the island, a relaxing afternoon on the beach, coconut oil massage on the beach, dinner by candle light on the beach and meeting wonderful people every day (everything clearly based around the beach!). One would think I would be learning a lot about Thai and Muslim cultures, but what I’m actually learning most about is Swedish culture. I think it’s safe to say that Sweden is entirely empty at the moment as every single one of them has seemed to arrive here in Ko Lanta. Guess the word is out about the beauty and peacefulness of this island! Luckily for this island, Swedish people are proving to be a beautiful addition to culture here, always smiling and open to experiencing all that Thailand has to offer.
I tried my hand at yet another cooking class to learn the differences between northern and southern Thai cuisine. I chose the school based on their intriguing menu which included Barracuda in fresh red curry. The class was entertaining, with some amazing food, but barracuda will not be making an appearance on my dinner table back home! After learning how to cook the fish I realized that I wanted to go out and catch my own. So a few of us chartered a long tail fishing boat and headed out to the deep seas. Boat drivers and fishing equipment came included in our deal … the use of the word equipment is used quite loosely. A fistful of fishing line, a rusty old hook, and chopped up squid for bait – no pole, no reel, just a line digging into your skin with every pull of a fish. Luckily (I suppose) I didn’t catch anything too big. What I did reel in was greeted with screams from the Thai fisherman – “No No No, you no touch! Bad! Hurt! No touch!”. Ummm ok. Apparently my fish was evil, complete with spikes and probably full of some sort of poison gauging by their reaction. Every one else got to hold up their prized fish, get the successful photos and even grill it up once back on land – I was not so lucky as mine was removed from the lure and hidden beneath the planks on the boat. After that I gave up on the notion of fishing and just enjoyed life on the boat. We stopped at a remote beach where I got far too excited at the presence of cliffs that looked climbable – resulting in bleeding feet and hands – but the beauty was worth the pain. The day was gorgeous and couldn’t have been more perfect – which should have had me wary. Clouds started to roll in and a storm was building over the water. Our driver started to speed up the boat – “rain, wind” he says pointing to the black clouds in the distance. No worries, we were on our way back to shore … until the motor made a huge bang, sputtered, and died. Nothing beats being stranded at sea with a storm brewing beside you. We may have been on an old-style fishing boat but our driver came prepared with the modern technology of a cell phone – so why worry help is on the way! 2 hours later our rescue boat arrived. Once again I use a word loosely as the source of rescue more closely resembled a hollowed out coconut shell than a boat. We bounced thru the waves in our little wooden raft and made it to shore safe and sound, ending our day with a bbq of our fresh catches, mine naturally was being destroyed somewhere to ensure the safety of the planet.
I was shook out of my time warp here when people began assuming that I was part of the staff – apparently it’s just about time to leave! I’m attempting to make my way down into Malaysia tomorrow to a place called Cameron Highlands, I believe I am about to embark on a series of boats and trains and buses which will make these lazy beach days seem like a fading dream of paradise…
a few more photos updated on flickr
