Hakuna Matata

Quick update for I feel we may be falling off the face of the earth 

& deep into island mode...

With Tara enroute back to the Big Apple, we eagerly departed busy Bangkok & ventured all the way South on a draining series of buses/ferries. During the long overnight segment, the bus operators kindly played our entire collection of black market DVDs for us on the second level while they thoroughly scoured through our backpacks in the luggage room under our feet. A grueling & unexpected 24 hours later (we'd been prepared for 12ish) we arrived on the quiet island of Lanta Yai; dirty, tired, & stripped of a baht-load more than I care to admit. BUT, the glass was half full- Lauren ended up with a quality pair of old man socks & I found in my poor ransacked backpack some chicks supply of anti-diarrhea pills, a really big bandaid, & a travel packet of laundry detergent... life. is. good. Without sarcasm, I can't think of anywhere better than Ko Lanta to station yourself & reconnect with a love of Thailand after being violated in Southeast Asia. We stayed under thick palms in beyond authentic bamboo bungalows only sandy steps away from a desolate perfection of a Thai beach right past the shabby chic restaurant & bar of the fabulously titled "Sanctuary Bungalows." In our garden bathroom the toilet sat out of place surrounded by crushed pieces of coral & an absurd amount of plants, the shower was a waterfall that came out of a slit in a bamboo pipe that ran overhead, & you had to be truly careful not to step on the caterpillars. Our beds were surrounded by mosquito nets that effectively kept all the geckos in their place, & if that's not enough- there was a horse tied up outside our door, Lauren & I chased a chinchilla out by throwing a shoe in it's direction, & we learned that the croaking animal we've been hearing constantly since Cambodia actually resembles a crocodile (we'd had some sort of duck in mind). Mother nature truly seemed to be paying unusual attention to the little island during our visit as we also lounged nightly under clouds illuminated by heat lightning, sat in pure awe of the most amazing sunsets, & took daily breaks from the hot season heat in afternoon tropical rainshowers. On our final night we ventured down a pitch black stretch of silent dirt road to "Relax Bay" for a live reggae performance under the stars.

   

We've now landed back in Phi Phi, have had our local pals henna-tatoo our tanned selves, & spend the days as we have since we arrived in the Gulf of Thailand: sprawled out on baby powder sands devouring memoirs & breaking only to savor flawlessly fresh fruitshakes, float around in the bathtub clear waters, or switch from the sun to a shaded hammock. OMMMM.

As for our big plans for the remainder of our second & final stay on Phi Phi- we'd like to take Mindy on another snorkeling adventure, want to climb to viewpoint for a sunset, really need to try the mixed berry fruitshakes, & (if we can find the time) might pick up some pool floats :) Saturday we jump a ferry through the limestone splendor of Krabi back to our beloved Railay where we intend to rot away blissfully until heading back to crazy Bangkok to fly back to crazy America. The clock is ticking on our Great Asian Adventure, but I'm sure there will be some part of our experience in home-away-from-home Railay that will be just too irresistable not to share*