Saturday, 22 November 2008
20TH YEAR, 20TH COUNTRY
After days of rain & cloud, we woke up on November 12th to a sunny sky. It was 20 years since we got together and we were in the 20th country of our trip. The special day started with a special breakfast, cooked up by Mr. Bean of course, before we were picked up at the ungodly time of 8.30am(!!). Emily still had no clue as to what the day's plans were, until a pick-up arrived with fishing rods & snorkelling gear in the back. We were driven to the other side of the island and transferred to a longtail boat.
As the storms had only just ceased, the sea was still very choppy and it took a good couple of hours for our privately hired boat to reach the 6 tiny islands of Ko Ha. We spent the first hour or so cruising round the islands looking for a good fishing spot, but no luck. So we anchored in a small, secluded bay and jumped into the crystal-clear water for a bit of snorkelling. We saw lots of huge starfish and many colourful fish we'd never seen before and then swam to a small, soft, white-sand beach where we lay, basking in the sun... just the two of us.
As we got ready to swim back to the boat, Ben, with mask on, dipped his head underwater to make sure we didn't tread on any big, fat sea slugs and saw a small shark (1m long) swim past. Yes, we know it probably wasn't going to harm us but it was a goddamn shark and we'd never seen one outside an aquarium! However, after a few minutes we had no choice (other than staying on the beach forever) but to swim for the boat. On the way we saw another bigger shark, but it fortunately showed no interest in us. We swam a little faster and once back on the boat, we ate our packed lunch (courtesy of Mr. Bean) and went looking for another fishing spot.
With 2 lines off the back of the boat, it wasn't long before one bit and Ben took the challenge of reeling it in. After several minutes, it was clear this was a big one - in fact, it was a whopper! At first we thought it was a barracuda, but it turned out to be a 15 kilo Spanish mackerel (aka a kingfish). Very satisfied with ourselves, we headed back to Lanta, sunning ourselves on deck and watching the flying fish all around us. We gave the fish to the fisherman & his boy and headed back to Otto's for a well-earned cold one or two.
Our anniversary dinner couldn't be anywhere else but at Bee Bee's and we had a great couple of hours there catching up with the boys and enjoying the delicious food. It just so happened that November 12th was a full moon and the Thai festival of Loy Katong, where couples traditionally send offerings of flowers, banana leaves and candles out to sea for good luck and longterm love, so once back at Otto's we sent out our Loy Katong offering... which sank after 5 minutes! After another beer or two, we retired to our own little Thai bus for the night, where there was chocolate cake, roses & a large Singha beer on ice waiting. All in all, a fantastic and very memorable day... bring on the next 20 years!
AN ENGLISHMAN IN LANTA
It wasn't easy leaving Bee Bee's as we'd fallen in love with the place, but having done a reccy of the island by scooter the previous day, we'd stumbled upon another fantastic beachfront set-up (further south on the same coastline at Klong Nin) that had only opened for business 3 days before. We were the first people to stay at 'Otto's Bungalows & Bus Room', which was 3 lovely Scandinavian-style huts with fan, 2 larger AC rooms and 1 converted old Thai bus with AC. We opted for the cheaper, and nicer, fan room to start with - we saved the bus for our upcoming 20 year anniversary.
Unfortunately the weather was pretty lousy for our whole stay, but we ended up hanging out at the bar with Otto himself (the cackling, long-haired buddha and Don of Lanta), the 2 local stoners who worked there, Chai & Bart, and the resident British chef, Mr. Bean, who cooked up the finest full English every morning - he bought in essential ingredients, such as HP Sauce, baked beans & back bacon from the mainland at Krabi. It could be argued that our first proper English breakfast in 8 months was the best we'd ever had! But it wasn't just breakfast that Mr. Bean (or Beanie or Dean) excelled at. We had a fantastic week with the man from Dartmouth. He was incredibly helpful in every way, a great laugh, provided us with much insight into ex-pat life in Thailand, and even drove us to the Malaysian border, at Satun, to get our new visas. To top it all, he helped Ben sort out a day of surprises for Emily on November 12th...
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