Two Weeks in Paradise

The days on Koh Phanang melted into one another the way they are supposed to when the idea is to just hang out for a while.  Rob and I would get some exercise before the kids opened their eyes and then we would rustle them up for breakfast, to do some school work and then to just “chill”.  The routine was not tough to take.  We enjoyed runs on the beach and on roads that we could actually run on without worrying our lungs would be damaged by exhaust.  The heat and the grade of the hills were limiters but it was great anyway and it was the first place on the trip where we could actually run outside.  Rob didn’t seem to mind the heat but I couldn’t manage much more than a half hour at a time.  I continue to be clueless as to how the professional triathletes that we know manage to move between Victoria and elsewhere on the planet and perform regardless of where they are. They are something else!

There was a reef just off the beach and we were loving the snorkeling until we swam head into a significant jelly fish field....we quickly changed course and raced back to shore, surprisingly escaping without a sting but leaving me a little tentative to venture that far out again!  The boys became friendly with many of the staff and it was really awesome for them and for us to learn more about their lives and their way of living.  We also met a lovely family from France with a son who our boys hung out with and who we have met up with again (more on that later).

How can you complain looking out your window and having this view.

....and Fearon would rather be doing his school work at Central?

 

The boys did a fishing trip and the staff at the hotel cooked up the catch for our dinner.  The bits of fish that we could get to amidst the bones were delicious.

On their way to board the boat

Eric had beginners luck - he caught a whack of fish

We loved strolling the beach after dark and eating at different spots on the beach each evening.  The pictures below are from our favorites. 

Waiting for dinner chilling in a hammock,  just a little less stressful than getting everything ready and eating at home.

Waves rolling in a few meters away, a lovely breeze and wonderful food.  We will remember these evenings when we are back home in Victoria.  

Eric found a little reminder of home here, do you see it?

Fearon and Eric developed their own pastimes, pool hopping being a favourite.  They used their parkour skills to run the beach, visiting (uninvited) each establishment’s pool on route. 

The rainy season in no way left us wanting for sunshine.  The sky was blue nearly everyday but on most days the clouds would quickly roll in and open up with rain coming down in buckets. Just as suddenly as it started it would stop.   Oh don’t we wish that was the pattern in Victoria.

We rented a jeep one day and cruised around the island.  Rob and I really enjoyed the fishing village in the pictures below that, unlike the one we had visited on Koh Samui, was truly traditional. We were happy to find the place tourist free yet open for exploration.

Even the smallest villages in Thailand have amazing Temples.

These elephants were ready to carry tourists for walks through the jungle.  They did not look too well kept and we decided to wait until we got to Northern Thailand for some real elephant encounters.

It was difficult to move on but we had to leave the country as  our Visas were expiring.  We also had to get our final round of immunizations so we had to get back to “development” to do that.  We sadly bid farewell to Koh Phanang and headed back to Koh Samui for more pokes and to figure our where we would go next.