Anna Wildman

I woke up around 8 and went down for breakfast. The hostel’s free breakfast was actually quite good. It was buffet-style, and you could choose from miso soup, eggs, sausages, bread, fried noodles, pancakes, fruit, and French bread. I went with the fried noodles and fruit.

After that I pretty much blogged for the rest of the morning.

There was one kid, presumably one of the staff member’s sons, who kept coming over and playing with my laptop. At first it was cute, but then it got annoying.

Things got a big out of control when he started climbing onto the table and hitting the ceiling lamps, making them all clang together.

We went for lunch around 12:30. We took our bikes down the road and stopped at Sweet & Sour. We both got curry– I got yellow, Amanda got Penang. I also got a banana & mango smoothie, which was massive and delicious.

Next we went to Freedom Bar for some afternoon beverages and relaxation. It’s a beach bar, so it’s a good place to go if you just want to spend the afternoon chilling by the water.

When we got to the beach, the tide was so low that you could see all the rocks. We sat in the shallow water, looking at all the crabs doing their thing, working hard in their short window of low-tide time. I stayed in the water as the tide slowly began to rise. It happened so gradually, you probably wouldn’t even realize the water level was changing unless you were consciously paying attention.

30 minutes passed, and the sand mound I was sitting on was swallowed by water.

1 hour passed and little fish started surrounding me. Where do they go during the low tide??!

2 hours passed and the rocks were almost completely submerged again.

It was really cool to sit there, letting the hours pass, witnessing first-hand the changes of the ocean. I’d never really taken the time to do something like that before.

I started to get cold around 5:30 so I got out of the water and sat on the beach to watch the sunset.

It was beautiful— the colors kept getting brighter and brighter, even after the sun was below the horizon.

Once it was dark, we got back on our bikes and went to find some dinner. We stopped at the restaurant across the street from where we had lunch. I got spicy glass noodle salad, which wasn’t actually spicy at all. Kind of a disappointment, but at least the herbs were really good.

We went to the 7 Eleven across the street for dessert. I introduced Amanda to one of the main reasons I returned to Thailand: Ete Ice Cream. They make various coconut-based dairy-free popsicles, all of which are AMAZING.

We got the back bean flavor and ate them outside in complete bliss.

What an amazing day this was.

I didn’t really like Koh Lanta at first because it seemed creepily deserted and a bit too big for its own good, but I’ve come to really appreciate it. It’s not what you think of when you think of Southern Thailand. It’s not touristy at all and has an old-timey feel to it. It’s probably what Phuket was like 30-40 years ago. It’s a good place to come if you want to chill and just enjoy some slow days by the ocean.

We got home around 8:30. Amanda was tired so she went to bed shortly after.

Adrian picked me up on his motorbike and we drove to a beach a few miles south. We sat by the ocean and chatted for a few hours.

I needed to head back before it got too late since Amanda & I had plans to bike to the national park in the morning.

Adrian dropped me off at my hostel around midnight. When I tried to get into the building, I realized I had the wrong key. The door was locked and there was no staff to be found anywhere.

I texted Amanda to see if she could let me in, but she was asleep so that wasn’t going to work. I rang the two emergency numbers displayed outside the door, but no one picked up. Out of options, I asked Adrian if I could crash at his place.

I don’t know what I would have done if Adrian wasn’t there. I’m sure people forget their key all the time… what happens to them??!

We drove to his Airbnb that he was sharing with his 4 German buddies. It was all the way on the other side of the island, so it took about 30 minutes to get there.

It was a beautiful, modern house with lots of sitting space, a massive kitchen, and huge windows overlooking the bay.

Falko and Keller were on the balcony dancing and drinking beer, so we joined them for a bit. It was pretty entertaining to watch them. They were dancing to German music ranging from old 70s to current hip hop. It was cool to listen to some German music for a change. All we ever really get exposed to in the States is either American or UK music.

Everyone headed to bed around 1:30 am. I crashed on the mattress in the living room, completely exhausted and grateful to have a place to sleep.