Andre and Jill's Adventures: Days slipping by...

With many days passing, and not so many blog entries, I am back. To apologize would mean that I was sorry for the lack of quality wifi and the influx of beach-bumming! So, I'll do my best to fill in our time over the past few weeks, beginning with the end of our stay on Koh Lanta.

While a one month stay in Koh Lanta seemed to be a great idea at the time, it really just provided an outlet for LAZY! Not that there's anything wrong with that. We did one snorkel tour and didn't stray much outside a 3km radius of our apartment (in fairness, there wasn't really anywhere else to go).

We chose to do the recommended 4 island snorkel tour of Lanta, which was actually only 3 with a drive by of the fourth (?). Since we left it until the end of our stay, we were gambling against high tide and rainy weather. We lucked out with the rain variable, and only had a light sprinkle while on the boat. High tide, however, was not so kind.

We had a rushed swim through the "emerald" cave at Koh Muk as the water rises 1 inch every 5 minutes and if you don't get in and out in time, the opening will be covered, thus no way out. The "island" is actually a limestone mountain that is best described as a volcano-like structure, hollow on the inside. But once you swim through the cave to the center (there is only one way to enter/exit), it is a beautiful sandy oasis. So, the safety precautions are to be sure to get to the cave as early as possible and to swim fast on your way out when your guide says so. It is pitch black once you are inside the cave and all you can do is swim in the direction of the guide's flashlight. It was very unnerving and smelly inside the cave, but once we got to the opening on the other side, it was quite beautiful. I just wanted to get back through to the other side while I could.

Now, on to the second island. At first, I thought it was strange that our guide was wearing a long sleeved shirt and long fleece pants (especially since he wasn't the one driving the boat, he was the one in the water with the rest of us). But once we jumped in the clear, inviting water, I quickly realized why he chose his ensemble. Beautiful fish were everywhere around us, as were the jellyfish. It was really cool to see a jellyfish up close and personal, and we now know that the purple ones sting and the clear ones do not. I didn't see any clear ones, but had numerous purple ones inches from my mask. Andre toughed it out and saw all kinds of cool sea life, enduring the stings of the purple jellies while holding clear jellies in his hand. I evacuated the water and visited with some nomadic Canadians (hillbillies), camping on the beach. Who'd a thought?!

Anyway, on with the tour. We stopped off beside a limestone mountain island (apparently Island 3 on the itinerary) and jumped in for more sea life. There were so many fish you could feel them bumping into you as you swam. It was actually quite amazing. They especially enjoy the rice leftovers from lunch… Island 4 (the drive-by) was another limestone mountain that is home to bats. The boat stopped for 3 minutes so we could all take photos and we were back on shore 90 minutes ahead of "schedule".

I can't really say what else we did on Lanta, other than relax, soak up the sun, and take a snorkel tour. It may seem like a waste of 28 days, but we had the time to waste and were happy to be still for a whole month. Now that the rain was coming consistently every day, it was the perfect time to be heading to Koh Phi Phi.