allow me to describe the view i have as i type out this rambling entry to you...a hammock swings gently on the front porch of our tiny, thatched roof cabin under palm trees heavily laden with ripening coconuts...i can hear the tiny waves lapping on the shore and gentle, chilled out music from the speakers by the pool...if i manage, in time, to rouse myself from the crisp white sheets of the bed i will only have to step from our front step to the pool, i will pull one of the poolside chairs into the sun and read my novel...or write...10 steps more and my toes will be digging into white, glowing sand....deserted ban tai beach on the thai island of koh phangan...i would share the little thatched shelter on the sand with a cute white dog...presumably a stray but a friendly one nonetheless and hope he doesnt have a taste for cocktails...surely this is as close to a tropical paradise as one is ever likely to find in this day and age of beachfront highrises and commercialised coastlines....
we arrived early this morning after a 6am flight from bangkok - hell for poor matt who had met a thai speaking, nottingham born, indian guy in a bar near our hotel and had been shouted to one too many whiskeys last night (not too much sympathy from me i'm afraid!) ....but we made it with much less hassle than i thought we would....
i have just scoffed the best pad thai i have ever tasted and downed 2 beers...i'm full and relaxed in paradise....i am considering a swim....perhaps a nap....life is good and I wish we were staying here longer. the end of our time here will be given to hedonistic partying....the backpacker's ultimate party - the Full Moon Party on Haad Rin beach - about 15 minutes from here....even today the plane to samui and the ferry to koh phangan were filled to the brim with backpackers arriving for this mecca...many an aussie accent amongst the americans and europeans....many have obviously been on the road for a long time...tattered clothes and well used backpacks, messy dreadlocks...woven bracelets and charms bought in the asian cities where they have stayed for a day or two, perhaps even a month or two...they are the hippies of the noughties and we see them everywhere when we travel...but particularly here, following in the footsteps of the ones that paved the way in the 60s, 'finding' this island and trancing out for the first time under a full moon....then there were the fresh faces of the boys from sydney who chatted to me excitedly....they had only just arrived and will be heading back to sydney after the party...they have come all this way just for a few beers on a beach....but what a memorable few beers it will be....
until then, we shall enjoy a touch of paradise. Tomorrow we might rent scooters and dart round the island exploring....maybe hire a jetski or 2...or do a little snorkling....anything is possible in paradise...
xx
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