February 12,

Up and about, we walked the lovely beach. It is basically a mile long, and our place is at one end, conveniently. We really enjoyed the vibe of this wide beach, the island seems to be great. We walked back going to our included breakfast. I had their coffee – passable. Jeff had the mixed juice drink. We ordered scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage. We also had toast, fruit, and a bit of yogurt. Better breakfast than we expected. The tables filled and emptied in a revolving stream of steady people. There are two “soi” dogs🐕 that come around you when you have food, otherwise they can’t be bothered with you.

When we finished, we went back to our room and chilled out. We were able to talk with Jeff’s sister and her husband a bit. Then we decided to back out and walk the beach again. The tide was way out now, exposing a wide swath of very gradual sloping beach. At our end is a number of rocks – some pretty good sized, you would not even know they were there, unless you hit them swimming! Ouch!!😲  Along the beach is some different restaurants with places to stay behind them, but unlike in Koh Samui all the restaurants seem to welcome all, not just the people staying there. We basically came to the other end of this beach and peeled off to a road. It is a small jut out of the island and on the other side of the road is ocean.

Koh Lanta is really two islands divided by a river Lat Bo Nae, but linked by the Siri Lanta Bridge – which we crossed last night. We are on the north and most west part of Koh Lanta Yai, the southern part of Koh Lanta (the other part is Koh Lanta Noi – north part). Anyway, we walked to the main road and turned back toward our place.

We stopped at a local supermarket and picked up a couple of things we needed. Next we stopped at a local restaurant, Family Thaifood Lanta, for a snack lunch. Jeff had a Coconut shake- just coconut, no sugar. I had a Banana shake- again just bananas, no sugar. They were great! The shakes mostly seem to be the fruit and ice blended – more like Icees, really. We also split a Lemon Iced Tea as well as an order Vegetable Spring Rolls with a small side salad that had an herb/green I had not seen before. I asked the owner what it was, through Google translate, he called it fingernail plant. Hmm??🤔  I tried to find this on Google search, but it was not the same leafed plant… so I don’t know what it was but it was edible. Jeff didn’t care for it – it was interesting, very different. The impromptu meal cost us 270 Baht ($7.96).

We next checked out a scooter rental, probably pick one up there tomorrow for three days. Jeff said it was a better price than what our place offered a rental for. We got back to our place and cooled off again. I blogged and Jeff read.

Around 1700 we went out for supper. The place we were interested in is right next to us. It was called Kaao Nhok Restaurant. This eatery is known for its Khao Soi, which is an egg noodle (traditionally the noodles are made and hand-sliced) soup in a curry type broth, mainly served in northern Thailand, Laos, and Burma. Google reviews said the owner is from Chiang Mai, Thailand which is toward the northern border. Anyway we ordered one Beef & one Chicken Khao Soi. They were accompanied with three small bowls – 1) pickled, hot onion slices; 2) kimchi; 3) lime wedges; and a plate of greens. Those “fingernail greens were on the plate. So I asked the waitress here what they were called. She called it Garuda Claw Plant- the name that is the image of it is Polyscias fruticosa. I tried it again and decided I don’t need to eat it again. But, I found out an answer to a question!!!😂🤣  The soups were super great. We enjoyed them a lot! I had a Mulberry smoothie and Jeff had a Lemon shake. Total bill was 330 Baht ($9.73).

When we finished we went back to our place, sitting on chairs the place provides on the beach. We took in the gorgeous sunset and decided to walk some more on the beach – our third time today… we really like this beach! (We got in 17,500 steps!) There were a couple of fire shows we briefly watched, then saw the full moon-rise! What a fantastic day in Koh Lanta!!