February 13,

I awoke to late for us to go for a walk on the beach. I had trouble getting to sleep last night. We went down to breakfast, both of us having omelets with sausage this morning. When we finished Jeff went and rented a scooter for three days. I went up to our room and had some more caffeine in the way of Coca Cola. The coffee at breakfast is not the greatest. Anyway, Jeff returned and we got on the scooter to explore.

Our rental scooter is another Honda Click, but it is quite a bit older. The paint is a faded mauve rose color and has seen better days lots of chips and small dings in the paint. I decided to call it Cracklin’ Rose. It still runs well, but the brakes are soft Jeff said.

We tootled around the island, going north first – then traveling clockwise – along the east coast. We came to a man that rented kayaks, or long tail boat rides. It was busy, but we were not really interested in either. I did notice a sign advertising an event starting tomorrow, possibilities – we’ll see. We moved on south on the east side of Koh Lanta. The drive is pleasant and there were some great views.

We drove on down to Lanta Old Town and it’s town pier. There was an old, brick lighthouse here, but no write up for it or info, and it was abandoned – so no going up into it. There is a small shrub or tree growing out the top. There was a listing sank boat right at the shore. Guess they should have kept the lighthouse functioning! 🤣😂 We walked out a bit on the pier. They had a huge sculpture of a giant blue shrimp! That was fun! The pier is still a working pier. Lanta Old Town is still very much a fishing village, and it’s known for the houses built on stilts jutting over the water and mangrove areas. From this pier you could take a ferry to Koh Por, a very small island that is close by. We drove around the town some and took in the houses. We tried to go to a beach here that showed on Google maps, but we would have needed to go through peoples yards – so to speak. So we opted not to and we left town, back on the main road still south.

Jeff had researched a place that sells coffee beans. We found it. It is sold at a place, called Panorama Oceanfront Restaurant. It is appropriately named. It sits up on a cliff and had sweeping views all around of the ocean and small islands on the horizon. We stopped and they still sell Panorama Coffee. The owner gets the beans from his sister in Chiang Mai, who grows the beans there in the mountains. I tried a cup, it was great… so much better than what I am drinking now for breakfast. Only problem, I had to buy whole beans. Humph!?! 🤔  I’ll figure it out. I also had a Coke float – I can’t remember the last one of these I had. Jeff had a mango shake. Now, jazzed up we loaded back onto our scooter, Cracklin’ Rose and went til the road ended! Close but not all the way at the southern tip. The views are just amazing from everywhere as this road is at elevation. We back tracked and crossed over the west side when the road split.

We started to head south on the west side, but decided to just head back to our place instead. We will go all the way south tomorrow. Arriving back at our place, we just chilled out, taking a swim in the ocean. Then we had a Thai massage, that is on our places property. That massage felt great! It lasted an hour and cost us 300 Baht each, which is $8.92 each. Jeff gave the two lady masseuses a combined tip of 100 Baht – 50 Baht each which was $1.49.

Around 1600, we were hungry and went for supper at El Greco, a Greek restaurant. We had an appetizer of Melitzano Keftedes, which is traditional Greek fried eggplant balls with feta; and mains of: Moussaka- a traditional minced meat & eggplant dish; and Kontosouvli- a Greek spit-roasted chicken with potatoes, bell peppers, & onion served with pita & tzatziki. The appetizer and one of the main dishes we have never seen before. We had a bottle of Retsina with our great Greek food. It was the first Retsina we have had since leaving the USA! We splurged on it, as it was 1550 Baht, by itself – that’s $46.10!! The total cost for the whole meal was 2400 Baht with a 200 Baht tip (total was…$77.33). The meal was fantastic!!The owners were Greek. I recalled Greek for thank you, saying it to them and they were surprised and responded back – your welcome – in Greek.

Anyway, we left walking back to our place very happy campers! Then we went to the beach and walked the length of it at sunset. After the sun had set, the colors in the sky intensified and evolved! What a spectacle!!Loving Koh Lanta! So Blessed!!!!!