Copy my trip to Koh Lanta!

I had been curious about Thailand long before moving to Myanmar. Actually, curious is probably an understatement - I had been dreaming of going for a long, long time. Images of amazing food, beautiful nature and postcard perfect beaches entered my mind on many a gray Seattle day.

Bangkok is just over an hour flight from Yangon and I visited it four times during my first year in Myanmar. However, getting out of the city and exploring more of the country was definitely on the to-do list. For my fall break this year, I wanted something relaxing and easy to plan since I was in the deep woods of my Master's research. A writing retreat, yoga and beach time on a Thai island seemed like the ideal break.

I'll share some stories and photos in this blog, but I'm also including information about how I got around and where I stayed... in case you want to copy my trip to Koh Lanta. By the way, "koh" means island in Thai.

I flew out of Yangon on a Saturday morning. After a short layover in Bangkok, I boarded a plan south to Krabi airport. With carry-on only luggage, I was ready to go as soon as the plane touched down.

I booked a shuttle with this company - I set it up about a week before. The representative found me quickly at the airport and gave me a few minutes to reload my Thai SIM card, buy a bottle of water and bag of nuts and then I was off in the shuttle. The day was a bit overcast, but that didn't affect my excitement - I was island-bound!

View from one of our two ferry crossings

The entire journey took about 5 hours. We had to wait in line for awhile at the second ferry and the roads on these islands aren't exactly freeways. It was a relief to get to my bungalow right around sunset. 

I was greeted warmly at Cha Ba Bungalow and Art Gallery and I quickly settled into a cozy, but spacious bungalow, complete with mini-fridge, a double bed and my own private patio. I had dinner at their Picasso restaurant, cocktail in hand and toes in the sand. 

Night shot of Picasso

The next five days were filled with sand, sun, writing, the occasional rain shower (a good reminder to get out of the sun and back to my pages!), wandering the town and, of course, delicious Thai food. My bungalow was right next to Oasis Yoga and I highly recommend the classes at this studio. The space is beautiful and the teachers are knowledgeable and friendly. They also have a little cafe where you can get smoothies, homemade crackers and other snacks.

Beachside Breakfast

Sunset stroll

I wish I had more photos to share with you, but I had an unfortunate incident with my camera on my first snorkeling trip. I was so excited to get underwater shots and I checked the instructions for taking it swimming with me, but it promptly died as soon as I jumped into the water. To their credit, Amazon has been kind enough to replace it, so look forward to some fishy photos next time!

Interested in snorkeling or diving? Check out Go Dive for trips to nearby islands. 

Spirals in the sand made by little crabs

Last dinner at Klong Dao beach

I loved my location, but since I had a week, I wanted to check out more of the island. I headed south to Kantiang Bay. Again, I had reserved a room right at the beach, this time at Kantiang Bay Resort. They sent a truck to pick me up and I enjoyed my view from the back as we made the half hour journey south. 

When I got there, I decided to spend a few extra dollars a night and upgrade to a beach view bungalow and the change was very much worth the extra Thai baht.

My room by the bay

This accommodation is in a beautiful setting; you can walk into town (I loved working with a coffee or grabbing a bit at the Drunken Sailors), walk along the beach and swim in the warm waters of the bay. I didn't see it, but I heard that at some times of year there is bioluminescence glowing in the water at night. 

Another sunset :)

The location is ideal in many ways as you can probably already imagine. The plus/minus depending on your point of view is the Why Not Bar right next door. My first night there I enjoyed dinner, live music and fire dancers. However, the party goes on late into the night, so if you are looking for a tranquil spot after dark, this might not be the bungalow for you.

Live music and kitty company at Why Not Bar

Fire dancers

I hope the above video works; these guys were amazing!

Walkway to the beach

There are lots of mini-sand dollars here.

I decided to do one last snorkeling trip to the nearby Koh Rok National Park. If you go to Koh Lanta, this trip is a true not-to-miss! Sparkling clear turqouise waters, fishes in all colors of the rainbow, the softest sand I have ever touched...a real paradise! My recommendation would be to arrange an overnight stay at the park. You must go through a travel agent since it is a national park and they limit the number of visitors. I imagine the stars would be amazing out there at night and it would be so much fun to have this beach to yourself after the day trippers leave.

Kantiang Bay Resort helped me arrange travel back to the airport on my last day. I was sorry to leave this place, but I have a feeling I'll be back!

Email me for more info on Koh Lanta, or check out their site! Thailand is a really easy place to be a tourist and it offers so much variety. 

I'm glad that I went for the Master's in Education capstone this fall, but it was a lot of work! I'm happy to be done and back to my own reading. Here's what's been on my kindle since then:

• El bebedor de lágrimas by Ray Loriga
• Spoiled Brats by Simon Rich (One of the most creative and fun books I've read in a while; thanks for the rec, S!)
• Human Dark with Sugar by Brenda Shaughnessy (Thanks for the rec, Y!)
• Fear of Flying by Erica Jong (I can't believe I didn't find this one sooner!)
• My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem (loved it, loved it, loved it)

Five Fabulous Fotos

Last spring, a colleague and friend suggested that we all bring five photos from our spring break adventures to a happy hour and project our memories onto the wall. Five is enough to get an idea of what your friends did, but not so many to overwhelm the viewers, especially if the gathering fills one of our apartments.

Thus, the 5 Fabulous Foto Fests were born and the tradition has continued. After summer break, we decided on five categories in which to share pictures:

1. Family
2. Food
3. Friends
4. Fun 
5. Fiscellaneous (you get it, right?)

What follows are the five pictures that I selected for the Foto Fest and a few stories about them.

I was fortunate to visit lots of family over my break, but the family member who was most exciting to see was one I had not met before: my niece Jozy! Isn't she adorable?

Jozy n me

Although there were many great meals this summer, the food shot that wins the selection comes to you from Antigua, Guatemala. I spent the last few days of my three week trip to Guatemala in Antigua before flying back to the states. This was my second visit to Guatemala and it proved to be an amazing country once again. Beautiful nature, friendly people and plenty of Spanish!

Gluten free vegan falafel on pita bread in Antigua.

Friends was a hard category for me. There were so many fun moments with dear ones and it was challenging to choose a favorite. I hope your feelings won't be hurt if you aren't here. :) Really this photo was my selection because it was an amazing shot, showing my three new Spanish friends and it gives you a glimpse of the beautiful Lake Atitlán in Guatemala.

This picture won the best all-around photo by popular vote at the Foto Fest!

Sara and Violeta look on as Pablo back-flips into Lake Atitlán, near Santa Laguna

In Seattle, my friend Yasmin was kind enough to allow me to use her house to host an afternoon reunion my second day in town. This was a great chance to see a lot of people in my former home city. I love the light and sense of fun in this picture...and of course all my friends! I deem it runner-up in the friends category.

Like the previous categories, there are plenty of pictures in my library that could be classified as fun. This shot of me (photo credit: Violeta, who has a fancier camera than I do) is another one from the lake, at a jumping spot near San Marcos. I like the way it looks like I'm stepping on a cloud. We spent a weekend in San Marcos and a lovely afternoon in this national park. After jumping and swimming we hiked to the top of the ridge, to take in views of the lake and check out Mayan offering sites. The evening ended with live music at our hostel. It was a pretty perfect day.

Doing something a little bit scary is good for you.

For the Fiscellaneous category, I chose a panorama shot of Lake Atitlán, my home for three weeks this summer. I spent two in Panajachel, living with a host family, attending four hours of language school a day, making new friends and exploring. This photo was taken from a hike out to some Mayan caves on a ridge above the lake. My Spanish teacher and I hiked out here during my last day of class. You can see the lake, the town and one of the volcanoes; these sights filled my view and my mind during my time in Guatemala.

Guatemala, I miss you!

School is well underway at the time of writing this - we are almost finished with first quarter already in Yangon. I took the Foto Fest idea as inspiration and created an assignment for my Spanish 3 and 4 classes in which students brought in pictures from their summer and shared them with the class, describing them in Spanish, of course!

My next Foto Fest with work friends is scheduled for early November. I'll let you know how it goes. 

What camera am I using for all these great photos? This Olympus Tough one.

What I'm Reading:

• Just finished Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon, her memoir is fascinating on music, fashion, art and feminism levels.
• Also just finished We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Everyone should read this short essay, especially folks with kids.
• Working on the young adult novel by the author who I obsessed over during my thesis-writing days at UW, Ray Loriga, El bebedor de lágrimas.

What I'm Listening to:

• The Mynabirds, What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood
• Sonic Youth (inspired by Kim Gordon's book, mentioned above)
• The New Division - awesome LA-based band that I discovered on a night out in Seattle
• Screens, The Pink Hooded Falcon, another Seattle-discovery (Yes, I miss the live music scene in Seattle A LOT.)
• Desaparecidos, Payola

Some Food I'm Eating:

• Thanks to my sister for these healthy breakfast cookies! Peanut butter vegan and gluten free and protein-packed.
• Another one from my sis, to-die-for-vegan FUDGE.
• Loving the tropical fruits in Yangon: pineapple, mango, papaya, pomelo...

Where I'm going next:

• Bangkok, for a visa renewal, shopping and hanging out!
• Ko Lanta: beach bound for Fall Break!

Stay tuned to hear about these trips!

"It's more fun in the Philippines!"

Once again my blog posts are dragging behind my travels, so here goes a different format to let you know some of my adventures. Holiday break here is almost 3 weeks so I decided to fly a little farther away and explore the Philippines. I was excited to experience the beaches, visit Palawan and Bohol and see how much Spanish language influence I would encounter (turns out not a lot, but there are words here and there I can understand).

10) Getting a haircut before I left... The prep for a trip can be almost as exciting as the actual traveling! I had been nervous about having a trim, but really needed one. I decided to be brave and visit our local hairdresser. She does a hairwash, neck and shoulder massage, hair cut (without scissors - she used a razor!) and blowout/straighten for about $12. She only understands a little English, but I learned the word for "a little" and tried her out. I think it turned out pretty well!

Tired, but happy with new hair and for first day of vacay during layover in Bangkok.

9) Traveling light! This was my luggage for the trip - all carry on! And my blue backpack has my laptop inside. My fan burned out just days before the trip (I had backed up onto an external hard drive the day before which eased much anxiety) so I dragged my pc around 4 Philippine islands to eventually bring it to Bangkok (stop at the end of my trip), only to be told that the part would have to be special ordered.

I was pretty stressed out about the computer situation (luckily there is a desktop in my classroom I can use) after spending an entire day running around Bangkok, visiting four different stores with no luck. In the end I got an email address for a shop here in Yangon and the manager had a store in Bangkok order the part and then took my laptop for repair during one of his weekend business trips. I don't think that this was really his responsibility, but he seemed eager to help and I decided to trust him. It turned out to be one of those strange but wonderful events that happens when you are abroad. My computer is now back and running!

I recommend traveling light!

8) Manila - I wouldn't say that Manila is a "must visit" if you go to the Philippines, but I enjoyed the old part of town. The Spanish architecture feels familiar to me and having a day here broke up my travel to Palawan (I spent an entire day to get here... Yangon - Bangkok - Kuala Lumpur - Manila).

Cathedral downtown

Park inside the old city wall

Part of the wall

7) Walking to the Beach in Palawan - I stayed at a Yoga Retreat center called Bahay Kalipay and they are located a short walk from a nearby beach. More on Bahay Kalipay below!

Flying in I couldn't believe I was here!

Dirt road leading to nearby beach

I visited for sunset

And sunrise...

It's a mangrove beach so not great for swimming, but beautiful

6) Exploring Palawan - there is a LOT to see and do on this island. I could have spent my whole trip here and been happy. I did not make it as far as El Nido, but I did see the underground river and get in some beach time. Palawan definitely merits another visit...

Beautiful Palawan

A day at this beach...

On the way to the underground river

Wildlife at the park!

Beach at mouth of the river

Christmas day at the underground river

Navigating out of the cave

5) Reading! Buying a kindle in March 2014 as a birthday present to myself was one of my best purchases for my traveling lifestyle! It is so powerful to have so many books in one small machine. With flights, some delays and lots of beach time, I checked quite a bit off of my reading list.

• Za Za, emperador de Ibiza - Ray Loriga (this author's works were the focus of my thesis and he's still a favorite)
• The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls
• Lullaby - Chuck Palahniuk
• Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer
• The Lowland - Jhumpa Lahiri
• Super Sad True Love Story - Gary Shteyngart (Thanks for the rec, Y!)
• I started The Omnivore's Dilemma (Michael Pollan), but got distracted by the novels. 

Not bad for 21 days, right?

4)  Yoga Retreat, Bahay Kalipay - This is an amazing space and the owners have a fantastic story; they built the entire place themselves with a careful eye on design, community and sustainability.

My simple room.

One of the resident cats relaxing near the yoga space.

The "lobby"

Path through the property

Our Tai Chi classes were held here

Coconut storage house

Yoga practice space - second floor has a treehouse feel.

3) Raw Food at Bahay Kalipay - I have been gluten, dairy and egg free for years now, but my experience with a raw diet was fairly limited. Bahay Kalipay is a great place to experience raw food - the meals and snacks are prepared with local, organic ingredients and lots of care.

Buffet dinner

Cold miso soup with apple and salad

Carrot pineapple salad, curry and fresh greens

Dessert!

Ingredients for our raw vegan dessert cooking class

Treats made by guests - Banoffe Pie with Meringue, Fruit Cobbler, German Chocolate Cake and Chocolate Pudding!

A typical breakfast: loads of fresh tropical fruits, topped with coconut, chocolate sauce and a side of chocolate nut milk.

I am not planning to add the raw component to my diet full time, but I enjoyed learning more about this approach to food and tasting all the wonderful dishes at the retreat!

2) Escaping the flood in Loboc - This is a better story now that it is over and I am safe. I arrived into Bohol 24 hours late due to a delay at this small airport (an airplane had a flat tire and that stopped all flights for the rest of the day...). After spending an extra night at an airport hotel in Manila I was so happy to get off the plane and find a taxi to take me inland to Loboc, despite the rain. Since when does a downpour stop a gal from Seattle? My plan was to stay two nights, touring the interior of the island, home of the chocolate hills and tarsier monkeys. I had also booked a stand-up paddle boarding nighttime tour to see the fireflies. Sounds lovely, right? I was so excited that I even snapped some rainy photos of the inn.

For more "before" pictures, check out Stephanie Grace's website or Trip Advisor's page.

Already a swelling river when I arrived to Stephanie Grace. 

Hotel in Loboc - my room is on the far right, perfect river view.

I confirmed my car and driver for the following day, settled into my room, ate a delicious fish dinner and went to bed early. Around 11pm I was woken up by noises in the hall. When they didn't stop, I got up feeling slightly annoyed that the other guests were being loud and so I wandered out to see what was up. No one else had gone to sleep - they had watched the river rise up, filling the lower level of the inn. The owners had not been worried at first, saying that the water never got too high. We found out later that they had opened a dam upstream and that Typhoon Seniang was passing right through Loboc. Water came through the entire first floor of the hotel, filling roads behind the hotel and trapping us.

Muddy water filling the reception area and dining room (view from second floor).

Floating furniture downstairs.

View from my room the after one long and rainy night.

I don't have a lot of photos of the event because I needed to conserve my iPhone battery to send updates to my sister (and it eventually died). I did take the following video, though. 

The pool is to the left of the flags and the right side is the driveway.

I was never seriously concerned for my safety and I feel incredibly lucky to have been at this hotel, with its sturdy foundation, second floor rooms and caring family. The Philippine family that owns the hotel live on the second floor also and they went out of their way to take care of us (swimming to the neighboring homes to bring back mangoes and rice, diving into the dirty water to bring back bottled water from the underwater kitchen, never mentioning a worry about their own property and livelihood).

We were trapped two nights and one full day. We couldn't believe it when we walked out on the second day. The water had receded, but the village was flooded with mud, homes and businesses destroyed and the locals were beginning to attempt to clean up the mess. The government even sent in workers with food and water donations. I felt so lucky to find a car and continue on with my vacation. As a tourist, I had the luxury to leave; most people in the village did not have the same situation.

If you would like to help the family that took care of me in their effort to rebuild their business, then visit their page and make a donation.

1) Beachside accommodation in Anda - I decided to splurge on accommodation here before the typhoon incident and it was definitely a treat to escape to tranquil Anda after the flood. Not a lot of tourists make it out to this side of the island, so I'd definitely recommend it if you want to get away from the busy beaches in other parts of the Philippine islands.

I spent my time reading, catching up with family and friends (phone re-charged and wifi connection!), wandering on the beach, walking to the nearby village and swimming.

My home for 5 days!

Beach!

Sunset from the second floor restaurant

Breakfast with this view

Typical fishing boat

Pool and property grounds

This feels like vacation!

Sunset walk on the beach

Of course many more stories, but I hope you enjoy reading about my highlights!

If you are missing Yangon, here is a neat time-lapse video.