DAY 32 - Fishermans Village
In the evening, we wandered down to a nearby area called "Fishermans' Village". No sign anymore of fisherman; I assume it must have been home to local fishermen at one time…. It is now a very popular tourist area with a ton of restaurants, some convenience stores and many little shops selling beach wear and souvenir items. Very similar to what we saw in the Pattaya area but quite a bit cleaner and the shopkeepers definitely appear "better off". Prices are 3 - 4 times what they were in Pattaya; definitely catering to tourists, not the locals… Had a nice meal at the "Happy Elephant".
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| Tour boat tied up at Fishermans Village (at the dock shown above) |
DAY 33 - Working on our Tans
Spent another relaxing day at the pool. Walking back to the main lobby, Danny was stopped by a woman on the walkway who didn't speak English but was able to signal him not to walk any further. There was a 3 foot long snake crossing the path but Danny kept going anyway and the snake just slithered off the path. When he described it to the staff and asked if it was poisonous, he was told yes but not to worry - they check for snakes around the resort 3 times daily… Yikes!!!
Apparently there are about 40 venomous snakes in Thailand and about 100 that aren't. Most can be found closer to sea level but they're in the mountains as well.
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| All kinds of seafood - including barracuda! |
In the evening, Danny and I headed back to Fishermans' Village. As it was still early (6:15), we had our choice of restaurants with great beachside views. Ended up at an Italian place - owned by an Irishman! We've noticed there are a lot of Italian restaurants in Thailand - when we asked why an Irishman would open an Italian restaurant, he explained that pasta dishes go over well with just about all nationalities, including the Thais (i.e. - noodles; makes sense :)
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| Like everywhere else in Thailand, tons of scooters |
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| Getting ready to set off our Sky Lantern |
On the walk along the beach back to the resort, we came across a woman selling Sky lanterns. Danny negotiated the price from 300 baht down to 100 ($3.00) so we set one off. It is supposed to bring good luck to release a sky lantern, and many Thais believe they are symbolic of problems and worries floating away. They are made from oiled rice paper on a bamboo frame, and contain a small fuel cell. When lit, the flame heats the air inside the lantern so it rises into the air. The sky lantern is only airborne for as long as the flame stays lit, after which the lantern sinks back to the ground or, in this case, out in the ocean. Most of northern Thailand, especially Chiang Mai, celebrates the Yi Peng, the Northern Thai ceremony where the lanterns, called khom loy, are released into the sky. Up to 10,000 lanterns are released during the festival - would be so awesome to see! We tried to get a photo of us releasing ours but it was dark, neither of us had our glasses on & so couldn't get the camera settings figured out in time… Below is a pic from the internet - full moon festival.
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