Longtail boats line the shore bringing people back and forth to the island constantly. They were designed to be easily made (no assembly line necessary.) The motors are usually old car motors that are attached to a long pole with a propeller on the end. The boat guy has to be pretty strong to “steer” as he has to put his entire body weight into maneuvering the motor. Colorful Buddhist scarves are tied around the front of the boat to keep it safe. The guys have a total sailor mentality. They often have a cigarette hanging out of their mouth and they have a cool, gritty energy. I like how the guys squat on the bow of the ship and just look out at the ocean. When they see another longtail boat go by, they often make hand signals to the other sailor.
thailand
Longtail boats
Our Shanghai Friends
We met Colin, Terri, Ireland and CC – a really nice family from Nova Scotia that live in Shanghai where Terri is a teacher and Colin is a musician. The kids had so much fun with their girls. They were non-stop playing in the pool, in the ocean, in the boat! They were begging us to keep the party going so we had dinner with them, as well. Terri and I talked about everything under the sun! She was quite a trooper. She is due to have their third baby in a few weeks! She was rockin’ it. So happy we met them and I have no doubt that our paths will cross again some day! Love!
The picture of the boys waving was taken while they were waving goodbye to our friends taking off on a longtail boat. It was time for them to head back to Shanghai. We were bummed, but very happy to have had friends to play with.
Relaxing after dinner with our Shanghai friends watching the fire dancers.
This boat was so picturesque.
The kids played on this little boat for hours until little tiny jellyfish decided to surround the boat – then everyone ran over to the pool (conveniently located right on the beach!)
People, shells and a pretty illuminated circle.
While walking around Koh Lipe, you get to see a little bit of everything. There is pretty much every nationality you can think of- there are also many transgendered people (Thailand must be a safe place where they can be who they want to be.) You also see people who are half naked, but then two towels over you see someone covered from head to toe (some for religious reasons and some for sun protection.) Many Thai people can speak some English, so communicating with them isn’t too hard. I tend to use a lot of hand gestures and get along just fine.
Maddux collected these shells for me just to have while in Koh Lipe. We call them swirly shells. I love them and I love that he collects them for me.
This circle light was outside of Blue Tribes bungalows every night so we could never get lost while walking home. Lennon wanted me to put the picture on the blog. He said he likes it a lot.
These people really know how to cook!
Lennon’s friend, Jack, and his dad, Aaron (who is a chef and tries to get Lennon to try new foods which I totally appreciate) wanted to know what Lennon has tried so far. I don’t have my little cheat sheet with me, but here goes: popodam, green curry, lots of different fruit shakes, red curry, naan, fried rice, honey on pancakes. Gosh! I’ m forgetting everything. I’ll post another one with the list and a picture of him trying something soon. Whenever we sit for a meal he asks if they have rice, pizza, french fries or pringles. aye-yi-yi! On a dare, Maddux tried a red pepper and said “no big deal.” Then drank about a half gallon of water. He goes for it! He tries a little bit of everything, Em will give something a quick lick and crinkle up her face. Little by little!
Jesse orders curry for almost every meal. He likes this curry called masa mon/ matsamon (I don’t know the spelling) anyways, the first couple of times he ordered it, I thought he said ‘muscle man curry.’ hee
Whatever you want…
You want to swing, have a swing. You want to stroll down the walking street, take a stroll. You want to pose like a Buddha or stare at something on the side of the road- go nuts!
Wow!
They make these comfy areas along the beach in koh lipe where you can watch the sunset, play frisbee, play UNO, have a drink, do whatever. Candles are dug into holes, put in little sand volcanoes- they even make tables and benches in the sand. Necessity is the mother of invention. (A bit of creativity and out-of-the box thinking goes a long way, too.)
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