Andrew VillalobosKoh Lanta is extremely green and I would guess that 90 to 95% of the island is blanketed in dense jungle. The green jungle hillsides feel wild, mysterious and impenetrable. I had asked a local if I could hike there and they said it was too dangerous, adding to the mystic of the surrounding landscape.. We visited in December and so the humidity was high and the weather would switch between hot clear days and heavy rainy ones and most often both in the same day! We experienced several thunderstorms with torrential downpours, lightning and cracking thunder. I enjoyed watching the weather change so rapidly and feel the warm heavy rain as the storm grew. The winds would pick up, the energy in the air would feel a bit more electric and I couldn’t help but feel excited for what mother nature was bringing. One storm rolled in while we were sitting by the pool and the first flash of lighting got us off our chairs and under the protection of our room’s patio.
At first I only felt the fear of lighting but then I remembered the story of John Muir, how he once experienced a lightning storm in the Sierra’s from the top of a Pine tree. I decided rather than be afraid of the storm I would bask in the downpour and feel the energy of the skies.(*of course, it felt like a relatively safe place to do this, don’t mess with lighting!) The sound of the thunder crashed and ricocheted through the sky, low rumbles tossed with high cracks in some ways resembling the crashing waves I had spent the afternoon enjoying. The rain was warm and felt like a massage while the consistent thunder filled me with awe at the power of our planet. It was curious to hear the thunder rumble across the sky almost as if it were bouncing against a ceiling. Most of the time when I look to the sky it seems like an endless abyss, however the sound of thunder almost provided a concrete ceiling that was in some ways comforting, like the sky isn’t endless and is also there to protect us.
the first flash of lighting got us off our chairs and under the protection of our room’s patio
From a cultural perspective the island is quite interesting. Most of Thailand is Buddhist however here on Koh Lanta the population is 80% Muslim. This means it’s common to see women in their head scarves and shawls riding mopeds or cooking street food down by the beach. With the humidity often at close to 90% I wondered how it must feel for them in full clothing. We’ve yet to travel to predominantly Muslim countries so this was also the first time we had heard the prayer calls throughout the day. I even noticed a truck that drives around the island with a loudspeaker blasting prayers that can be heard from far away.
There is also a fairly large Chinese population on this island and Koh Lanta Old Town is filled with Chinese lanterns and other symbols of the country. The old town is a simple village with a main street filled mostly with tourist shops and waterfront restaurants. It’s very modest and unpretentious, clearly a fishing village prior to when tourism took over. It was nice to visit but my favorite part of the island was the Gypsy Village. At the far southeast corner of the island is a small village of fishing families known as the Gypsies. The story is that they sailed across from other islands in the region and still predominantly live a subsistence lifestyle with the ocean as their source of food and income. The homes here are as modest as they come and are built on stilts above the water. The villages isn’t particularly clean, with fishing equipment like nets, crab pots, buoys and ropes piled up against houses and scattered across the sand. There were dogs and chickens roaming freely and fires burning in the distance. Only the sound of the calm waves in the small bay could be heard disappearing into the sand. We only stayed for about 30 minutes as we didn’t want to snoop around their neighborhood for too long but it was enough time to soak in the atmosphere and get a small taste of another way of life.
Making the time to take this trip has been so rewarding. It’s given us time to decompress, relax and feel comfortable just watching the waves. It may sound silly to you but then again, if you’re anything like we were, taking time to relax is easier said than done. I was floating in the break the other afternoon and I looked up to see Sophie waving me over. When I laid down next to her she pointed out a small sand crab about three feet from our towels. He was digging out a
Small tunnel or cave and would pop up, look around, then scuttle out with a hand full of sand tossing it, always, about a foot from his hole. He’d then scuttle back, stop and look around for a few seconds and then disappear back into the hole. We laid there on our stomachs for the next ten minutes just watching this little crab building his home for the day.
I’d imagine that he does it every day, like Sisyphus, moving his sand from one place to the next only to start again tomorrow.
I found it interesting that he would put so much effort into a temporary shelter as this section of beach would certainly be underwater with the evening tides. I’d imagine that he does it every day, like Sysiphus, moving his sand from one place to the next only to start again tomorrow. I appreciated this opportunity and the thoughts that came along with it. I couldn’t help but compare ourselves to this little crab, taking the time to build our homes, our businesses, our so-called “empires,” only for the sea to wash them away. It made me smile. Smile that we have been on a journey for the last 7 months, experiencing new places, foods, music, celebrations and meeting so many new and wonderful people. When I think about the finite nature of life it makes me want to get as much juice out of the squeeze as possible. To live an interesting experience and to soak in as much of it as I can. A new question I had been looking for an answer to is how to fully appreciate the moments we are given. Sometimes the moments are intense and filled with emotion and other times it’s just a simple moment sitting on a beach watching a sandcrab. So far I’ve found the answer is simply gratitude.
