After us the deluge... Or also: IN THE MIDDLE.

{any greeting phrase}

Gently, the crystal-clear water washes over our ankles.

The turquoise blue ocean stretches majestically far to the horizon.

A pleasant breeze blows through our sun-kissed hair...

Paradise on earth - that's Koh Lanta! ...

Ha ha.

Bullshit.

Reality sounds a liiittle different...

The sun doesn't really show itself.

Only today it has freed itself for a few hours and fought through the clouds.

It rains every day.

The sky is gray.

The wind strong.

And monsoon-like rainfall is not uncommon.

Even if we're not the kind of people who chill on the beach all the time, the never-ending rainy season kind of affects our mood sometimes and we wish that at least the option existed to just hang out at the beach all day.

Since we've been on this island, the weather is really unpredictable...

Unpredictable...

Sucks!

Oh well. But of course, we make the best out of it.

Yesterday morning we got ourselves a better scooter.

A Honda.

A 125cc.

Yeah, I know. I wouldn't be allowed to ride it in Berlin.

But luckily, we're not in Berlin. 😏

And with the mountains here (remember?) you need some power underneath you, especially when you're two on the thing.

(Oh by the way, take a look at this!:

Yeah. It's what it looks like.

And no. It's not uncommon to see kids on motorbikes here. :D

Some of them are even riding with three people to take their even younger siblings for a ride...)

Well, it's really fun to cruise around with our new vehicle.

It only has 100 kilometers on it.

And the best part:

Finally no more fear that it will break down... Finally being able to overtake tuktuks or extra cautious drivers who speed through the curves here with 10 km/h...

Finally feeling the freedom to explore the island with a fast and, above all, functioning two-wheeler.

Yesterday, or rather on the 2nd of New Year's Day, we headed towards Old Town.

It's an old fishing village by the water on the west side.

Mainly built on stilts.

Once we arrived, we found a nice restaurant.

Basically, we had to walk through the living room of the owners. Seriously. No joke.

Then walk through the kitchen where the mother, father, child, and aunts were busy working.

Then, eventually, we reached a dark hallway where a pier was waiting for us at the end.

And only there did it really look like a place where you can eat.

So tables, chairs, waiters... view... everything was there. 😎

The food, by the way, was pretty good.

BUT shortly after we sat down, the weather showed us once again who's in control.

No going back.

No strolling through Old Town.

Nope.

A storm was announced.

And I didn't have a jacket.

Great. 😑

The wind was really strong, the rain lasted for a good 2 hours...

And all I could think about was whether the scooter would fall over,... simply blow away (wouldn't have surprised me).

Because it's not insured.

So in case of an accident, I'd have to pay for everything. 😯

When it finally stopped after hours, we quickly made our way back home.

Past creative "crafting" by the locals.

The little ones are well taken care of here and safety is a top priority. 😁

.. Well, everything was wet and very slippery.

And driving on soaked streets is much less fun. 😪

...and way more dangerous.

The Thais drive like crazy.

The maneuvers could be part of the "Fast and Furious" movies.

You really have to be careful yourself.

I just don't know whether to call it brave or reckless.

🤔

...Oh well.

When we arrived at the resort, we jumped into the sea for a few minutes and then just chilled for the rest of the evening. And ate.

Yeah. Food is a thing.

First, not touching anything for a week and now not being able to stop eating...

Especially now, since I put myself on a cola detox again, I need a replacement...

🍟🍱🍜🍭🍦🍡😎

In the meantime, while we were on our little trip, we got a few roommates.

💩 Do you know Mr. HANKIE? 💩

No, it's obviously a naked snail.

One of many...

They were all over our bathroom.

Our bungalow is very.... well... let's call it VENTILATED.

Even cats could easily get into our place through some cracks.

This morning, a large gecko stuck its head through the wall above our bed and checked out what's going on with us.

It stayed there for a few minutes and just watched us.

When Jule coughed, it had enough.

It disappeared and we thought, time to wake up.

Really wake up.

So after the shower, we hopped on the bike and off we went on our wild ride...

More rain ☔

...so we decided to buy a water-repellent cape for such cases. And as it usually goes... And after we had spent money on it,... we didn't need it anymore, of course... ('Sun, is that you!? I didn't even remember what you look like'...)

On the way back to the resort, we passed by a Thai market where mainly Thais themselves shop. The prices there are moderate and you can buy all sorts of weird but also delicious stuff.

And since we arrived in the evening, nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, has happened.

It's almost 10 p.m. now.

We're chilling at the beach bar. Every now and then, a baby goat jumps on our table.

A completely normal evening. ;)

Jule is on WhatsApp.

I'm blogging.

Then I'll go to sleep and you're probably finishing your work day.

Goodbye. Until next time. ✌