Relaxing at Bottle Beach

Quickly, the three booked nights at Bottle Beach turn into six. The peace and seclusion are simply good for the soul. I sleep until I wake up naturally and then I leisurely head to the restaurant's common area.

There I meet Declan, the native Irishman, who lived in New Zealand with his wife and two Thai adopted sons for many years and now works in Thailand for two years to give his sons more access to their own roots. While his son snorkels enthusiastically in the water and I wait for my Thai breakfast and an instant coffee, we have interesting conversations about New Zealand, Thailand, and the education system in both countries. To my surprise, he is disappointed with the school system in New Zealand and tells me that the teachers there have constantly praised his son's abilities and in Thailand, he was told that his son had great difficulties in mathematics, that he was significantly behind in the curriculum, and that they are now working on it. He said that the constant praise did not help anyone because they missed the opportunity to help his son earlier. When Nathan comes to our table and "calculates" the cost of the food using his fingers, I understand what Declan means. Wow! Later, I meet a German couple, Annegret and Kay. They are very nice and absolutely enthusiastic about Thailand and the friendliness of the people, so they are here for the second time already. They have thoroughly explored the island with their scooter, so there is a lot to talk about. Since there is nothing here, neither a supermarket nor an ATM, they bring me some money from an ATM during one of their trips. When backpacking, there is always a creative solution for everything, hehe! The atmosphere here at Smile Bungalow is absolutely relaxed. I understand why so many guests come back and even spend months here.

Obviously, there is a whole community of old backpackers who meet here from February to April. Really great. All the guests here are over 35 and two gentlemen are even well over 60. I am amazed that they are still taking this kind of trip at their age! A young family from Myanmar runs the place. With Southeast Asian calmness, he takes care of the financials while she cooks. Their little son is a real whirlwind and enchants all the guests. Other workers from Myanmar lend a hand. They have work here and earn money to send home.

The days fly by. I lie on the beach, read, and swim. It is often cloudy, the sun only breaks through occasionally. Well, it's definitely better for the skin.

Sometimes it also rains. A good opportunity to work on the photos from Hong Kong or finish the book I started. In the evening, you can watch the sun set.

Of course, the Thai cuisine also needs to be properly tasted, so I try everything from spicy papaya salad to Tom Kah Gai soup.

Every now and then, I go to the neighboring resort to have a cold beer in the beach bar. Long live variety. There, I meet two Portuguese and a Dutchman who ask me if we want to share a shuttle boat to the Full Moon Party. Mmmmh, it would have been fun with good friends, but drinking with complete strangers? The likelihood is high that I will have enough much earlier than the three of them. And I am not that eager to do it that it would be worth it to me.