New Year on Koh Lanta... Monkeys... and wild dogs...

Sawadee Kha.

Before I start:

First of all, to all those who still can't get enough of my travel stories: Respect (!).. And a happy New Year! 🎉

I hope you had a good start to 2017...

My resolution: 

EVEN MORE TRAVELING!

😎

We spent New Year's Eve very calmly...

Not only is it difficult to get into the right mood here (New Year's Eve is always cold), this island is also relatively quiet and I haven't seen any big parties announced anywhere...

During the day, we rented a scooter and explored our new surroundings.

I knew that at the very end of the island there is a national park, so off we went there...

By the way, Jule had a paper container in her hand that used to contain dragon fruit. (that's important)

So we were strolling casually towards the beach when suddenly a horde of monkeys appeared out of nowhere.

Jule, who had never seen any before (except behind bars), was of course thrilled (as was I) when she realized that they had no fear of being touched and stood right in front of us.

Well... Initially, she was more excited ... :D

Then the monkeys took possession of the paper thing.

So they sat in front of us, licking it, and I was able to take the first photos of this encounter...

As my bright moments are rare, I came up with the idea of feeding the animals with cookies that Jule had in her backpack.

So I 'ordered' her to take them out...

And she did.

Ha ha.

But I didn't expect the greed and impertinence of the monkeys, so they all immediately pounced on poor Jule and happily tugged at her.

They pushed her, pulled at her shirt, and glued themselves literally and figuratively to her.!

All accompanied by a subtly aggressive expression on the animals' faces. ..

Maybe this doesn't sound so funny,

But believe me - IT WAS!

Because Jule's facial expression was sooo funny.

The whole situation was hilarious. 😂

The resignation on her face when she threw the package of cookies, which she had initially defended, to the monkeys was written all over her.

Triumphant in their victory, the monkeys were gone as quickly as they had come. And the cookies and Jule's good mood went with them.. 😀

At the same time, the sun came out and Jule's smile returned... We are still in the middle of the rainy season somehow and we really enjoy it when the yellow hot ball in the sky finally finds its way through the clouds.

So we paid a short visit to the Indian Ocean (the first time since we've been in Asia) and then chilled in the sun for a while..

Very briefly. 

Really briefly.

After half an hour, it was already over.

I get bored really quickly doing nothing.

(But Maya, if you are reading this - maybe you're right: in old age, just before the grave, you don't want to waste your time lying around )

-----------------------------------

Anyway, we quickly decided to go back since we only had our accommodation until the next day...

So up on the scooter and off we went!

On the way to our vehicle, Jule even spotted 2 big monitor lizards being followed by baby monkeys... 

W 

And speaking of monkeys again. They were really everywhere. 

So. Back on the scooter.... 

I have to mention:

LANTA is very hilly. Like all (or at least quite a few) islands.

But the slopes here are really extreme.

So steep.

Like riding a roller coaster.

On the way up, the engine is struggling.

Going downhill, you can completely let go of the gas, and if you didn't brake continuously, you would easily reach 200 km/h (yes, it's true.

No, I'm not exaggerating. 😙)

The guy from the rental told us beforehand that the scooter goes at 110 and has enough power for 2 people.

Alright.

We just accepted it like that....

...and were proven wrong...

On a hill, we stopped halfway up.

Nothing was moving.

It just stalled.

We barely made it to the middle.

Full throttle.

Nothing.

I barely managed to get to the side of the road and the fact that the scooter didn't fall over was a miracle. Really.

Well. Jule had to get off and cover the remaining distance manually in the scorching heat while I rode the scooter up alone.

In the end, her breathing sounded like our engine on the verge of dying :D

And we did the same thing with a few more upcoming hills.

Stupid thing. That was really annoying.

But it was the best for our health... 😀

__________________________________

Exactly when we arrived at our resort.

('I don't want to say that it was pouring rain, but there were a lot of animals on the lawn and one Thai guy was building something out of wood')

So unfortunately, our planned excursion literally fell through.

Except for hanging around in the room, we didn't do much until the evening.

We decided to stick with our on-site bar.

...which we moved into 2 days earlier.

The way here was long and arduous.

It was supposed to be a 4.5-hour drive.

But since the driver of our minivan not only takes the tourists from A to B for the tour, but also picks up his mother-in-law on the way, delivers newspapers, and takes us on a sightseeing tour through all of Asia, we quickly ended up with double the time.

We were so bored.

Our limbs fell asleep. Some of our tired dialogues went something like this:

Vivien:

'Look. There's a monk.'

Jule:

'Oh yes. And even his bag is monk-colored.'

... ... ...

Well, that's how it was.

Finally, we arrived at our pre-booked resort and after being shown our bungalow, we were immediately greeted by the musty smell that we already knew from Khao Sok.

However, this time our mosquito net didn't smell so bad.

With the last one, it wasn't the fine-mesh net that prevented the insects from annoying us - No. I'm pretty sure it was the smell of the thing that kept the bugs away.

Well, we didn't get bitten, so I won't complain ;)

At first, I thought I didn't have particularly sweet blood, as they say (although it's hard to believe with my sugar consumption).

Only Jule was being nibbled on by mosquitoes.

But only until a moment when I felt like I was the only one awake and available (unprotected in the open air) within a radius of 3 kilometers.

They say that in times of need, the flies eat the devil... Well. Or something like that... 😏

Anyway, I was bitten all over like the arms of a junkie.

(Okay. I admit. Stupid comparison. But I don't care.)

That was also the day when that disgustingly huge bug flew into my lens... (It was as big as a hamster, can you even still call it a bug?! 🤔)

Those of you with good memory might remember the picture...

If you look at the cat in comparison, you can see how big it was.

And no.

It wasn't a kitten.

It was a normal-sized cat.

Adult.

And even the cat looked surprised.

So I sat down in front of it, tried to take a photo, and suddenly it started its 'engine'.

...spread its wings (so that the wind blew through my hair 😋) and flew away.

I'm telling you, it sounded like a helicopter.

Disgusting. Truly.

Oops. I've digressed a lot now.

Weren't we just talking about New Year's?! 😁

Well.

So. What was I trying to say. Um.

Well, Koh Lanta is really beautiful.

Somehow it feels like time has stopped here.

Everyone is relaxed.

And although it's not a hidden gem anymore, compared to many other Thai islands, this place is still largely unaffected by mass tourism, luckily.

There is no Starbucks. No McDonald's.

Just the sea and relaxed people.

There are of course areas that are relatively busy, but you can actually still find stretches of beach that are empty and the streets are very quiet in some places. 👍

The only thing I 'miss' here are all the stray dogs.

Thailand has many of them. Probably as many as cats. But, specifically in Khao Sok, they were all over the place.

They were lying or standing by the side of the road..., chilling or wandering around in their territory with their dog friends.

During the day, they ignored people.

Really. They didn't even flinch when I 'talked' to them.

But then....One night... (Yes, it was THE night when the mosquitoes discovered me as a delicacy)

Well. Anyway. Without Jule, I was a few hundred meters away from our resort.

We had had dinner in a restaurant and I only had functional Wi-Fi there and I had to upload my now obligatory blog entry.   

So Jule went ahead and I stayed around the restaurant in the Wi-Fi area... I was so absorbed that I didn't notice anything around me. It turned 10 pm. 

Then 11.

Then midnight. 

When I finally came to, the restaurant had long been closed.

All the lights were off.

Nobody was on the street.

No one to be seen or heard.

So, with a slightly uneasy feeling, I headed towards safe haven aka my resort.

And then I heard them.

Dogs.

Yes.

Plural.

Several.

Barking.

Growling.

I couldn't see any.

It was dark.

But I was getting closer.

Or they were getting closer to me.

Whichever way you want to look at it.

First, there was just one.

It was very cheeky.

Jumped up at me.

But it just didn't seem like it wanted to play.

I walked with my butt clenched.

It followed me a few more steps, then stopped.

Then suddenly there were 2.

Barking again.

Growling again.

I thought, 'don't show fear' but probably did anyway.

Feverishly, I tried to remember what the dog whisperer on TV said about such situations.

Ha ha. I couldn't think of anything.

So I just straightened my shoulders and walked past them as calmly as possible. 

'Oh man. Not a very smart idea to walk alone here at night', I thought, as the 3rd dog stood in front of me.

This one wasn't satisfied anymore with just loudly pointing out that I didn't belong there.

No.

It bit my sleeve and tugged at it a bit.

In between, it growled softly.

And even Martin Rütter's show on Vox, which I've seen countless times, couldn't save me from this predicament.

What was I supposed to do again?!

No idea...  So I just kept walking. Dog with me... 

Suddenly... A glimmer of hope...

Jule.

She had started to worry and came looking for me.

I've never been so happy to see her. Honestly.

If I'm going to die, I'd rather do it with someone else. 😎

So. I'm really not someone who is afraid of dogs, but I've never had this much respect for them before.

But: I am a survivor!

I survived. 💪

And so I unexpectedly experienced the transition from one year to the next and we spent it chilling on the beach.

Phew. Now we're where I wanted us to get to.

Back to New Year's. :))

Hanging around on the beach at night at 30 degrees is really strange.

In a t-shirt and barefoot in Thai sand - that's something special. 😎

In total, we drank 3 cocktails for about 2.20 euros each and simply enjoyed doing nothing.

In between, we each released a sky lantern into the night sky.

I have no idea what those things are called. But I'm sure you know what I mean... :)

Right at midnight (according to the atomic clock and all) we made a toast. 🕛 🍻🎇

The Thais and other tourists, however, had their own timing for it.

Some a minute earlier.

Some 5 minutes later.

Each to their own. :D

...the fireworks, which I usually attach great importance to, were very weak this time.

But I'm in the tropics, not freezing in Berlin.

That's a fair trade.

And therefore bearable. 😋

You can't have everything...

Although it feels different right now.

I mean, okay,

the weather is even worse today than yesterday and the days before, BUT

for the past few hours, we've been at a different beach and here we have a bungalow that is very basic but only 10 steps away from the sea.

I can hear the waves.

I can even see the water from here.

I've tied my hammock to our bungalow terrace (or had it tied for me) and I'm swinging here while writing this (very extensive) blog entry.

The people here are finally just like the Thais I know.

Helpful, funny, and just totally nice...

Yesterday, my friend from Berlin put it aptly:

'...what more can you ask for? I'd say jackpot'

She's right.

So I will say goodbye for now...

{any farewell phrase}