Yes, still here, Koh Lanta Day 4

Can we really spend that many days at the beach?

The answer is yes. We tried to add an excursion into the mix today as I really wanted to go snorkeling off white-sand beaches into turquoise waters. Although, I had done snorkeling in Honduras and been diving in picturesque waters in Belize, I thought Mer's new love of goggles could coalesce into fun snorkeling. 

Alas, we never got the chance. I woke up to rain as Mer woke up to not feeling well. It added up to a likely disaster on a boat for 8 hours with not much fun snorkeling. I found our bungalow owner and canceled our trip just 20 minutes before we were supposed to get picked up. All parties were very considerate in refunding our full 2,000 baht ($57). Instead, we took this snorkeling picture. 

I got to work figuring out where we'd be in Bangkok. The city is a bit overwhelming. I've read it's big, busy, and bustling. And I was having trouble finding a place with the proper mix (price, location, double room, private bath, AC, breakfast, etc)

Eventually, I had to get Mer up and out to the beach. Since I got so sunburnt on our first day, I needed a little extra protection. Mer was happy to lend me her SPF protected top and even happier to take pictures. 

The rain had cleared for a moment, so out we went. We then came to dry off in our lounge chairs. 

However, storm clouds weren't far away. 

We alternated from cribbage to Ticket to Ride and from coffee to Coca Cola. The day provided a lot of overcast and incoming rain pictures. 

We went out a couple of times, even though our black windguard and plastic rain cover were down most of the day. 

We even got caught up on some of our Last Week Tonight. 

For dinner, we finally tried the place right down the street from us. We were the only ones there. Mer got the satay. 

I opted for a Muslim dish, mousman. 

We wanted to go for an evening swim, but the storms didn't allow it. Alas, more games were played. 

Our last full day in Koh Lanta was not as fun-filled as we would have liked, but it was still nice nonetheless. Whatever island we could have gone to next just wouldn't have added up to our place at Baan Rim Lay. Maybe it was nicer, but probably not next to the ocean. Maybe it had nicer amenities, but probably way more people. For our longest stay anywhere yet on this whole SE Asia trip, Koh Lanta sure made for a relaxing stop. Having our own bungalow steps away from the beach was just marvelous. We'd get one more morning there before a likely arduous trip onto Bangkok. Storms and all, Koh Lanta has been great.