Koh Lanta - Day 4
It is now exactly one month since we arrived in Asia.
We had a slow start today due to sun burns. We didn’t really know what to do. After breakfast we covered up and hiked to the far end of Klong Dao Beach a distance of about 2.5 Km. By the time we got to the far end we were both exhausted from the heat and humidity. We stopped at a bar for mango smoothies to cool off. It barely got us in shape to walk partway back to another bar where we stopped for a beer and and order of French fries. By then we were fully recovered having spent at least an hour or more sitting and surf watching in the shade. On the way back to our hotel we watched the crabs making designs in the sand as the tide goes out. See the background picture at the top of this blog post. The crab transforms the sand beach from hard smooth wet sand to a mosaic of designs. It’s quite intriguing. Gary made a little video of the crabs doing their work which is posted below.
By 6 pm we were ready for supper and off to the restaurant next door. Gary has a craving for fish. Linda had spaghetti Thai style. She had the hottest spaghetti she has ever eaten. The hottest anything for that matter. She likes it hot but that was too much. She finished it and survived for ice cream later. Tomorrow is our last full day on the island of Koh Lanta. We will take a ferry Monday to Koh Lipe where we will stay for 10 glorious days. It was our favourite spot last time we were in Thailand.
Back to the crabs. We did a bit of research on the beach full of crab made sand balls! Sand bubbler crabs live in burrows in the sand where they remain during high tide. When the tide is out, they emerge on to the surface of the sand, and scour the sand for food, forming it into inflated pellets, which cover the sand. When they see someone coming they are as fast as lightning darting back to their burrow. When Gary set up the GoPro the crabs disappeared for a minute until they thought they were in the clear. Walking on the beach flattens their sand balls until they come back and make more.
I really enjoyed reading about your adventures! This will be a marvellous keepsake for you when you get home!
It is-33 tonight-supposed to warm up to-23 tomorrow (absolutely balmy).
Thanks for the update Merle. I think we picked a good time to be away. The weather here is very hot both from our standards and the locals’. Our restaurant server said “oh so HOT” so I take that to mean its hot even for them. Its +32 with steaming humidity. There are still some people wearing jackets here and in Bangkok which defies all logic.