Per usual, we had to drag our non-morning-person butts down to the restaurant for breakfast. And, to top it all off, we had to put up with this kind of view…

Breakfast-time view.

We get back to our bungalow to find we’ve, or more correctly our veranda, had been adopted…

“Tabby” has adopted our veranda.

We decided to go into town to check out the local shopping-scene. All we had to do was walk down to the reception area of the resort; conveniently located across the road is a tuk-tuk depot.

Tuk-tuk depot across road from resort.

We spent the next few hours wandering in and out of the various shops in Ban Saladan. We didn’t buy much, but it was an interesting way to spend the afternoon. Funny enough, one of the highlights was stopping at a mini-mart to have a Magnum ice cream bar – did it ever go down gooood! Magnum bars; I know of them from home but here… they have some impressive market penetration. They have advertising most everywhere and they are carried in almost every little mini-mart and kiosk with a cooler. Plus they are in every 7Eleven here… and, as mentioned before, Thailand has one helluva lot of those.

By the time we got back, it was “chill-out time” on the veranda. Mind you, “chill-out” is a very relative term when it’s nearly 100 Degrees Fahrenheit. But you do what you can; a cold drink and a cigar certainly helped.

For dinner, we wanted to walk down the beach a ways and see what we could find. Along the way there were a couple restaurants that looked like they jumped right out of the frames of a certain infamous movie…

Apocalypse Now-esque restaurant.

It was also cool to see the glow of the lights from the fishing boats.

Fishing boats on the horizon.

The restaurant we chose looked like the psychotic love-child of a union between Apocalypse Now and Mad Max; the Thai Cat Pub and Restaurant (http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g303905-d1965177-r192304442-Thai_Cat-Ko_Lanta_Krabi_Province.html).

The Thai Cat Pub and Restaurant

BBQ kitchen area on the beach – dugout canoe is where the seafood is displayed on ice.

They are located on the north end of Long Beach, only about a 10 minute walk on the sand from our resort. The level of service from the staff is courteous, efficient, and welcoming to the extreme… even by Thai standards. Better yet, their food was every bit the equal of the best we’ve tried in Thailand. And as an added bonus, their head-waiter and an older gentleman (who we assume is a proprietor) spoke very good English. In fact, the older gentleman even greeted guests with “hellos” and “good evenings” in a number of other languages. Part-way through dinner, the air became quite still, thick, and heavy. The older gentleman commented, “I think it will rain tonight” and went on to explain that Koh Lanta has had but one rain shower since December 15 of last year… and that was for only twenty minutes. He also noted that they needed the rain to last at least 2 hours as some of the islands water-wells had already run dry. Shortly after this, the first few drops fell. For “Wet-coasters”, it was quite humorous to watch the staff running around collecting up the seat cushions and ushering patrons to new tables under the large thatched-roof dining area that is set back from the beach. The few drops that managed to strike us were actually refreshing… we were hoping for more… you heard it here first folks, Vancourites actually hoping for MORE rain. The only concern I had was for my cigar… rain-soaked cigars are not particularly well-known for their smooth, easy draws.

While I was easing the fast pace of this day with a cigar, the Sky Lantern vendor showed up. As usual, some Farangs fell for the, “Light one for good luck” line.

Preparing a Sky Lantern.

Getting ready to launch.

Launching.

Away it goes.

As I was enjoying the last of my cigar, the older gentleman came over and asked, “Good see-gar, Monte Cristo?” I replied, “No, it’s a Camacho, a very good cigar from Honduras.” He smiled and said, “Good see-gar, I like the smell.” Good food, great staff, terrific ambiance, and a boss that appreciates my cigars… we’re definitely coming back here!

Sadly, like all good things, my cigar came to an end. So, we bid our farewells and headed out along the surf-packed sand. As we came up to San’s Sunset Bar, we saw that their fire-show was in full-swing.

Fire Show at San’s Sunset Bar.

But even at the water’s edge the air was too thick and close to stay still for more than a minute or two. So, we had to keep moving… the air was so humid this evening that it almost felt as if we were walking through some sort of transparent soup.

The air in the bungalow was ecstasy-inducingly cool at a dehumidified 28 Degrees Celsius… unfortunately, the relief lasted only the few moments it took for our bodies adjust… them the sweating began anew. Showers were the next plan of attack. And the relief was immediate… and lasted until about half-way through “drying off”. I put drying off in quotation marks because as quickly as we dried off, the water was being replaced by beads of sweat. I told Eron that if she really loved me; she’d go outside, cut some palm fronds, and then use them to fan me… apparently that was REALLY funny, ‘cuz all I got in reply was a, “whatever-look” (guys, you’re all familiar with that one) and hysterical laughter.

We adjusted the air-con down to a near-arctic 25 Degrees Celsius and flopped down onto the bed… and then proceeded to toss and turn. The sheer oppressiveness of the outside air was never relieved by any substantive rainfall and it’s presence was able to be felt even inside our bungalow. Well, gentlemen, most of you have experienced the always near-fatal and much-dreaded “Man-Cold”; this evening, a new term was coined – the equally debilitating condition now to be forever known as, “Man-Hot”. For the next several long hours; the heat, humidity, and low barometric pressure all combined to create, “Man-Hot” – grown men whined and whimpered, women tossed and sighed, children cried out for mercy, and even the Great Saijo Denki was over-whelmed… all the while, “Frenchie the Tourette’s-Bird” mocked us with, “Focque Ewe”, Focque Ewe”, “Focque Ewe”….