Today, it’s the same, same; wake up to another hot sunny day in beach-paradise, drag our butts over to the restaurant for breakfast, and get on the computers (Eron on her iPad to plan our itinerary and me on my MacBook Air to work on this blog).

By the time we get back to our bungalow, the chambermaid has already come and gone.

Our chambermaid “loves” us.

After a bunch of concerted whining and pleading; I said, “After all, we ARE in Thailand and it’s one of the things you just go ahead and do here.” “I know where one is and it’s close to here”. Eron reluctantly relented and off we went. We grabbed a tuk-tuk for the 3+ Km trip south into Ban Phra Ae. I was almost school-boy giddy in anticipation… we were going to visit a real honest-to-goodness Thai “Cat-house”. The tuk-tuk driver even knew exactly which place we were looking for; he’d obviously brought many Farangs to the joint. He even laughed and said, “Many young ones there, you like? Boy-ones, girl-ones… you can bring home.”

As he dropped us off, he even agreed to come back and pick us up, “… after you finish.”

Lanta Animal Welfare’s shelter. The “cat-house” (and dog-house).

We have been in Thailand now for almost 5 weeks… we’re starting to miss our poochies. So, it was time for a little intensive pet-therapy at the Lanta Animal Welfare (LAW) shelter (http://www.lantaanimalwelfare.com).

A cornucopia of kitties.

There must’ve been some two dozen cats in front of the shelter; some were pretty damn insistent with their “pet-me, NOW” meows.

A kitty-cuddle.

Now, I can truthfully say, Eron watched (and even participated) while I petted and rubbed a whole bunch of strange pussies in Thailand. The kitties were cute but what we were really here for was to take a couple of the shelter-dogs out for a walk. LAW volunteers even provide maps of good walk routes, leashes, and bottled water (and bowls) for the pooches. Some of the dogs are permanent (or semi-permanent) residents of the shelter but many are adoptable. In fact, both dogs that we walked had already been adopted and were awaiting transport to their new forever homes. All the dogs and cats at LAW have been spayed/neutered and have received vaccinations for Rabies and other common diseases common to their species.

“Carrot” is an approximately 16 week female mixed-breed who is waiting to go to her new home in Belgium.

“Carrot”

“Lucky” is an approximately 4 year old female mixed-breed waiting to go to her new home in Southampton, UK.

“Lucky”

LAW is also always looking for visitors who are willing to have dogs and/or cats be transported as “accompanied luggage” when they return home. Apparently it is much cheaper to ship the animals “with” someone than to have them shipped alone as “freight”. The LAW staff take care of all paper-work, the transport of the animal to your departure airport, and all fees. Once you reach home, the LAW staff will have already arranged for the adoptive pet-parents to meet you at the airport and take custody of the animal. As they had a dog, “Rufus”, going to Vancouver we volunteered to “accompany” him. However, as we transit through Hong Kong on the way to Vancouver, that made it unfeasible. According to LAW, the Hong Kong authorities throw up a series of red-tape and fees which make transiting through that airport very logistically problematic and expensive. So, Rufus is going to have to wait a little while longer… sorry, buddy.

We had a nice walk with Carrot and Lucky. Hopefully, that’ll hold us until we get home. True to his word, our tuk-tuk driver was driving up the road to come pick us up just as we were saying goodbye to the folks at LAW.

Instead of returning to the resort directly, we had the driver bring us to Mountain Sea Silver and Gems; on the main road just south of Ban Saladan. Unfortunately, the resident silversmith was not in at the time. However, the shop was nicely laid out and had a number of interesting handmade pieces in addition to the usual same, same tourist-trade stuff. The big downside; their pricing was overly-ambitious on everything. The place was created purely to fleece the unwary Farang. Even their unmounted gems can be had for much, much cheaper on eBay. It was too bad, Eron really liked some of the items and really did want to buy something from them. In the end, they were just too expensive and we walked away.

Rather appropriately, that evening, we went back to the Thai Cat for dinner. The walk north along the beach was a great way to build-up an appetite and the lightning flashes would sporadically light-up the entire surf-line. There was no rain yet, just the lightning and distant thunder but you could also feel the occasional hint of cooler air wash over you in between the gusts of moist warm breezes. Once there, we checked out the “catch-of-the-day” selections. We decided on a fresh-caught Grouper filet baked over the BBQ grill in butter and garlic. We also ordered a couple of dishes off the menu but it was the Grouper that was definitely the star of the meal. It was firm, flaky, dripping with butter and garlic, and… well, it was the fish that even fish-haters could be convinced to try.

As luck would have it, it started to sprinkle just as the Grouper was served. By the time the last bites were being shovelled into our mouths, the skies decided to open up. So, we (and all the other diners) were moved under cover to continue our meals.

Servers running between the buildings because of the rain.

Rain pouring off the roof.

We ended up being seated near a table of young (20-somethings) folks who turned out to be from Finland; two other males, one big-boy (350? lbs), and his girlfriend/wife. They had finished dinner but were ordering more drinks and smoking cigarettes to, “… wait for the rain to end.” We had dessert and I lit up my usual after-dinner cigar; it was dry under the thatched-roof and the breeze was now actually refreshing… you couldn’t call it anything near cool but it did feel good.

Nearly an hour went by and the rain was still coming down in torrents. So the Finns decided they weren’t waiting any longer and needed to go back to their hotel. The Thai Cat staff brought out some small plastic shopping bags for them to stow their water-sensative gear (mobile phones, wallets, etc.), they paid their bill, and started making their way to the parking area – apparently, they had ridden to the restaurant on three scooters. We didn’t really think anything of it once they left their table… until the hoots of laughter and wolf-whistles started. We walked over to see what was going on and the scene that ensued brought tears to our eyes and laughter until we were choking. What happened was that when they got to the edge of the covered dining area, the woman wanted to use the restroom. This gave the three guys time to stand there and think… booze+testosterone+someone coming up with a great idea; never a good-thing. They decided they would strip down to their underpants and put their clothes into the bags so that they wouldn’t get wet on the ride home. So, now you had three guys (one of them 350 or so pounds) in their underpants running across the the parking lot in the downpour, jumping on their little scooters, and trying to get them started… all this while the patrons at the restaurant and bar were cheering them on. The scooters finally start and they begin riding away. At this point, the big-guy probably remembers he’s missing someone and pulls over but his two buddies disappear into the rain and the darkness. After a couple of more minutes, the girlfriend/wife comes out of the restroom to find that all her companions have apparently left her. Some of the diners yelled at her to look under the tree at the far end of the parking lot; she spots her boyfriend/husband, shouts a quick “thank you”, pulls a shopping bag over her head, and runs out into the rain to get to her ride. Of course, when he sees her running, he starts rolling… making her run even farther through the rain – I’m pretty sure someone ended up sleeping in “Chez Bow-Wow” that night. A great meal, a fine cigar, AND an import comedy-troupe: the “Finnish Nearly-Naked Motorcycle Drill Team”. It was a terrific way to end to a day.