How the world looks from the relaxed and reclined

Slather on the sunscreen, and set the oven to bake. What did you do today?

Testing out the swing

A perfect day for bananafish.

Doing my best Keith Richards

"Haggard, I say, you're looking haggard!" Actually, I don't smoke; it's just a prop. (No, really, I'm not kidding...)

Pyromaniacs on Hat Rin

Firedancing in front of Dive In Bar. And I thought baton twirling was for sissies!

Hat Leela on Ko Pha Ngan

A groomed beach, nice palm trees, a swing, and a volleyball net. The waves break on the outer edge of the reef, but it still beats Mae Sot anyday of the week and twice on Sunday.

Poolside at Ko Pha Ngan

You could spend less than $5 a night and get eaten up by bed bugs, or you could pay $6 a night and share a room and a pool at Coco Hut Village on Hat Leela on Ko Pha Ngan.

Thanon Khao San in the afternoon

What a place! A crossroads on the backpacker circuit. People are coming and going to and fro all points of the compass. You can get anything here, but don't expect it to be authentic, and that includes the women!

This pretty much says it all

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Early Saturday morning, bleary-eyed from the overnight bus trip, I stumbled across this magical VW bus. Late enough so that there were people who hadn't gone to bed, still nursing their big bottles of Singha or Chang beer at the local watering hole, and too early for the breakfast places to start serving, it was a rare quiet time on Thanon Khao San.