Bottle Beach Baby!

Bottle Beach was our final destination as a foursome. After 12 hours of migration via multiple modes of transportation, we found ourselves at our secluded little paradise. A secluded little paradise that came highly recommended by Marc & Kylie (thanks M&K- it was definitely a highlight!)

Upon arrival, we quickly unloaded our stuff into our beach front bungalows and HIT THE BEACH!

Bottle Beach can only be reached by boat (or by crazy jungle trek) as it is on a secluded portion of Koh Phangan Island.

It's a teeny tiny beach with three options of accommodation: Bottle Beach Resort 1, Bottle Beach Resort 2, and Bottle Beach Resort 3 (very original I know). We stayed at Bottle Beach Resort 1. The bungalows were simple with flushless toilets and cracks in the walls and floors- but it was a-okay because we spent all our time on the beach or at the beach front restaurant.

During our beach days, we did nothing more than eat, swim, read, nap, and play with our Doraemon Paddles.

It's basically like playing ping pong without the table, and Doraemon is the Japanese character on the front. Carlynne and I have a soft spot for Doraemon because our Japanese students from many moons ago gave us stuffed Doraemon toys. Ah the good times.

Anyhoo, Carlynne and I were naturals with the paddles (in my humble opinion). It brought us back to our growing up years when we would toss any and every type of sporting equipment in the front yard. These Doraemon paddles were right up our alley!

Carlynne brought them back to Canada with her, and we have lofty plans to play some intense games on Parliament Hill when I visit her in Ottawa, and in Central Park when we go to New York (and any other place cool). Yes, we are ambitious.

Anyhoo, back to the beach.

Daniel was very interested in introducing us to the little creatures he discovered.

I'm glad he was the one holding the things and not me.

Throughout our holiday, Carlynne and Dan started their mornings off with brief synchronized yoga stretches. It was fairly amusing catching a glimpse of them from our bungalow window first thing in the morning.

As mentioned previously, this country certainly does not lack raggedy looking cats and dogs. In fact, they have often joined us at (or on) our dinner tables.

Carlynne didn't mind the cat so much, but Dan wasn't too impressed. He wore his "I'm-not-so-amused" expression firmly.

Our second (and last) evening included some feline entertainment. A hungry, determined cat darted into Carlynne and Dan's room with a dead bird dangling from its mouth. He fiercely guarded it in the corner. Carlynne and I were in the room on our own at the time, and the neighbour girl responded to our giggles and screeches by joining us on the scene. Between the three of us, the cat was pressed against a wall with a broom, and the bird was picked up in a bag and properly disposed of. The cat was NOT happy about this, and lingered on the porch while throwing a hissy fit (literally).

By the way, during this time the boys were hanging out with the neighbours on the other side casually cracking coconuts. They completely ignored our screeches and squeals. Good thing we're so non-woosy.

And we still benefited from the cracked coconut afterwards...

All too soon May 30th- the day that Carlynne and Dan flew back to Canada via Hong Kong- was upon us. They were excellent travel buddies and we soooo miss them.

(As Shareen pointed out- yes. I have hot tan lines.)

BYE CARLYNNE AND DAN!!!

While Carlynne and Dan headed back to Bangkok to catch their flight, Lowell and I went to Koh Tao Island where we became certified scuba divers. THAT'S RIGHT! Certified. Scuba. Divers. We barely have any pictures to show for it, but I still think it deserves it's own post, so just you wait!