Life is like reading, if you don't travel you will only read the first page

Yesterday, Veronika and I decided to rent scooters to check out the island we call home for the next few days. I just discovered that the name of the island is Ko Lanta. We took the scooters to Long Beach and had an American breakfast at a beach side restaurant. I always thought that Americans were known as the morbidly obesse white people of North America but the Thai don't think they need to eat like that. After breakfast, I locked the ignition and we did not have the proper key to start up and move on. Before we even realized what was going on we had a few locals trying to help us out. One guy drove us back to our hotel so we can get a new bike and took the liberty to explain exactley what had happened to us. We went back to the scene of the crime to offer the guy something for his efforts. He wanted no part of it. This one experience has restored my faith in the Thai people.

The scooter incident took us just over 2 hours to resolve and then we decided to go for a swim back at the resort. A swim turned into me passing out by the pool and we spent majority of the day there. After our swim we went out to the local market to buy some fruits, vegeteables, and other snacks. When Veronka was younger her mom made sure she had something to eat after she got out of the water to replenish the energy spent swimming. Elena, take comfort in knowing that your daughter still practices today what you taught her as a child.

We spent the night having dinner with a couple (Mike and Tarren) we had previously met on the bus and followed to Ko Lanta, discussing world issues. Because they are from South Africa, we learned a lot about their struggles and experiences growing up. They told us about how beautiful Africa is and how many problems they have between the blacks and whites. She talked about the genocide in Zimbabwae, the torture of children and women that is haunted by government corruption. Actually Tarren thougts us a lot, I had no clue what was going on there. It's amazing that the events taking place around the world which need our attention and money, get a minute coverage on the news where we are more concerned with up to the minute updates on the late Anna Nicole Smiths passing and her dirty laundry. It was eye opening and very sad to hear, but it showed me how lucky I am for living in Canada. Mike, grew up in New Zealand and we all know about the blood shed in the battle for Middle Earth that was well documented in the Lord of The Rings trilogy.

For dinner, we had a bbq'd snapper and I took the liberty to fillet it. It was sdelicious, although I'm pretty sure there were more bones in the fish that I served rather then the skeleton.

Today we are taking a proper tour of the island. First stop is the market. I forgot to pack my bathing suit and have to buy a new one. How could I possibly forget to pack something that I will be using at least 60% of the time I'm here? No need to comment, I have already given myself bonehead of the week award.

Rocco, I have seen a few Starbucks but they are few and far between. Having said that you won't miss it that much becasue instant coffee here is amazing. Elena, we are having an amazing time and the 12 hour bus ride has become a distant memory. We heard that Benny had quite the performance in his most recent tournament. We were both very happy and proud when we read his message.

P.S (from veronika) mama and papa please dont worry we are having the time of our lives!!!