PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE

From Hiking in the Mountains to Island Life

Week 83 of the photographic documentary of my daily life

Some might say we’re always on holiday. I just respond I’m living life. Yes, we just got back from our trip up North and after a few days at work, we went to the island on our two off days. Because why not?

Our time in Thailand is coming to an end and while we’re still here we decided to do all those things we can’t do back in Germany. For example, sipping on cocktails while sitting in a bikini on a tropical island.

Day one of this week was at the same time as the last day of our holiday exploring the remote north of Thailand. I’ve published already a few articles on our hikes in the jungle and life in the countryside but I still have some more to share.

So, today we dropped off the rental car and flew back to Bangkok where we took a Grab taxi (Asian version of Uber) to get to our flat about an hour’s drive south of the city.

The next day we were back at work. Yes, we live together and work together. We do the real 24/7 together. Not always smiling but still loving it.

On one of the loads today we were in a full plane of skydivers. I was on a camera jump and soon after takeoff, the passenger started to show fear. At first, we thought he must be acting looking for attention because all three of the customers were some influencer group but soon we realized this person really doesn’t want to jump.

While we always try to convince people that skydiving is fun, we’d never force anyone. Ever. The tandem master eventually gave in on convincing and told the passenger they’d land with the plane.

This all happened a while before exit, so I asked my husband if I could just follow him on the tandem jump since I wasn’t keen on landing in the plane (skydivers just hate landings in the plane).

The passenger my husband was taking on a skydive had booked the camera option as well, so he had his own photographer. I just flew around them filming the pair interacting while falling at approximately 220 kph.

They say falling, we call it flying.

It was Saturday and on weekends the nearby market is the biggest. We decided to go for dinner and ordered some chicken, grilled sausages, and other street food.

We love the atmosphere at the market and always sit down at one of the tables to enjoy the scene. A live band was playing while the cicadas were competing against them in a battle of volume.

We’re here in kind of an urban settlement but the chirping of cicadas gave me the feeling of being somewhere in the jungle.

Also, we love people watching and there is always lots to see. Many families spend the evening together with some delicious meals turning their heads to the only two farangs (foreigners) at the market.

I hadn’t taken a picture yet when the ice cream man came over at work. I love these street food vendors who transport their entire food stall on the sidecar of a bike and visit us almost daily at the airport.

I do like ice cream but it needs to be hot outside for me to have some. Well, luckily that is the case every day in Thailand so when today the guy serving nothing but “coconut ice cream” came, I didn’t hesitate for a moment to fetch my wallet.

It’s my favorite of them all. The guy cuts a coconut in half and scrapes off all the juicy coconut meat. Then he adds a few spoons of vanilla ice cream, asks you if you want cream and some seeds as topping and you pay half a dollar in return.

It’s so simple, basic, yet incredibly delicious.

And while I am talking about vanilla ice cream, a memory back from my primary school appears. My teacher gave us exercises to build groups in class according to preferences. The latest one was “your favorite ice cream”. And while us students were walking around trying to find others having the same likings, small groups formed in the classroom.

My teacher finally approached me asking what kind of exotic flavor I had selected since I remained standing solo.

Hesitant, I replied “vanilla”.

I’ll never forget this memory. I guess everyone likes vanilla ice cream but nobody chooses it as their favorite one. Except for me.

Monday was our last day at work for the week (we’re off on Tuesdays and Wednesdays) and the one thing we still wanted to do before flying back to Germany, was going to an island.

We landed, hopped on the bike, and rushed home. I ordered a taxi which responded immediately, we threw some stuff in the bags, and off we went.

Not even 2 hours after landing from the last skydive at work, we stepped foot onto the island of Koh Larn. And this was the stunning sunset we got to witness after playing frisbee on the beach (see title image).

On Tuesday we explored the waters with our inflatable kayak and paddleboard and finished off the day with some delicious and beautifully decorated cocktails while devouring a platter of seafood.

On Wednesday it was time to leave the island but we decided to maximize our time. After breakfast, we headed out on the ocean again to paddle to some hidden small beach where we put our boards on land and dived into the water.

We snorkeled along some beautiful cliffs with not the greatest marine life we’ve ever seen but a decent amount of colorful fish at least.

On the dot noon, we checked out of the resort, took the shuttle to the other side of the island where we enjoyed lunch before taking the ferry back to the mainland.

This has been my week in photographs. 7 days. 7 photographs. Anyone can join. Once. Or weekly. It doesn’t matter. We welcome everyone! Dennett was the one starting this photography challenge in summer 2020 and many have participated ever since.

Erika / Eileen / K. Barrett / Juan / David / Mia / Susan / LensAfield / Kim / Barbara / Diana / Barb / Sandra / Shruthi / Ellie / Pene / Olive / Gustavo / Jane / Penny

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