There's something about islands

I started my trip on an island, Phu Quoc in Vietnam, and I'm ending my trip on an island, Koh Phangan. There's something about islands that I love: the possibility of seeing both a sunrise and a sunset over the ocean, the fact that islands inevitably feature inland waterfalls and, of course, the endless beaches. There's also the seductive idleness that islands promote. I could go snorkeling, hike up a mountain to catch the sunset, visit a waterfall....or I could just lounge under a palm tree reading (or half reading) my book.

On Koh Phangan, I resisted the seductive idleness just enough to find a yoga school within biking distance. The yoga school, Angama, combined hatha yoga and laya yoga for an esoteric spiritual emphasis. In New York, my experience with yoga has been more like visiting a gym--it's primarily focused on the kinetic practice and physical benefits of yoga. I'm not a mystic but I did enjoy the philosophical component of the Angama classes. And I was happy to attend a class again.

One funny aspect of traveling with two boys is that they eat constantly! After breakfast at 10:00a, there's lunch at 1:00p, only a few hours later, an afternoon milkshake and then an enormous dinner! We found a great restaurant on the beach that had fresh seafood barbecue, including salad and soup for only 300 Baht (10.00 USD) and we ate large quantities of fresh seafood. My favorite dish was a seafood curry, very spicy, served in a young coconut. I wish that I had taken a picture of it but I was too busy devouring it

Too soon, it was time to take the ferry back to the mainland and then drive back to Bangkok.