Leon II

The excitement had not diminished any just because this was the second time Leon had visited us. Although the reunion was a bit surreal as he arrived in Bangkok the day before I returned from Australia. This meant he ended up becoming very familiar with a certain Starbucks near Ekkamai whilst Mr John met me at the airport *.  I thought it was lovely that, on this visit, Mr John was on holiday making it easier to spend some quality time together.

We had so much to fit in, it was pretty full on in the first few days. So it was Wednesday when we headed back to Chanthaburi and on Thursday, after a trip to immigration which I'll tell you about another time we took off for Koh Chang. We stayed at the Alina Grand Hotel & Resort. They use the terms loosely and I wouldn't recommend it, so I'll say no more! Regardless, we had a good time hanging round the pool, eating, drinking and generally catching up. 

In fact we even managed to catch up with Lisa & Gordon, friends who live in Bangkok. This may not sound that amazing but Leon, Lisa and Mr John went to high school together. What a weird and wonderful world it is.

On their advice, we headed to Nong Bua Seafood at Whitesands you'll find it on the main drag just look out for the sign. It is a fantastic place, very, very reasonably priced. There are no "airs and graces" you get served, you eat, you leave. There's a lot of seafood on display out the front that you can point at and choose if you're not comfortable with the menu and there's such high turnover, the seafood is fresh it's always a concern here that it's been sitting in the baking sun all day. 

Of course part of the reason Leon left his visit until April was to check out Songkran and I don't think he was disappointed. It really is like being a little kid. As usual sleepy Chanthaburi was rocking and quite literally this year. We met up with Roy and his "posse" at the lake and were given a very Thai welcome with the whiskey flowing and the band rocking out the country music. We were invited in because Mr John had worked with one of the guys at a previous school.

I don't think I've told you before but there is a shop by the lake where you can purchase all you "country" related gear Stetsons, cowboy boots I kid you not. There was also some lovely food being passed around and a guy working the barbecue tirelessly it was also lovely to have a sit down. 

Of course no trip for Leon would be complete without some quality time with the legend that is Pii Kob. We'd seen him a little bit but then got to have a lovely lunch at a new for us place just out of town. The food was really good and a lot of laughter shared. But all too soon it was time to head back to Bangkok for a bit more sight seeing before Leon had to leave.

We love having him here and we're hoping it won't be his last trip. Who knows, maybe next time we can take in Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand. As always though, we are so grateful to people who make the effort to come see us and bring us chorizo!!

* you can get a bus back to Chanthaburi from the airport but it's hit and miss whether there are enough seats. The easiest bus terminal for the eastern parts of Thailand is Ekkamai (because it's on the east side of Bangkok) and rather than drag Leon back and forth on his first full day we thought it best to let him relax a bit