May the long time sun shine upon you

So we’re into our last couple of days in our little tropical paradise garden bungalow. It’s no surprise that we come back year after year. “For peace comes dropping slow.”

Not much in the way of blogging though! We’ve caught up with some good films in the thatched open-air cinema – Manchester by the Sea, Anomalisa, La La Land, Lion, Victoria & Abdul, Blade Runner 2049, Breathe, Arietti. And watched some slightly less good films - Trainspotting 2, Her, King of Kings, Loving Vincent... I've also read some great books. I particularly liked the new Philip Pullman "La Belle Sauvage" and Sarah Waters "The Little Stranger". Trevann has been drawing and writing songs and I've (almost) completed a FutureLearn course in Biochemistry!

New Year celebrations on the beach were enlivened by the premature detonation of the town’s entire firework display at 11.30, which caused one hell of a bang! Fortunately no one was seriously injured but it made the national news. We arrived shortly after to find a large section of beach on fire and flames spreading into the wild almond trees.

Undeterred, 100,000 revellers continued to party on the sands with hand-held fireworks of varying ferocity.

In other news I have managed to ID over 15 bird species that live in and around Bacoma, most by sight and a few by sound. Black drongo, oriental magpie-robin, white-rumped shama, pacific swallow, tailorbird, common myna, yellow-vented bulbul, red-whiskered bulbul, Asian koel, coppersmith barbet, hoopoe, olive-backed sunbird, Asian barred owlet, zebra dove, black-naped oriole, black-crested bulbul and striped-throated bulbul.

Here are some pix in no particular order.

Next we're off to Siem Reap on Tuesday then on to southern Laos.

Oriole

Somnang wanted to cook his meal over a fire. It wasn't a huge success but it's fun being 9!

One of the Bacoma residents

The Prime Minister's entourage arrived for the Sea festival in their finest attire

We've enjoyed many a fine sunset at our favourite early evening bar The Seagull

where we watch the boats chugging out across the Gulf of Thailand for night fishing

Back at the Sea Festival staff at one of the stalls await anxiously as the PM makes his way down the line

Lovely walks through the National Park

One theme for the Sea Festival was the promotion of watersports so we had sailing, windsurfing and waterskiing going on for a couple of days

When we suggested that Michael should use his foot to inidicate scale for our pix we didn't know that these Giant Water Bugs are called "toebiters".

Waiting for the Prime Minister to arrive to open the Sea Festival

This is a "bird house" to farm swiflets for their nests. There are a few round here. It's a lucrative business.

Roy came to visit with Veasna and Charan.

We had a long hot walk up to this pagoda a few kilometres from our place.

Fabulous views across the sea towards Vietnam

Trevann adds to the mayhem that is New Year on Kep Beach

Along with thousands of others.

It's all very good humoured and friendly. Just rather too many people in comparison with 4 years ago