Huay Tung Tao Lake

It's hard to believe Spring Break is already half-way over already!  Luckily we get two full weeks so there is still another week left.  After heading up to Tiger Kingdom Monday, Tuesday we had a lazy day at home, spending most of the day at the pool. By Wednesday, we were ready for another adventure, so we headed to a nearby lake I've been wanting to check out: Huay Tung Tao.

It was pretty cool. No English and no farang (Westerners) in sight. There were rickety bamboo huts for rent all along the shore.

We chose the one that reached the farthest out into the lake and set up camp for the day, taking snacks, a picnic blanket, and some pool toys we'd brought, along with our books. 

The rental fee was only 20 baht per person (or about 66 cents); Funny Guy was free. We had some minor panic when we realized they couldn't make change for me and the smallest bill I had was 500 baht (about $15). Luckily Young Man had brought money and I took out a small loan.

The lake was full of little fish and pretty soon we spotted a crab climbing up on the bamboo. Toward the end of our visit, Young Man spotted a huge water snake as well! I was pretty happy we didn't see that until we were done swimming. :-)

It was definitely a relaxing outing. There was a little Thai restaurant to order food (they brought the menu out to us) but the options were limited and, much to the boys' disappointment, there weren't any smoothies or icecream to be had. There was, however, a lady who came by offering fresh cut fruit (no mango, sob, sob) and we enjoyed cantaloupe and watermelon.  We also tried the chicken fried rice and pork omelet. They were delicious. 

Other than that, we swam, read, and napped.

Funny Guy hung out in the water almost the entire time, staying close in so he could hear the book I was reading aloud. It made me happy to watch him spinning and smiling lazily as he listened.

The boys caught fish and bugs (catch & release only) and strategized about what they should bring next time to catch even more. There was a delicious breeze and the lake was beautiful. Funny Guy even tried snorkeling, but visibility was not good. :-)

And on the way home, we were serenaded by a crazy guitar-strumming, singing group of Thais that waved at us every few minutes.

Only about a half hour drive from our house, the boys are already plotting our return.