When I came upon this scene on the Haad Tien beach on Koh Phangan, I immediately thought of The Girl From Ipanema, even though we were hundreds of miles away from the crowded beaches of Rio, were in fact on a quiet beach owned by The Sanctuary, a fantastic spa resort in Thailand. The guy was gazing out longingly at the figure of a passing woman, and the words from the song immediately sprang to mind:
When she walks, she’s like a samba that swings so cool and sways so gentle
That when she passes, each one she passes goes – ahh
But I watch her so sadly, how can I tell her I love her
Yes I would give my heart gladly,
But each day, when she walks to the sea
She looks straight ahead, not at me.
Tall and tan and young and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes, each one she passes goes – ahh
