Thai arrival
All that travel became so worth it when I walked into Mong's bar, right on the beach, and Camille and Eric came running toward me. I dropped my backpack and commenced relaxation; this is a great place for it. An older German man I met on the train to Delhi said, "Thailand is Disneyland, it's so easy." After two months in India, so easy it is.
Even the ferry ride(s) were nice, but I love being out on the water. Yesterday we rented motorbikes, a great way to explore Ko Lanta. I'd driven one in Goa last year, and it was so fun to zip around again. This is a long, thin island with one side that's entirely beaches. We drove to one the first day where there were only three other people onthe entire beach: a British couple and a local fisherman.
The Andaman Sea is so lovely, really calm; I haven't seen a single whitecap. And warm! When you're neck-deep in the water you can still see your toes, ahhh.
Besides swimming multiple times a day and exploring the island, we've been doing some light shopping (I bought sequined burqa!) and lots of hanging out, catching up. My friends have been working in Singapore, running the construction of and painting scenes on a roller coaster six days a week; they left NYC a few weeks before I did. This is their vacation, and it kind of feels like a vacation from my vacation. Or maybe the drinks in buckets have something to do with that.
It is ridiculously nice here, but quite expensive. After spending $4 per night on a hotel and less than $2 a meal for the last month or two, $20 a night seems like a fortune for a room. Of course, that room is right off the beach, has fresh clean sheets, air conditioning, an actual mattress instead of foam or a bedroll that makes me wake up with pins-and-needles arms asleep, hot water with actual water pressure, non-fluorescent lighting, the works.
I don't want to repeat getting stuck on the beach though. Camille and Eric have to go back to work in Singapore on Sunday (I'm considering a cheap flight to visit them for a few days), so I booked a bus ticket out of here that morning. Then I realized that Sunday night is the full moon, and it'll be beautiful here, so I ran back and begged to change the ticket to Monday. The guy made a phone call, hung up, and said OK! No charge, no hassle, and the whole process took under ten minutes. Wow, talk about the opposite of India, where it would have taken at least half a day and I'd probably just have to buy a new ticket. I think I'm still decompressing. Let's hope Thai overnight buses are not worse than Indian ones.
So a couple more days of beachin' it up, then I head to Bangkok. From there I'm thinking go north, maybe to Chiang Mai and then crossing over into Laos, maybe spend a couple days on a boat down the Mekong. I love being on the water; we're trying to rent a longtail boat today, but it's off-season so it might not be possible. I do enjoy places in the off-season though; even if they're more hot there are no crowds (especially here, I think the massive flooding a few weeks ago sent everyone packing).
In the meantime, I'll continue enjoying the company of friends, long walks on the beach, and motoring around. We formed a bike gang, the Neon Pink Eagles, since two of the three scooters are bright pink with leopard spots. Bike gang photo (and sequined burqa) coming soon, meanwhile, this is us:
