Holy moly it's hot. And humid.
Sorry about the lack of posting, I will remedy that within a few days with a massive onslaught of updates bringing this blog up to speed. You've been warned!
I feel like starting with today, so I will! Mindy and I are in Krabi, on the west coast of southern Thailand. It's stunning- the huge cliff faces, the jungle, the white sand, the transparent bright aqua water, and the FISH! Our resort was just us last night, it's low season here and the area we are in is a bit out of the way. The owner is incredibly nice, giving us advice, booking trips, and he gave us both copper amulets on our first night for good luck, after seeing the amulet I had from my students. Aww!
We went on a snorkling trip to Koh Phi Phi today, and it was every bit as breathtaking as I had heard it would be. The parrot fish swimming right alongside us were shimmering greens, blues, reds, yellows, and occasionally all of the above. Angelfish glided around the sea cucumbers, and sea urchins glared at us with the one rather freaky orange eye-looking thing they have on top. The frisky little grey and yellow fish tried to take our fingers as well as the watermelon we fed them. The staghorn, brain, and other types of coral were so close we had to be careful not to damage it.
Too bad I am so sunburnt I had to take care how much time I spent in the sun. Sigh. I am not a fan of salt water, and I had forgotten that my skin becomes insanely sensitive when I have been in the ocean. 'Live and relearn' is how the saying goes, right?
The boat trip is going to have me running to the chiropractor (Mum, could you book me an appointment?) with crazy waves and bumps that had me levitating off the seat of the speedboat. We had to stop on the way back because an irsh and an english guy had fallen out of their kayak in the rough waters, so we picked them up. They were incredibly funny about the whole thing, proclaiming they watched their lives flash before their eyes in the five minutes they were in the water. The irish guy looked a liottle stunned though- he doesn't swim well, and even with the lifejacket he was pretty scared. Good thing we found them!
Mindy and I had a fabulous dinner in town, and walked around a bit. I orderted what I thought was a cocktail after, but it ended up being a shot. I hate it when that happens. In any case, I was tipsy for a bit after, and I found out I bargain much more effectively if I am a little inebriated! I'll never forget the look on this mid-20's Thai man when he insisted to some other tourists that the price he was offering was "low season special", and I made a disbelieving snort, and started to laugh. He looked sheepish, to his credit.
I'm sitting outside under an overhang, typing on their computer while a monsoon rages behind me. As long as it is done by tomorrow morning, it's no problem! Mindy and I bought some local beer, we have a mini fridge, and we are tired enough to call it a night. Tomorrow we go on the James Bond tour, I am excited about swimming in a waterfall. No salt water!
Schedule update: On August 8th we fly back to Bangkok, spending a day and a bit there, then off to my village for two days, back to Bangkok, and we take an overnight train the same day to Chaing Mai. Four days in that area, one day back in Bangkok, and homeward bound we'll be!
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