tea diaries ~~~~~ groooooovy

Koh Chang, Thailand (paradise)

Well, whatever strange sickness I may or may not have had in Seoul, the warm tropical airs of Thailand have worked wonders. :) All I could think of coming over here is that scene from Ocean's 11 when the Bernie Mac character puts in a change for "warmer climates" and then it cuts to him in the back of a taxi, riding over the Nevada state line, grinning like a champ. That's pretty much the grin I had coming over here on the plane. Thailand! Well, we arrived in Bangkok at two in the morning. Before we got out of the airport terminal, we saw a rat running around, probably waiting for a plane. Maybe rats are good luck? They're in the Chinese zodiac, they can't be half bad. Took a rather overpriced cab into the city center to Koh San Road, which is probably one of the sketchiest parts of the city, but by all logic the only one that would be open when we arrived. It was three when we got there, and although the street was mostly deserted the expats and a fair amount of Thai locals were all lounging about in this one bar. So that being the thing to do, in we went. :) Ended up having a few drinks, I played pool with some sassy Thai girls who ran the table like no-one's business, we tried to understand the drunken mumblings of a demented one-sandaled, no-shirtted Scotsman who had just come back from the Full Moon Party in Koh Phanagan and hadn't slept in 4 days - and who also had about 20 baht and change (the equivalent of about 60 cents) to his name, which he continually shoved in our faces, although we assured him that we'd be buying his drinks and he needn't worry about it. Sometime in the night he threw it out the window. We ended up picking up this guy named Sam, a 29 year old English teacher in Korea on holiday, and we all headed out to the bus station at 8 in the morning to catch our bus to the ferry point down the Thai coast.

5 hours of questionable sleep later, Sam wakes up a little shocked and disoriented - turns out he didn't FULLY remember us from last night, though we didn't drink so much it seemed everyone else had, given that they had quite a few hours of partying on us before we had arrived. Luckily for all of his, he turned out to be an amazing guy drunk or sober, and he ended up staying with us on the island for the last 4 days, just leaving today for Pattaya. We also met a couple of cool cats named Kevin and Caroline on the ferry over, and the five of us have been having a pretty amazing week together. We got a hut up on a cliff overlooking the water, a literal stone's throw from the beach (I know, I know, pics coming soon...). The huts are amazing, raised on wooden stilts and nailed together Swiss Family Robinson style. There's a family of monkeys living in the jungle right behind us, we saw them one morning and we call them the "uh-oh" monkeys, cause that's what théir uhh... mating call? ... sounds like.

There's so much to do on the island, we haven't really covered half of it yet. All sorts of great dishes at the restaurants - every conceivable variety of Pad Thai, yellow green and red curries, fresh milk from coconuts hacked up and fitted with a straw as you watch, lassies and smoothies, and my personal favorite - the fabulous banana pancakes. We went to the markets yesterday and saw among other things: grilled toad, chicken feet, fish (the whole fish, anguished straight-outta-hell open-mouthed expression and all) on a stick, and what I ended up getting - two baby octopuses on a stick. Another bit of wildlife that's really omnipresent here has been ... GECKOS! My friends here have learned to groan as I gush over every gecko I see, and man are they everywhere. They mostly come out at night, and they crawl around the roofs and pillars of buildings, so they usually join us while we're eating. Dogs and cats run around free here, and we usually end up having an unexpected friend for dinner. :)

Yesterday we rented scooters and motored around the island for a bit, and stopped off at a waterfall toward the center of the island. I've never swam in a waterfall before, and this one was so nice and cold. Some of the Thai teenagers were climbing up on this ledge above the waterfall pool and jumping off, so Kevin Sam and I went up and jumped too! Jennifer, bless her heart, took a movie with my camera. :) So, I can cross off jumping into a waterfall off my list, ehh? ;)

Man, this is turning into a monster post. Okay, wrapping it up. Swimming's been amazing - the water is divine, and our beach is on the west coast and we watch the sunset every night. Bought a hammock and strung it up between two trees and yesterday fell asleep in the afternoon to wake up to purple and orange light over the water. I've never before been so soaked and saturated in natural beauty. :) There aren't really words for it. We'll be here until maybe Monday at which point we'll be heading back to Bangkok for a night and then over to the organic farm. We're thinking about renting a kayak for the afternoon and boating to one of the smaller islands for a nice secluded beach ... I'm having the time of my life. :) Love and miss you all ...