Check it out: now there are links in my Thai journal to my thai pictures on yahoo! There are more pictures than there are links, so go check them out directly if you have the time,... but now you can see what I'm writing about!

So, yesterday was my big Japanese test. It was not as impossible as I'd imagined, so now I wish I would have studied harder. Oh well. Now I have to wait until February to see if I squeaked by with a 60%... but I doubt it. Ok, I'll try to finish my journal today- the last half of the week we just sat on the beach, so it shouldn't take much writing.

Less than 2 weeks and I'll be home for Christmas!

Thailand Day #5
We got up and had our real last Marriott breakfast and finally (a bit reluctantly) checked out of the hotel. We took a taxi in bad traffic to Ekamai, the Eastern Bus Terminal, for our trip south east to the island of Ko Samet. As we sat in traffic a block from the bus station, Tom looked out the window and spotted the train station right above us.... our concierge could have saved us the traffic time had he mentioned it... I mentally subtracted points from the previously untouchable Marriott folks. Oh well, I think our most expensive taxi ride was about 5 dollars, so it wasn't the worst thing in the world.

From the bus station, we took a 3 and a half hour bus ride to the coast. I was really impressed with the service (we were served drinks twice and got a muffin) and the on- time arrival compared with the nightmare of traveling in India and Bangladesh. Not only did we get there on time (in India, its amazing to actually just get-there) but we also had air conditioning and several crazy Thai movies (at least they were action flicks).

Though we couldn't see the water until we got off the bus, the ride was pretty. Ban Phe, the village with the pier to Ko Samet, was nice enough- though we didn't see much more than the bathrooms, a 7-11, and lots of tourist stores with shells strung up to hang across a doorway. Lots of shells. Lots of sand. We arranged to stay in the Dome Bungalow before we even got out onto the pier... against the advice of the Lonely Planet, but it worked out fine (not that I didn't worry... I was in a bad habit of reading the LP advice directly after doing exactly what they'd advised against). Then we sat on a bench near the boats and waited. Our tickets said the boat would leave when there were 20 passengers. When we arrived, besides us there were only 2 other tourists waiting. It was hot and we were hungry and it looked like it would be a long wait, so Tom volunteered to go scavenge for food. He came back with a half loaf of bread and a can of tuna with veggies (inside the can of tuna). We cracked it open and used my Swiss Army knife to scoop it onto our bread... while some recently arrived Europeans watched us very skeptically (they were probably hungry too). More quickly than I'd imagined, there were 18 of us ready to go... so we got on the boat. Actually, we walked across a wooden plank, over the side of one small pink wooden boat, through that boat, over the other side of that boat and climbed into a blue and white larger boat. Now, imagine that both Tom and I are doing this with our packs on our backs. Fun!

Finally, we were off. The island wasn't actually that far away so the boat ride was about 20-30 minutes. It was very sunny and we could see smaller, uninhabited islands near Ko Samet. It all looked quite exotic. Very non-midwestern. ;) Arriving at the Ko Samet pier, we had to climb back out of the boat through a different smaller boat (on which I clonked my knee earning a big bruise to go with my bikini) and over a different plank. When we righted ourselves, we were set and ready to go. The place we were set to stay at was on a beach called Ao Prao, on the other side of the island from most of the other bungalows and restaurants. We chose it because it had a list of cool sounding activities: kayaking, windsurfing, snorkeling, diving, etc. Of course, once we got there and found the beach.... well, we pretty much never moved.

We found a pick-up truck acting as a taxi and 6 of us loaded into the back of it (there were benches built on both sides) with our luggage and we quickly took off. Quickly and very, very bumpily. The roads were 75% dirt and very hilly with lots of pot holes. Tom got the hero award for spotting a branch and making me duck seconds before I caught it in the face. It was a wild ride.

The beach was gorgeous and I relaxed the instant we got off the truck. We found the Dome Bungalow quickly (there were only two other places to stay and they were both resorts... of the island kind, not the Marriott kind... very low key). I think the only way to describe it is like a motel with no cars. We had our own lime green door and veranda full of flowers, part of a building with three separte doors. The restaurant, front desk was below us on the way to the water and had no walls... only a ceiling. The edge of the water was only about 50 yards from our door and as we sat eating dinner, we were only about 10 yards away. Max. It was great- really, really quiet. The owner was really nice and the women who worked in the restaurant were supremely friendly. We also got on quite well with the local kitties. We had several meals with one of them curled up in our laps.

The night sky was beautiful. The moon was just a tiny sliver and it set by about 10pm. The tides were out at night and so we could just sit on the beach on the low, wooden beach chairs- holding a beer in one hand and swatting the random mosquitoes (we decided to skip malaria medication but did bring deet mosquito spray... so far, so good). Other tourists would be walking up and down the one sidewalk (not even a road) past our place on the way to the other resorts. Other than that, there was no noise but the sound of the waves.

Thailand Days #6 & #7

Slept in, had leisurely breakfast outside near the beach. Breakfast was eggs, toast, smoothies & tea for me (coffee for Tom). Moved 10 yards to the beach. Sat in wooden chairs so low with the tide so high that our feet and sometimes butts got wet. Went swimming in crystal clear, waveless water. Sat in chairs longer. Used lots of sunscreen.

Eventually ate lunch. Took naps. Walked to the other side of the island. once. Decided our side was much better. Sat back into chairs. Read a book (Tom). Stared at untouched Japanese flashcards (who do you think?). Swam more. Sat more.

Took cold showers. Eventually ate dinner. Walked. Watched sunset. Looked at the stars. Sat. Swatted mosquitoes. Drank beer.

Went to sleep early.

Ahhhhh......