BANGKOK - KO TAO

Notable items!

BANGKOK

1. Plane to HK: Infant collicky triplets with parents whose idea of calming was to 'serenade' ( - compete in terms of volume - ) with screaming Asian lullabies and nonsense rhymes...I blocked it out with lots of Celine Dion (an idea inspired by the one and only Andrea Henkels).
2. Bangkok = hot and smelly. Our room = balcony door that didn't close. More hot. More smells.
3. We ate a lot of food from markets and street stalls. Fried insects with peanuts and chilis - not so bad...
4. Bangkok is full of swindlers; masterminds of taking tourist money in incredibly convuluted ways. After a death-defying tuk-tuk ride (a small go-cart taxi rig), a haphazard stop to get fitted for suits, a conman posed as a university student to convince us that the travel agency was legit we STILL managed to get caught in a scam. All to the glory of Gina's quick thinking, I was able to cancel the credit card before identity theft could occur or charges could be made. A definite close call.
5. Despite the scams and the bugs and the sweat: I AM LOVING the backpacker life, but learning to trust no one. Luckily, Gina and I have each other. We met a woman from Scotland who was traveling alone - she was supposed to take this trip with her boyfriend, but he broke up with her 1 month before - she is my hero for going anyways.
6. Spent a morning learning Viphrassa meditation from a monk in Wat Matarahat in Bangkok. The monk told me I have a mind like a monkey. I think this list attests to the truth in that fact.
7. Last week the King of Thailand's sister died, Gina and I watched procession and the entire city dress in black to mourn and flock to grand palace to pay respects.
8. Mastered the river ferry (populated quite like the MTA subways in the city).
9. Singha vs. Chang - an ongoing beer debate.
10. Overnight bus to Chumphon, then early morning catamaran to Ko Tao, a small island off the southeastern coast of penisular Thailand.

KO TAO IS THE ADULT VERSION OF SUMMER CAMP.
(with bigger toys and slightly altered kinds of candy at the Canteen.)

Like any American summer camp, this island is much the same way in terms of societal structuring. Because of limited perameters, people are forced to define themselves to groups (for example, native islander vs. tourist - scuba divers vs. beachbums - British girls vs. American girls) and we are finding that this setting encourages fonder, faster friendships (unless your socially structured group is at odds in their quest to define themselves, as Gina and I have found it impossible to befriend the Lilly Allens of the island).

Characters:
Csiakorn (manages the Sairee View, the resort we are staying at) is a Rastafarian, dreadlocked Thai. Very sweetly and awkwardly in Love with Gina (twice as tall as he is).
The Germans 7 Bavarians (whom we refer to as German #1-#7) who let us use our ipods in their "Ghettoblaster" because we are the women of the resort, and they have graciously conceeded that we are to have our way. The Germans are also quite funny and have good travel stories.
Thys Our Dutch SCUBA friend, not afraid of mountain biking the treacherous .75 mile steep hill to our bungalow to talk philosophy and religion.
Gina After surving a motorbike accident that ended in the emergency room with a large 2 x 2 infected wound on her left leg and a souvenier xray of her right hand, she is still in remarkably good spirits albeit not able to swim, kayak or hike very far.
JoAnne Content to look after Gina's war wounds, find used book stores, try all kinds of tropical fruit, and lounge about the island - on the gorgeous beach or the hilltop patio bar of our resort.

We will continue relaxing until Gina's leg shows better results from the antibiotics, then we are off to Ko Phangnan for the Full Moon Party. After that, possibly Ko Samui or Ko Chang - then to Bangkok again and a possible flight to Siem Riep in Cambodia. We have decided to ix-nay the Malaysia and Singapore iteneraries in terms of saving some money and for other reasons far too mundane to explain here.

Until next time - Saideekai (JoAnne's phoenetic spelling for 'Cheers!' in Thai)