Travelling south

I got a wild hair up my ass and decided that I should bus it down to Malaysia after the Full Moon party. After 1 hour 40 minutes of sleep, I got up and caught a taxi to the ferry back to mainland Thailand, after which I boarded a songtheaw (taxi-like thing) and then a couple minibuses before arriving at the Malaysia border. I lost track of how many hours it was- a lot!

The major glitch in the plan was some sort of stomach issue that morning. With a squat toilet combined with a ferry boat cleanliness, I was well in the throes of montezuma's revenge and other things. Ok, too much information. But I managed to get to Malaysia after about 20 hours of nausea, etc.

The guidebooks had warnings about crossing at any other point other than Satun and this little island off the coast of Thailand, but I crossed at the regular road crossing, after inquiring locally about safety. I was in the company of five other foreigners who were traveling together and working in KL, Malaysia. They were from Poland, Estonia, Columbia and I can't remember where else... It was no problem crossing the border and arriving into Georgetown, Malaysia.

More tomorrow... (with pics.)

On Travel

"Don't strike off to "hit all the sights" or actualize all your travel fantasies from the get-go. Stay organized and interested, but don't keep a "things to do" list. Watch and listen to your environment. Take pleasure in small details and differences. Look more and analyze less; take things as they come. Practice your flexibility and patience - and don't decide in advance how long you'll stay in one place or another." - Rolf Potts, Vagabonding

Photos from Ko Pha Ngan

Best Pad Thai Ever

Ko Pha Ngan Coast from the lighthouse

View from my hammock in front of our bungalow
Our attack dog
Our window
Our ceiling

Our room

Hannah

Me



Oh just for your interest... here's all my worldly belongings- left in storage in Auckland.

Lazin around

Will be back with some pics another day. I forgot my camera today.


I'm enjoying the life of leisure. With my ADHD tendencies, it's taken a little transitioning, but it's an amazing feeling to have no agenda at the start of each day- to be able to lie on my back and contemplate the ceiling, watch the sunset, rock in the hammock, eat lunch then just sit for an hour afterward. I've never really experienced anything like it. We live in such a time of rush and hurry, that you never get to notice the simple things in life. The inner calm that I've been searching for is here right now.

Ko Pha Ngan

It's an island off the coast of southeastern Thailand... I think I already said that though.

Yesterday, I met two stranded-in-Thailand-since-airport-kaput German guys on the beach, Christian and Aheem, who were giving me tips on the best places to eat and things to do on the island. After tales of their bungalow accommodation with Mrs. Pooh, the owner, cooking them a BBQ on the beach, I was sold. (They also have another friend, Hans who's been living there for four months.) So this morning checked out of my foofy place and hauled myself across town to check into my simple aqua blue painted bungalow (seems like kismet to me). Christian had told Mrs. Pooh that I was coming, so she was excited when I arrived. She's a very sweet lady, about 35 probably with a 4 1/2 year old daughter. We sat outside and chatted a while. She said, "My sister's coming to help with Full Moon. We'll all have a BBQ fire on the beach and cook dinner." It sounded like home to me. After I settled in, Christian and Hans and I set off for town to find a chocolate and a fruit shake. We rounded the corner and ran into Hannah, a girl from Vancouver who I'd met at the retreat and then run into a few days earlier in Ko Pha Ngan. She was back in town and looking for a place to stay, so I invited her to move in with me at Mrs. Pooh's. It's a big happy family. It's just good to be around people and friends and a family.