Hello Hello

It's been about 18 days since I last posted a blog. Where we were staying at, on Ko Phangan, there wasn't any internet at our bungalow so we had to walk down the road to another place. It was a little expensive so Danielle and I didn't do much emailing. So now that I'm back in Krabi I thought it was time to post something. I think the last time I wrote a blog it was the day before Halloween. Did everyone do something exciting? My niece Christina looked so adorable in her bunny outfit for her first Halloween. To think she'll probably be walking by the time I get home. Anyway, Danielle and I decided that we would celebrate my birthday on the night of Halloween. I always celebrate on Halloween. The Reggae Bar in Chawang was having a big Halloween party with dressing up and prizes and stuff but we thought it would be easier to stay in Lamai and find something around there. The Bauhaus was having a foam party so we thought that would be fun. The night didn't start till late but it was ok because the foam party didn't start till about 11pm anyway. Bottles of beer at the store are only 40 baht ($1.25) for a Carlsberg so for a while I just grabbed a bottle from there and Danielle and I wandered around the streets. Later we went to the Bauhaus and I would run across the street to grab a beer to bring it back. Until I got caught anyway. Danielle only had one beer the whole night. We went back to the bungalows so we could change into cloths we could get wet before getting into the foam . Once the foam party started it took us (me anyway) a little more drinking to get into it. The music turned to house and rave but it's good if you've had a few beers. We spent the next few hours dancing and having a good time. I grabbed my water proof camera when we went home to get changed so I'm sure I've got some good pictures. When I get them developed I'll post a few. We stayed until the foam machine was turned off and then walked drenched with blood shot eyes across the street to get some meat on a stick. We took our munchies home and passed out for the night. Corina missed out, wish she could have been there, she would have loved it. The next day for my birthday I went to an English restaurant for some Yorkshire pudding and mashed potatoes but they messed up the Yorkshire so it wasn't that good. Danielle had bought a donut earlier in the day and she put a big 3 0 candle on it and sang me Happy Birthday. She also gave me a couple of gifts that she and Corina had gotten for me. It was really sweet. The rest of the night we relaxed and watched a movie. Then a few days of relaxing and cruising on my Moped to see waterfalls and beaches and other sites. One of the waterfalls we went to had a little cave under the waterfall. We had to swim there with the help of a rope but it was great. Getting out from under the waterfall was a little harder. You had to jump through the waterfall to try to get past it to swim out but everytime I landed on my stomack on a rock and was held there by the rush of the water. Exciting. After climing the mountain to get to the waterfall the water was sooo refreshing. Unfortunatley Danielle lost her ring up there so she was bummed the rest of that day but it gave us an excuse to return to the waterfall. So she could look for the ring ( I told her it was gone) and so I could take pictures. I had forgot my waterproof camera the first time so I brought it the second time and I think I got some good pictures. It had rained before we got up there a second time so the water was running harder and made it harder and a little scary to get under the waterfall but I was determined to get pictures from under there. I did. On the 5th of November we were on to Ko Phangan.

We got our stuff together and waited for the taxi at 9:30am. Our boat left for Ko Phangan at 11am but we were early in case of unforseen setbacks. We got to the pier on time but of course the boat was going to be half an hour late. We went for breakfast and then sat in the shade to wait for the boat. Whenever there is a boat to take you to an island there are always Thai people all over the place with a photo album full of pictures trying to entice people to their bungalows. Danielle and I were going to head to a beach called Hat Salat. To the My Way Bungalow. A thai guy named "Chilly" came up to us and instead sold us on his place called the Leam Son Bungalow on Leam Son beach. It had beautiful white sand beaches and a shallow bay with no waves to swim in. Not to mention that they had bungalows for 100 baht ($4) a night. Leam Son is only a little south of where we wanted to got anyway and on the opposite side of the Island from Hat Rin where the Full Moon Party is. We wanted to stay away from party central. When we got to the resort we paid for 10 days in advance. Only 1000 baht ($40) for 10 days. Pretty damn good. Unfortunately the lady who ran the place was a bitch. They also had a weird way of paying for food. We had to write down what we wanted on a pad of paper with our room number and then pay at the end of our stay or every few days. Hard to keep track of what you owe or have spent that way. And there were signs everywhere basically telling us that they expected us to eat mostly at the resort and support their restaurant. The lady told Danielle once that she wasn't eating at the restaurant enough... bitch. There where, honest to god, about 8 other people from Brititsh Columbia and a couple from eastern Canada at the resort. The rooms were nice but there were geckos and ants all over the place. I can't begin to tell you how much gecko shit I had in my bungalow. Not to mention that they were in the walls and always fighting and squeaking. Scared me out of my sleep a couple of times. That and the roosters doing their thing every morning took getting used to. We rented a Moped for a couple of days and we went to a couple of touristy places. A waterfall with a great view, where we swan and stood under the waterfall and also to a Buddha in a cave. The Cave ended up being just two big rocks leaning together but it was still cool. I've got a pic of me under the waterfall I'll try and post. With the Moped we also found a lady in town with the best fruit shakes for only 15 baht (50c). We wiped out on the moped once trying to drive on the washed out dirt roads but we were going slow so no injuries and no damage to the bike. When you put on the front brakes of a bike and start to slide the instinct, I think, is to squeeze the brake which is what the problem is in the first place. Front tire slides out and down you go. The Thai guy in the truck coming up the hill towards us had a big ol' grin on his face as we passed. Up the road a little from our place was a restaurant owned by a young English guys that had great food and we could pick from his DVDs to watch. We did that a few nights. I'm sure a couple times were just to piss off the boss lady at our bungalow. Danielle and I had decided to go to the Full Moon party after all and on the day of the 6th we had a calm day and an early night so we we would have energy for the party the next night. After a relaxed day we got ready and went to the restaurant to wait for the taxis to start taking people. After about an hour and after I got a confused look from Chilly as to when the taxis would start running we found out that we had the wrong night for the party. It was on the Saturday and not Friday. The lady at the place we rented the motor bike had told us the wrong day. We decided to make it another early night and after playing cards for a while went to our respective bungalows to read. Damn I've been doing a lot of reading this trip. (Dave, if you read this, I've read books 1,3,4 and 7 of the Sword of Truth series. It's all I can find but I'm searching for the others. Love them.)

On the Saturday, the night of the party, we went to the restaurant where everyone was drinking and getting an early start on the night. Chilly was busy asking everyone if they needed anything. Mushrooms, weed or any kind of pills... don't worry just ask he says. I had bought my weed from him a few days earlier. 500 baht ($20) for a quarter ounce. 4 of the Canadians and a couple of Brits bought mushrooms and I had expected it to be like home... dried gross tasting mushrooms. Instead he came out with plates loaded with fresh mushrooms and a fork. It still looked gross and a little slimy. They tried to eat it that way but after awhile they asked Chilly if he could mix the shrooms into shakes for them. He did and they all finished their mushrooms. Then off to the Party we all went. Three truck loads, about 13 people per pick-up truck. The whole resort was basically emptied out. On the way to the Party we had to go through a road check and luckily I had decided to only drink beer that night. I left all my pot at home. Others were getting busted but all they did was take the pot away and give them a lecture. The Party was great. Music, food, dancing and soooo much drinking. There were people doing fire dancing with Poi, two chains with flaming balls at the ends that they swing like madmen and women, and staffs with flames at the ends. There were also guys spitting flames. There was fosforecent* (glows in black light) body painting also which Danielle and I got done. Danielle got flowers up her arm and I had a scorpion done on the back of my head. Hat Rin is about two kms of beach lined with bars and pubs. Each place has their own stack of speakers pointing to the beach and cranking out music. Dancing everywhere. Fireworks can be bought at corner stores on Ko Phangan and I'm talking like big huge fireworks. Every once in a while you can hear the things start to go and everyone ducks and looks up. Sometimes they fall over and bounce across the ocean before going off in a loud boom Luckily none went off in the croud like the first time I went to a Full Moon Party. The party went on. People were passed out in the sand in no time. I got good pictures too I hope. It was great. Everyone is out to just have fun. No fighting anywhere with that many people from so many countries. We saw a few Canadians from our bungalows and their mushrooms had kicked in so they were having a good time. Danielle and I headed home around 3am. Our driver was more interested in his cell phone which he couldn't get to work than driving so it took longer than it should have. We slept in the next day and from then on just relaxed and enjoyed the sun. Unfortunately for our last three days on Ko Phangan it rained non stop. And I mean rain, torential downpour. The bungalow was flooding. The roads had water running over them. Everything started to get moist from the air. Little hard gecko turds on my bed I was flicking off and now they were getting soft.... sticking to my finger... lol ...not fun. For about the last week there have been electric storms almost every night. Very cool to see and I don't mind the rains that come with it one bit. Just a little break from the heat.

On the 15th of November Danielle and I packed up our stuff and headed for the pier in preperation to go our separate ways. Danielle has gone off to Bangkok and I'm now in Krabi. Danielle has 4 more days in Bangkok and then back to Ireland for 10 days before she finally heads home after 7 months. I think she's looking forward to going home. I decided to spoil myself last night and went back to the Chan Cha Lay bungalow. They remembered me and asked where the girls were. I said they had gone home. When we were there last they were building some new suites in the back. They had said they would be ready by the middle of November. When I got to the bungalow the new suites had just opened the day before. I was the first to stay in them. So nice. 400 baht ($16) a night but it was only for one night. There was a big ol' bed and a front and back porch. The bathroom was one of the nicest I've seen and had a shower that was open to the outside. It was great to have a nice shower and then my first shave in a week. I needed it. I slept like a baby. Today I switched to a cheaper room, rented myself a moped and went for a long ride. There is a festival going on in town for a few days to mark the beginning of the tourist season. It's very cool and the food was great. I stuffed myself. I'm going to head down to Malaysia on the 18th to do a Visa run. After that god only knows. This is my first time in Thailand alone, or really alone ever, and so far, only one day, it feels good. It's a little strange to think that I'll be gone not just for Halloween and my Birthday but also for Christmas and New Years. Something that I've never done before. Not to mention that my Moms, Ryans and my buddy Vizs B-Days are in there too. I think I've decided that I'll take this oppertunity to disappear for a little while. No email or MSN for a little while. I don't think I'll be doing much anyway. If I'm going to be able to stay here until January when my buddy Viz and his brother Tyler arrive than I'm going to have to try to live cheap and save what money I can. Two friends of my little brother Ryan, Melissa and Mandy, are here in Thailand. They are in Lanta now and are in Thailand until the middle of December. December 20th I think. My plan is to meet up with them at some point and hopefully see some new places like Chang Mai or Trang. Being as now I'm 30 years old and don't have a place to live or anything really to show for my 30 years on this earth I think It's time I did a little soul searching. I'm sure I'll not come to some epiphany that will change my life but some time to think can't hurt. With things not working out with Corina and I the way I hoped they would I need some time to think and reflect. Corina was supposed to be with me for this part of the trip but as I'm on my own I've got a lot of time on my hands. More really than I know what to do with. I'll stay as busy as I can and try to meet who I can. Being as reserved and shy as I am (I really am) it may be a challange but I'm willing to give it a shot. I'm determined to stay for as long as my money holds out and live this amazing time in my life as best I can. From time to time I'll try to post a new blog and check on news from back home. If I'm still not online by the time Christmas comes then a Merry Christmas to everyone and Happy New Year. Think of me because I'll be thinking of all of you. Till then.....