News from the Islands

So I'm back from Koh Lanta and yes it was beautiful...

As usual the journey there was interesting to say the least. I met Ben and Sam at the airport in Krabi, with Ben's friend, who was visiting from England, Georgia. We got on a van then transferred to another that would take us to Koh Lanta through two ferries. It ended up taking 4 hours instead of 2 and there was "one of those guys" in our van, who kept telling this woman how terrible it was to live in China and how all the houses leak and it's over crowded  and awful, but his job is wonderful because he works in luxury ( a restaurant review website). All the while he's ranting about China, his Chinese wife is sitting right next to him. I couldn't help but think to myself, how on Earth does she love you, how does anyone.

Before this hater started talking I had been reading First They Killed My Father, which I think I mentioned last time, as I'm trying to become better informed. By the way, becoming better informed is exhausting. Every time I learn something, I just learn of more gaps in my knowledge that I need to fill. Anyways, if you haven't heard of the book it's about the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. It's really really depressing, but that day this particularly line really struck me as a haunting image.

 "When the bodies are finally buried, they are nothing but large nests of maggots."

I'm not going to get into exactly whose bodies she's talking about but I'll tell you if you ever go to Cambodia, you realize quickly that there are entire generations missing from the population. ^^That's why.

After our trek in the van we finally arrive at our hotel resort, which Georgia had found.  It was absolutely beautiful to have a view of the ocean at breakfast and the pool from our room. In case, any of you are thinking that's not travelling staying at places like this, my response is No shit, I was on vacation. Now why was I on yet another vacation. Well, obviously because I don't work that.

We arrived late, so we spent most of the following morning at the pool getting the essential first day sunburn. That afternoon we went into town looking for lunch and some activities for the following day. We settled on a 4 Island snorkeling tour and found a place on the water to get seafood. After going back to the hotel, we were all so 'burnt out' from sunbathing we just enjoyed a few beers on our balcony before falling asleep. But not without plenty of pillowtalk ; )

The next morning we left our place at 8am to drive almost the whole length of the island to get into our longtail boat for the day. On the boat with us were a bunch of other people, almost all couples except three. Our hotel was also filled with couples then later those same couples ten years down the road with annoying children also showed up. Anyways, the boat had a lot of characters. Two German couples, one of which the husband nearly tipped the boat every time he got into the water. An adorable Belgium couple, a Thai family, a Spanish guy, and a crazy British woman who kept trying to get us to come and walk the dogs at the animal welfare center she volunteered at. We took the boat to the first island where they anchored in and told us to get off and snorkel. First, let me just say EVERYONE hates a mouth breather so we all try not to do that. However, when snorkeling that's all you are supposed to do and it can be an awkward transition. Needless to say the first time, I got a bit panicky when my mask puffed off my face and disgusting seawater came flushing into my mouth. Eventually, it evened out and I was able to relax a bit more and see a lot of cool coral and fish and whatnot. Due to surprise changes with previously nonfunctional organs, (yay for baby-making abilities: boo for attracting sharks) I didn't stay in the water long after the first shark siting, despite the fact it was only a foot long. We went to another spot for snorkeling and saw a bunch of hanging bats on some cave walls on the way. The water was gorgeous and blue and warm and we got in again for about a half hour. After climbing back on-board we went to another island for lunch, where we got to just hang out and be on the beach. We'd been off land for four hours at that point so it was nice to touch down on solid ground. The beach there was beautiful as well.

After lunch, we went to this cave we were meant to go inside of. The water got really choppy and a bunch of people looked like they were on the verge of getting sick. It was to the point I wondered if I'd get sick despite having some established sea-legs. Instead, I put my head back and hummed the words to "Wagon Wheel" the whole time. When we arrived at the cave entrance the water had gotten so high there was only about 6 inches that were still above water, they told us it was to high for us to go in and get out safely and looking at it, it was pretty easy to pass up, though I had been looking forward to it. Instead they took us to another place to snorkel which ended up being the best. We saw all kinds of colorful fish including Parrot fish, which I enjoy staring at. One of the crew guys from our boat managed to pick up a sea urchin which was cool and two people cut their feet on the coral. We headed back to our resort for a short break before headed back into town to find dinner. We ended up going into this restaurant where a random select few dressed like pirates and there was a taco buffet for their 3 year anniversary. Made no sense, but the food was great. By the time we left their was monsoon rain so we did what any person would do and got chocolate and banana and Nutella roti/pancakes. It was delicious. We found a ride back and spent the rest of the evening curled up in a king size bed watching Goldmember and sipping Singha.

For reasons unknown, we all ate breakfast the next morning as if it was our last meal. The kitchen made eggs, pancakes, and french toast to order and to say we dabbled would be an understatement. After that Sam and I put all our stuff in Ben and Georgia's room and checked out. We then spent our remaining hours at the pool and the private beach, before our strange trip back, which included cutting a massive line of traffic after some random woman on the street gave our driver a piece of orange clothe and 500 baht.

This trip was planned to be our last hurrah as the three of us are coming to our end of contract and are figuring out our separate ways.  It definitely makes me sad to think about parting from the boys as they have been a constant reason for laughing. A midst many topics of pillow talk, I discussed how I've been truly happy with my life this past year. I'm choosing to leave now because I know my happiness here has an impending expiration date and I want to leave before it soils. That said, this past year I feel I've really thrived and I think it's because this is the first time in my life I actually feel successful. This doesn't mean like I felt like a failure up until now and I had success in things like school and whatnot before, but I'd never considered myself successful. This year I did everything for myself because for the first time, I could. I got my own place, could pay all my own bills, made my own friends, had a good job and learned SO much. The more I learn, the more I know I need to learn. The more awesome people I meet, the more I realize I can get rid of the assholes in my life. I'm really glad I didn't leave when my body failed...twice, but now I know I'm ready for the next chapter and whatever that may bring.