3/27 - Stalked by a Tiger Fish

It's been a pretty nice beach-life for us the past couple of days, even though our arrival here on Thursday was mildly disastrous. After two nights in Bangkok sorting out our Japan Rail passes and visiting an amulet market which we missed the first time through, we had a fairly smooth journey down to the island of Ko Samet, off the "east coast" of Thailand (three-hour bus, hour wait for ferry, half-hour ferry, ten-minute songthaew). The problems began when we arrived at the place I'd called the day before and made a "reservation" with, and was told that we should try somewhere else by a strangely zombie-like young girl. After persisting, she showed us a room, and it looked and felt like a prison cell, so we ended up moving on anyway. Then we found a basically acceptable bungalow down the beach, at a place called Tub Tim, but were told we'd have to leave in the morning because they were booked full for the weekend. All this time it was terribly hot and sunny and with the weight of the bag I ended up drenched in sweat, cursing the island and all the people who were taking up space on it. So the next day I went door to door looking for rooms, and only three places had them. Two rooms were also prison cells so I took the one that was a little better than that, at Jep's Bungalows, even though it featured shared mosquito-infested dirt-covered bathroom/shower combinations which did not agree with me whatsoever. So, two nights avoiding the bathroom and shower at all costs, and now it's Sunday, people have cleared out, and we've managed to move to a nice bungalow up the hill at the same establishment, which has its own bathroom and even a television featuring BBC World (and ESPN, Randy, in case you were considering a visit). Here we will be for the last two nights.

Ko Samet (pronounced kaw samet) is about like you'd expect an island within three or four hours of Bangkok to be. It's fairly overrun and overdeveloped, with bars proclaiming on their signs "Let's Get Fuckin' Wasted!" and sellers of fruit, sarongs, and massages marching in an endless procession down the beaches. But at least it seems to be a destination attracting an equal number of tourists and Thais getting out of the city, and for that reason feels a bit like we're not just holed up in some western-tourist enclave of artificiality and consumerism. And then there's the fact that the sand is finer and whiter than I've ever seen sand before, and the water is blue-green and refreshing. At night there's a pleasantly loud chorus of insects and the crashing waves. So I can almost forget about the fact that it's a bit too crowded, and I can hope that some time in the future I'll find a beach where no one else is, and where the Gwen Stefani album doesn't blast nightly from the rowdy beachside bar. Although, to be honest, I like the Fiddler on the Roof cover song. I don't know why, and I'm ashamed of it, but I've been singing it for the past two days, much to Aubrie's dismay. Anyway, for a five-night island retreat before the end of the nearly 10 week-long Asia trip, this will do fine.

Today on the beach of fine white sand, I fed a stray puppy, brown and extremely cute, most of the mango that I'd just bought (though when he went for the pomelo I had to stop him). Who knew that dogs liked mangoes? And while we're on the subject, pomelos are something I like very much. They're a massive citrus fruit, with a pleasant flavor, kind of like grapefruit, watered down. And actually, I should also state that I no longer denounce dragonfruit as a tasteless waste of a nice outer skin. I had some recently that actually was very good and lived up to its looks. Furthermore, here I've been drinking Chang Beer the whole time in Thailand because it has elephants on the label, but as it turns out Singha is the superior beer after all.

Also in the news of today, Aubrie and I were stalked in the water by a miniature tiger fish. In fact, I only named it tiger fish because it had stripes like a tiger, and it's probably called something quite different in actuality. It was maybe an inch long at most, and darted towards us no matter how much we tried to move away and in confusing directions. After a while we actually got worried enough to get out of the water for a while. Later, on our second visit, something which I did not see bit my finger, and I'd be willing to bet it was that little bastard. Why he was so interested in us is a fine question. In a similar incident, I had a large insect fly directly into my eye and get stuck in there last night.

In this week's headlines, Aubrie had the audacity to buy a pair of boots at Gatwick Airport as we were leaving to come here. Admittedly, they're nice ones, in the Pocahontas-chic style. But I was firmly against it, considering the added weight, as I'm sure Aubrie's mom will be when she sees the Pound to Dollar conversion in her bank account.

I have a good long rant about Emirates Airline written out in my notebook, which I'll probably end up posting here once I've got some time to kill in Japan. In the meantime, try not to fly with them.

Strange to think that we set off on this back in early January, and now we're about to head back to Japan (on Tuesday) and call an end to this period of wandering through the tropics of Asia. More than you might expect, I'm looking forward to being able to relax for a while, without worrying about my bag, foreign currency, finding guesthouses, getting the air-conditioning to work on buses, avoiding cockroaches, etc. etc. But of course, I'm sure I'll miss this lifestyle in a way. And I have a distinct feeling that I'll be missing these 40 Baht Pad Thais most of all. That and the geckos plastered all over the walls.