Just like the movies (Thailand)

Ko Lanta

So here I am in Thailand. I first spent 3 days on an island called Ko Lanta, it was quite an ordeal to get there. Buses, ferries, Mini-vans, taxis lots of waiting, one vendor who was selling tickets to get to Ko Lanta on our first ferry that we never trusted, but really should have, one bloody motorcycle accident, one meal and 10 hours later we arrived. However, right before we got there, while 9 of us cramped in the back of this mini-van, we witnessed this 12 Thai family/friends stuck in the back of a truck. They were having the most fun that was possible back there, they weren't pissed off or tired, they were making the best of it, sharing food, playing silly games, caring for this little toddler, etc. That made the whole day worth the trip.

Not to mention the fact that Ko Lanta is beautiful with hardly any tourists. We stayed in this bungalow guesthouse. Nicest place I've stayed so far and there was no cockroaches! (one gecko, but they're harmless and cute). For the 3 nights we were there we just basically relaxed on the beach, read, listened to music, beach volleyball, jogged, played cards, ate good food and had one very relaxing and soothing Thai massage. On Saturday the 8th, it was a full moon. In Ko Phang Ngan, its a huge, huge, huge party. On our island, there was a tiny little party at this bar called "Flotation". Wasn't very exciting, some fire twirling and at 11pm we all sent candles and incense into the ocean after making a wish. Tradition!

Finding Nemo

I'm now here on Ko Phi Phi, another island, but this one is crazy busy with tourists everywhere and its not even full high season yet! Its so small though that there's no cars on the islands, just tiny little streets/sidewalks. Everyone come here it seems, I've run into some people I hung out with in the Cameron Highlands and we hung out yesterday. Its pretty cool to walk down a street in a foreign country and find friends on the street to chat with.

Anyway, today I went on this boat trip that goes to the little islands around the area. It was 6 hours long. One of the coolest things I did was snorkelling, it was my first time and its actually quite simple to do. I saw the neatest things down there. There was chances of seeing some sharks (non-threatening) but no luck today. However, we saw tonnes of fish that are like the ones in Finding Nemo. I've never seen the movie, but that's what everyone tells me. Actually, as we speak, the movie is being played at a local bar.

Lots of the bars have movie schedules of like brand new movies. They're free to watch, well I guess you have to get a drink or something. They were playing "The Beach" yesterday.

The Beach

Another one of the little islands we went to today was "Myamma" (sp?) beach. This is where the movie was filmed from. It was pretty cool to see it, it totally looks like how it did in the movie, with clear, clear water. Unfortunatley, we're not the only ones that went there, of course there was tonnes of other tourists there swimming and roaming around, taking pictures. Trying to find that ideal place, like in the movie, is not that easy to do. Although, I haven't really tried, don't think I will, not now anyway.

Sports

Well, as you all probably know, I'm not really into sports. I can deal with that, its never really bothered me. However, it kinda gets annoying when most of these bars are playing football (soccer to us North Americans) and you can really escape it. I don't understand though, why all these foreigners leave their country to try and grasp another's culture and then end up in a bar with all foreigners and watch football. I guess its something I'll never really understand. Well, I guess if it was a bar that was having a Stevie Wonder concert or something, I wouldn't miss it for the world.

After the football though, there was live Thai Boxing. That was pretty cool to see real people boxing. A lot of people were saying that it looks pretty fake, or set up and its just for exhibition. It might be true, but you could like hear all the thumps and smacks. After the match has been won, the 2 boxers come around and shake everyone's hand. I'm assuming they're wanting money for it. It was free to watch afterall, but no one really gave anything. I actually lost 20baht (that's like $0.65 cdn) because Marlene and I placed a bet between the 2 of us, just to make it more exciting.

Anyway, I gotta run. Believe it or not, I've got a choice of things to do right now with different groups of people. Like I said, I know people here left and right. Don't I feel special... hehe.