Island Living

As ryan explained in the last post, the circle around SE Asia and back to Bangkok has been completed and as we arrived in Bangkok we had this weird feeling like we were done.. ready to board the return plane and share our stories, but of course, our leg south remained and with that we tried to rest up........ until..... we found out we could connect with our high school boys robbie and franz! ok, early night out the window, lets do this up right.
We like to think were vets at this point and we can walk in stride and relaxed along kho san road, but its still intimidating and choatic. We let franz and rob pick the meeting spot, and where else, but the kho san mcdonalds to share some hugs, just like Sechelt without the borrowed cars and drive throughs..
There is something special about meeting up with good friends in ridiculous places, so the energy is high, turning heads on this busy street with stories, laughter, and yelling isn't easy but we managed to do so. We choose an Irish pub to do the damage because we had a few irish blokes with us who craved some Guinness... and you don't need to convince ryan for a tall Guinness pint..
conversation buckets and beers, once the night was going we brought back the competitive spirit from high school basketball with some doubles pool... i have a vague memory of franz yelling in my ear as i leaned over the white ball with the eight ball in the distance , "are you a money player or what!?!" .. scratch, other team wins.... we were a better duo with him driving to the basket and me waiting for the baseline jumper.. oh well .. it is also funny how informal we are.. when i asked where robbie went, franz let me know he puked in the washroom and left, thanks for the goodbye robskie! see you boys back on the coast
We felt like we had tackled Bangkok pretty well (sky train, shopping district, football field sized market, river taxi's, grand palace and pad thai) ok ready for Koh Tao, a southern island just north of Koh Phanang.. the island is owned by the King so there is no messing around, not with the environment and not with the communal feel.. watch out if you challenge it, four years ago, a fellow moved in and tried to create a monopoly with a huge diving resort, and when he got too cocky he was shot outside the 7/11... not sponsored by the king but yeah, don't mess.... because of the diving it is not overwhelmed with the party feel and the beach and coral reefs are well protected.. the beach is not on much of a slope so it allows for wading in the water with the sunset in the distance ahhhhh , so what if it was just ryan and I?
We have to throw a shout out to our Moraga California friends Carly and Julia (Ry's childhood schoolmates) for showing us the ropes and encouraging me to try my first thai salad, mm!
with such beauty at hand we felt it was time for some snorkeling. We were promised some shark viewing along the south coast but the visibility was a bit rough with all the sand, I was craving an adventure so i decided instead of taxing to the next dive spot, i would travel and snorkel along the rocky coast to the next beach, a decision helped by the theft of my lovely sandals the night before.. Ryan, being sensible, and having a bag to tend to, laughed at me but also offered support, you know, like the i don't want to have to deal with the paperwork if you die out there kinda support
so I'm off, a journey that lasted 2 beaches, three point breaks and a lot of climbing.. the snorkeling was amazing, huge reefs, flounders the size of my torso, pointy nosed fish that swim a little to shallow for my liking.. i never felt in danger, but i also never let my guard down.. the feeling you have when your climbing a tree as a kid... the tides you have to respect, i tried to go back on the rocks at one point and started to get tossed, after that i promised my self i would swim the rest of the way, 2km or so and i met ryan, who let out a laugh and a sigh of relief! it was a blast, in such developed islands, its rewarding trying to find peace or solidarity alongside the landscapes, besides running into the odd plastic bag which i mistook for a jelly fish, or avoiding a broken bottle amongst the rocks, it was my untouched paradise.
Little did we know that the beach we choose to go to was private with no foreign snorkels, and permission needed... as they saw me struggling up to the shore i think they were flexible with their rules... the interesting thing about private beaches that we found out was women are much more inclined to bath topless = 0 .. Ryan and I took it in stride and there were no looks.... 1.) we didn't have sunglasses to hide behind 2.) peripheral vision is hindered when the sun is bright and low and, 3.) we''re proper gentlemen as you all know!
We plan to take adam here when he returns and we'll see if we might do a scuba diving course.. As of now were preparing for a beach that claims to hold between 10-30,ooo partyers, the full moon in Kho Phanang... aaawow! we'll be safe Mrs. Farrell and mom...
To come, Ryan and I want to get away from the beach and spend a week or so inland in one of the oldest rainforests in the world, to give an example of the biodiversity it has over 30 species of bats! I'll take plenty of photo's.. suz I'll try to learn some bio lingo so i can really get into what we see... love the treks so it could take up some time.. were skipping Samui, Phuket and Krabi to do so.. people turned us off on them for their number of '"girly bars"and the concrete jungle that has recently emerged.. Chillytown, you been barrelled yet?