Still on Ko Chang Island

Ko Chang Picts here: Ko Change pictures

I guess I got sick of moving around. I'm still at the same place I've been since I got here. I'm still hanging out with the Brits that I met. We rented scooters today which was a blast. They really don't care much who takes them, give them 300 Baht and you have it for 24 hours. Can't beat the price, the thing is, they'll rent them to people who can't even ride a bike let alone a scooter or motor-bike (small manual but cluchless motorcycle). There is basically one road that wraps around the island yet doesn't quite connect for about 20 km. We only made it about half way, I have to admit being a little nervous. The road is only two lanes, we drive on the left, it's hilly and there are curves everywhere up to 300 degrees at some points. I was careful and never had a moment where I felt I was going to lose it, but I still never really got my confidence up like the young kids in front of me who sped off with nothing to fear.

We rode up to a waterfall together and hiked up a ways. I guess I had seen a smaller, more punctuated waterfall in Korea, but never one that reached such heights. Admittedly, tons of water was not rushing over saturating everything, it was a bit more gentle and all the rocks were worn soft from ages of gentle wear. The pool it fed was cool, much cooler than the ocean water here and I felt relaxed, laying between two rain forest mountains where among the 12 people present I heard no less than 5 languages: French, German, Russian, and of course Thai and English. I have no idea if I'm getting darker, but by the lobster sheen of my skin I'm definitely changing color in some way.

During the course of the nightly party last night someone ran off with my flip flops and left me with identical ones about 3 sizes too small. The only shoes I have here are flip flops and I have to say my feet are a bit worse for wear because of it, the size change didn't help very much. My bungalow is steadily turning into a shallow beach on the inside as it seems no matter how hard one tries it's impossible to remove all the sand from you feet and legs. The mosquito net over my bed seems to be working though, no major bites so that should help with the Malaria risk. Everyone else here has gotten a dozen shots for different things and several Swedes have me feeling paranoid but I feel there isn't much I can do about it at this point except not do anything stupid and stick with the insect repellent.

I might move on tomorrow, not sure, it really depends on how motivated I get, but this place is much like Austin, it sort of sucks you and dismisses the notion of time unlike I've ever known before. People here pretty much don't need clocks, the sun acts as alarm clock and you sleep when you get tired. Even the nights you stay up late you find yourself waking up more refreshed than you would in your home. There are several foreigners working at bars hotels around here, I can see how easily it can be to be sucked into this tropical lifestyle which really is unique unto itself. Even having not visited any other of the worlds tropical places, from what I've read and who I've talked to, the heat and ocean promote an atmosphere different from the rest of civilization. Worries are shed like unneeded sweaters and jackets to the nearest dustbin to hopefully be forgotten about entirely. I don't know how long I could stay here before I would start to feel incredibly guilty that the real world is passing my by outside of these floral gates. Then, I see the 10 year old bus boy, who even if the smile and carelessness in which he carries himself is genuine, makes me sad to think of what he is missing out from with limited education, options and dreams dictated (albeit, beautiful ones) by this fantastical world he lives in.

hope everyone is well.