Monsoon

During the night following that beautiful sunny day, we had a thunderstorm like I've never experienced. I couldn't believe the damage that the water had done - the beach was all washed away, many stores were flooded and the street was running like a river. Bits of trees and garbage swirling everywhere. The power was off on the whole island for most of the morning. Things started getting back to normal around dinner time, when a second storm blew in, bigger than the first. The restaurant I was in had a stream flowing through it and I sat with my shoes off and water up to my ankles while I ate by candlelight due to another power failure.

I am feeling somewhat sorry for the travellers who came here expecting beautiful weather (although a little research should have informed them of the potential for rain). As for me, I am actually enjoying it. I realized at dinner last night that I had done pretty much nothing for about 10 days, and I don't feel bad about that. Rather, it's wonderful not to have deadlines or to put any pressure on myself to see or do so much in a certain amount of time. If there's something I want to do, I can wait until the weather turns, or come back and do it later. It's very freeing. I am also glad to have experienced a monsoon. I can't imagine living through months of this every year - although the Thais would probably say the same thing about our winter :-)

It's also really nice to be in one place for more than a few nights - it allows a sense of comfort and belonging. Usually when I travel I don't spend more than a couple of nights in the same place, as I'm always trying to see and do as much as possible in a limited time frame. This slow pace is fabulous.

Unfortunately the rain has wiped out the one internet cafe on the island from which I could send e-mail. I'm not sure why I could do it from there and not from anywhere else, but I have to assume they had a different version of Windows or something. They were in there with the shop-vac this morning but I don't know if they'll be up and running again before I head back to Bangkok on the 5th. I'm still receiving e-mail, just can't reply or compose new messages.

Sunshine

After a morning of teeming rain, we actually had an afternoon of clear skies and sunshine today. It was wonderful to spend time on the beach and swim in the ocean. The water is still a bit rough, but looks like the beautiful Thai sea that I remember.

It actually cleared a bit last evening as well. I went for a walk on the beach around dinner time, and all the restaurants had their tables set up on the beach, lit by candles and torches. A crescent moon shone through the clouds and a few stars were visible. It was impossibly romantic and I guess that this place must be quite stunning in the dry season.

I have been checking the weather forcasts all over Thailand and it looks like rain is the norm throughout the south. I don't see much point in moving at this time, and after today's stellar weather am hoping we might get another good day or two before I head back to Bangkok on the 5th.

I'm off to have a couple of beers with Daniel and Wayne who are leaving for Cambodia tomorrow. I'll miss their company.

Rain!

It continues to rain on and off every day, which makes it pretty much impossible to do anything. And this is some serious rain - the skies just open up. I have been spending my days reading or watching movies on TV and then I go out at night for some socializing. That has been fun, although I am definitely the granny around here.

About half of the couples that you see on the street here consist of a western man and a young Thai woman. The more I see them, the more I find it disturbing. They are certainly all consenting adults who know what they're doing, but it's hard not to feel pity for the men who are paying for a girlfriend and the women who need the money badly enough to put up with it. In cases where the man is much older, the women often don't even pretend to be interested and they'll totally ignore the men who are fawning all over them. (There was one such couple on the bus with me from Bangkok and in 7 hours they didn't speak one word to each other.) I'm not sure how Thai society as a whole views this situation, but my guess is that the women are viewed as resourceful rather than as prostitutes. These relationships appear to be initiated by the women and Daniel told me that he's been approached a couple of times. Sad to think that they believe that this is the only path out of their poverty.

Despite my best efforts, no cute young Thai boys have approached me for such a relationship as of yet. Perhaps I'll have to start showing them the balance on my ATM receipts - I'm actually a multi-millionaire over here!

Biker Chick

I have managed to locate what appears to be the "hot spot" in town, and it has provided me with some good company. They have a great menu and show a movie at 7:30 every evening, so I've been having dinner there and catching a show at the same time. Nothing like traveling to the other side of the world to eat your dinner in front of the TV! They also have a decent live band later in the evening which is fun. My first night, I met a couple of gorgeous 20-something sisters from Saskatchewan whose next stop was a bible camp in Malaysia. Go figure. I also met an Aussie and Brit team (Daniel and Wayne respectively) as well as a Thai tattoo artist who kept me well entertained for the evening.

Yesterday I rented a motorcycle to tour the island a bit. It costs about $5 per day and they are automatic, so it doesn't require much talent. Still, I'm not exactly comfortable on anything with 2 wheels - can't seem to forget losing a couple of front teeth in a bicycling accident 20 years ago. Add in left-hand drive, very narrow roads and insane drivers and it makes for some nerve-wracking driving. I was going so slow most of the time that even the pedestrians were passing me. Managed to get it up to about 40 kph on the straight, flat stretches (Jim are you impressed?). Speaking of straight flat stretches, there are two of them on the entire island and the rest of the roads are steep hills often with hairpin curves. Very pretty as long as you're not driving.

I stopped in for a hike to a much-touted waterfall, which was indeed beautiful and a great place to cool off. However, I found the word "hike" a bit misleading - I followed a very well maintained path for about 500 metres to get to the falls. Still no hope of me getting any exercise before Bhutan - I hope I don't absolutely collapse on day 1 in the mountains.

I had lunch on a very cool pier at the extreme south end of the island. Pier is a bit of an understatement as it's basically an entire village built out over the water. It looks as though they built this great pier and then it just kind of sprouted appendages in all directions. All the dive organizations for the island are located there.

Today it is absolutely teeming with rain so will likely stay indoors. The rest of the week doesn't look much better, so it could be a pretty quiet time. I don't really mind - the downtime is nice.

Koh Chang

After a couple of days in Bangkok, I left the city for Koh Chang, an island south east of Bankgok. I opted for this island for several reasons: it is a national park and has some good hiking and kayaking, it isn't quite so touristy as the southern islands and mostly because it is quite close to Bangkok and therefore didn't require another lengthy journey. We left Bangkok by bus at 8:30 yesterday morning with promises that we'd be here by 1:30. I got settled into my bungalow at 7:30 last night - gotta love the way things work in developing countries.

Remembering the wonderful bungalow I stayed in last time I was in Thailand, I opted for something a bit more rustic and quiet on the beach. I got far more "rustic" than I bargained for, and given that I arrived after dark with no idea where I was, I had to stay for the night. It was very short on human company and very long on the wilder kind. I did manage to get some sleep although I was wakened fairly frequently by the sounds of animals, birds, waves, wind etc. This morning I moved to a more occupied part of the island and have an air-conditioned room complete with sheets, running water and a lock on the door. I feel much better here, and may actually find someone to have a conversation with later on!

The weather isn't the best as we're still at the end of the rainy season. It's quite hazy today with strong winds along the beach. The sea is quite stirred up and not all that pretty - certainly not the way I remember Thai beaches to be. I'm not sure if this is due to the weather or if the beaches on this side of the country are generally not as nice. It is still very hot and humid, so it's hard to even get psyched to go for a hike. I've desperately wanted to go for a run for several days, and was hoping that when I left Bangkok I would find a place to do it. However, there is only one road on this island and it doesn't have any shoulders, so even if the weather was tolerable I don't suppose I'd risk it.

I am having trouble with Yahoo here. It seems that I can receive messages okay, but am unable to reply or even compose new ones. Not sure what the problem is, but if you don't hear back from me this is why. I'd still like to hear from you, so please keep sending me mail.

Bangkok

It's been an interesting few days. I was up before 4:00 on the 19th to get to the airport for my flight. While in Chicago waiting for my flight to Tokyo, I heard on the news that there was a military coup going on in Bangkok. A little adventure never hurt anyone, but I was a bit concered about flying into the middle of a civil war. By the time I got to Tokyo about 16 hours later, the situation didn't look too dire so I decided to press on to Bangkok.

It felt like I was in the air for a couple of days, but flying time was probably about 24 hours all together. (With time changes and the date line, the calendar said I arrived in Bangkok 41 hours after I left Ottawa.) I was able to doze a bit, but arrived pretty tired. Entry into Thailand was a breeze and there was very little evidence of any military presence on the way to my guesthouse. I had a quick shower and went downstairs at about midnight for a beer and to unwind before going to bed. Met a couple of interesting people in the lobby and ended up getting to bed at about 6 AM. Judging by the way I feel now, drinking beer all night is not the recommended cure for jet lag. I had a curry for "breakfast" at about 1:00 PM today and will likely spend the rest of the afternoon by the pool relaxing.

I spent a couple of hours wandering around in the touristy section of Bangkok earlier today. It feels great to be here - it's very much as I remember it, although somewhat more grown up. The noises and smells and colours are all wonderful - had a huge smile on my face the whole time I was out. Still no sign of the military although I haven't gone looking for tanks. If I hadn't seen it on the news, I wouldn't know that anything political is going on here.

It's very hot and humid so it will be nice to get to a beach. Will make some plans tomorrow....

Countdown

In about 24 hours, I will be leaving Chicago for Tokyo. It still doesn't feel real and probably won't until I've landed in Bangkok. I am very much ready to go, and only have a few more goodbyes to say.

I have whittled my luggage down to something manageable, and imagine that I'll be jettisoning a few more things after the Bhutan trek. Assuming I can make it through the next few days of travel, I think I'll be okay. I'm still in boy scout mode (i.e. be prepared for anything) and am guessing that after a few weeks on the road I'll be more inclined to lighten my load.

Nothing left to do but count the hours until take-off...

Preparations

Thirteen days until lift-off and panic is starting to settle in. I wake by 5:15 every morning with the realization that there is one more thing that I've forgotten to put on my to-do list. Later, in the light of day, I realize that even with that one extra thing to do, I should be well prepared by the 19th. Funny how those hours before dawn can play with you.

In the last two days I have delivered my cats to their fabulous new home and I've sold my car. It feels great to be able to cross the two biggest things off the list.

Despite the mild panic attacks about getting everything done on time, I haven't questioned my decision about this trip. I haven't missed my house or any of the things that I have given away or stored and I look forward to my adventures with nothing but excitement. If my enthusiasm ever flags, I will look to Mark Twain for inspiration:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than by those you did do. So throw off the bowline, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade wind in your sails. Explore, dream, discover."