Goodbye Thailand

Greetings from my last day in Bangkok. The internet connection was really slowwww where Matt and I stayed in Railay (the beach) so catching up here in Bangkok to tell the rest of the story. Sorry for what will definitely be rambling - the days are starting to blend together and in the spirit of full relaxation, I'm forgetting the order of things and probably lots of good details too.



We stayed at Railay Bay Resort on the mid/south western coast of Thailand and it was absolutely fabulous! We really lucked out on weather - three quick rainstorms the entire two weeks, which is pretty excellent for 'green season.' The water was gorgeous, the food was delicious, and there really weren't too many huge bugs. I am suprised to report that the cockroaches in Railay were no bigger than the ones in DC! Of course in Thailand they fly, which adds a whole new element of terror, but they really weren't too bad. The mosquitos, on the other hand were treacherous. Silent warriors! It was almost impossible to feel them on you because they were so small, but wow, they left huge welts everytime they bit, which seemed to be often. It was as though my arms and legs were, as Matt said, a buffet of caviar and filet mignon for the mosqiutos.



In other exciting animal news, on our second to last day of rock climbing, we spotted a few smaller monkeys in the trees right nearby. Thinking how exciting this was, Matt went a little closer to get a better photo. Little did we know, there weren't just three monkeys, there were closer to thirty of them and they all decided they wanted to come watch us climb. So nearly thirty monkeys come sit, eat, and play right at the base of our climb. There they were, running all around us, trying to take our bags and water! It was madness! A friend climbing with us, who was belaying his girlfriend at the time, used the end of the rope to keep them a few feet away from us and bravely fought a monkey to get my bag away from one of them. They were funny little creatures, very forward in coming right up to us and trying to take things.



The day before the monkey adventure we rented kayaks and paddles out around the beautiful islands. In one cove a big lizard came right up by us, scared me senseless, but seemed no harm and just sat on his little rock over the water. The water and islands were absolutely beautiful, though we didn't find too much use for snorkel masks - there were fish feeding in shallow waters that you could see just fine from the surface, but otherwise not too much going on under there.



We met a nice couple who were moving between Scotland and New Zealand who turned out to be lots of fun to climb with. They argued a lot, which was mostly entertaining, but the level they climbed turned out to be perfect so I got to do some easier stuff and Matt got to do some insane stuff and everyone was happy. They also introduced us to 'Garden Restaurant' which was essentially a woman who cooked for you on a porch. This woman loved chilis and set my mouth on fire more than once.



Inspired, I also took a Thai cooking class and learned how to make a coconut lemongrass soup (Tom Ka) and a red curry that was really good! Unfortunately, that was also the day I was struck with 'traveller's sickness,' which is really more painful than people seem to let on! I was quite surprised actually that it hurt like it did. But in my continuing adoration of modern medicine, three cipro pills saved the day and I was back to burning my mouth on chilis in just a few days. Matt got a little sick our last day in Railay, but seemed to recover much quicker than I did.



Oh, almost forgot, the second to last day in Railay we rode elephants!!! It was crazy fun. And a little crazy actually. Matt nearly fell off the elephant while it was walking down a gorge (nearly tipped out of the bench that was perched on top for us!) so we held on really tightly after that. It was great though, and they seemed to treat the elephants quite well. There are strict regulations on how much shade they must have as well as access to lots of water and food. We fed them bananas and it was amazing how coordinated they were using their trunks. They scooped the bananas right out of our hands and brought them to their mouths perfectly!


In my quest not to miss allthe good food Thailand has to offer, I convinced Matt to eat with me a street vendor on our last full day in Bangkok. We didn't eat any meat, we're not that brave, but had the most wonderful fried noodles with brocoli and cabbage made by this woman at her grill on the side of the road. It was actually one of the better meals we had and made me realize I need to find a way to get paid to eat and travel - really my favorite things to do.


One last ode to the mangosteen - we bought a kilogram our last day and devoured them in between the Tim Tams we found at a minimart. All my favorite sweets from this part of the world!


We survived with barely a sunburn (and also barely a tan) and have been concocting schemes to come back. It's that wonderful :)


Tonight I'm off to Bangalore where I'll be staying with the director of BelakuTrust, Saras, for a few days before moving to my new temporary home with the Simhas on June 1. For those of you who recognize that name, the Simhas decided to get rid of their adorable basset hound becaue he was too much work and are cleaning their house and have re-invited me to stay with them. I can't wait! News from India to come...