Day 37 & 38: Island Getaway.

So, I'm gonna have to say that our trip to Koh Sumet was probably the most unplanned, ghetto, eventful, and fun thing we've done so far in Thailand. I really don't know what we thought it was going to be like, but we left Bangkok thinking it would be easy just to hop over to an island and have fun on the beach. I seriously only packed 3 beach dresses, shampoo, toothbrush/paste, and my iPod. So, we got on our minibus taxi and road 2 hours south...then, got on a speedboat to the island. (I would like to also say that I freestyled the most amazing rap while we were on that boat...Allison recorded it, but now it's gone forever. I'll elaborate on that in a few.) We arrived on the island around noon, the hottest part of the day, with our backpacks and purses weighing us down. We wanted to get a bungalow first thing so we could just drop off our stuff and head to the beach...tryin' to get that tan on you know. Well, much to our disappointment, everywhere we looked for a room was full. Even the places with "we have vacancy" signs lit up were full. For a second, I felt like a homeless bum and seriously tried to rationalize that sand was comfortable to sleep on, but we finally found a place to get a room for 800 baht. We later were informed that we paid way too much, and there were some for 200 a little farther down the beach. Oh well...I'm just glad we had a bed to sleep in. I don't mind paying that extra $10. And about our room...tiny. Our shower was over the toilet, and it leaked out into the room. It was ridiculous, but once again, it's better than being homeless.

So anyway, after we dropped our stuff off at the room we got some lunch and rented a motorbike. And yes, I had another Edward Cullen moment for sure. Haha! But of course, this one was legit since clearly I was on a motorcycle. Allison drove first since she had all the experience, but I tried it out and it was easy after I got the hang of it. That motorbike was for sure the best decision we've made in Thailand. We drove around that island probably 10 times while we were there! Allison took off on it at first and she was wondering why people were swerving around her (driving is crazy in Thailand anyway though)...then she realized that she was driving on the wrong side of the road. HAHA! But it was a tiny little village area, not a huge city like Bangkok, so it was just truck taxis and other motorbikes driving around. I even rocked the whole side-saddle on the back of the bike thing that we've seen girls doing in Bangkok. It's not hard at all! Ok, I might wanna just stop talking about the bike because I'm sure my mom is having a heart attack reading this. Promise we were safe...no accidents. No worries. :)

After a good time at the beach, we cleaned up and went to dinner at a little restaurant owned by some Canadians next to our room at The Blue House. They were watching football...yes, real American football...so clearly, we stayed there a while and hung out with them for a while. After that, we all decided to go down and check out what was going on at the beach. We found place to hang out and ended up ditching the Canadians (they were annoying the crap out of us by that time) to hang out with a couple guys from London, Adam and Alex, though we totally saw them flirting with ladyboys before we started talking to them. (Haha!) We played pool with the British boys forever, so Daddy, I'd have made you proud this time...I didn't suck too bad at all. :) And I never get tired of hearing sexy British accents. Haha.

So this morning we woke up and rode the motorbike around the island some more while it was morning and the roads were all clear. There's nothing like driving down the road and looking at the islands floating in perfectly clear blue water. (sigh) It was heaven. It almost reminded me of the Cayman Islands...which ironically enough, Allison and I experienced together on Spring Break 2008! (We're such traveling buddies!) After we checked out of our over-priced tiny room, we walked over to the local Buddhist temple to look around. I'm glad we got a chance to do that because it was so much different than the tourist atmosphere of the temples in Bangkok that charge money to walk around. It just seemed a little bit more authentic to me at least. Plus, we got to talk to a monk who knew some English for a few minutes, so that was really cool. I'm a Christian of course, but I love experiencing other religions and cultures. Though they may not believe exactly as I do, I'm obviously going to show respect and learn as much as I can about their beliefs. I wish I knew more about Buddhism...If I choose to come back here in May, I'm definitely going to be researching and reading up on it.

We met up with the British boys and spent the rest of the day on the beach. I've never spent so much time in the ocean...my legs won't stop peeling now. I'm going to look diseased instead of sexy tan! Not the look I was going for at all. Haha oh well. Anyway, we had loads of fun hanging out Adam and Alex. I think it's safe to say that they're my favorite people we've met...the most legit people anyway. It sucks that we had to return to Bangkok tonight...I really wanted to stay and hang out with them more. It's crazy how everyone we meet feels like lifelong friends. Allison and I are outgoing anyway, but we just click with some people and it seems like we've known them forever. Maybe some of the friends we've made will last...who knows. I guess that's what Facebook is for. Haha.

Over lunch, Adam was telling us about what they're going to be doing in Asia...traveling and stuff. They're going all over to Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Burma, etc. He had a whole traveling book with information about the culture, places to stay, currency exchange rates, places to see, and everything. Clearly, he really did his homework. They're going to work with a charity organization to help out the refugees from Burma in Thailand, too. I love it when people are passionate about something, so it was great listening to him talk about all the things they're going to do and the people they're going to help. I'm jealous that I can't do something like that...but I don't understand why I even say that with the idea of my looming opportunity of returning in May. I do have the chance, but I'm too scared to take it. Alex said something to me today that really hit home...you never want to live with regrets. It's one year of my life...so why not just do it? Ok, I'm not going to think about that anymore right now, but he's exactly right.

So yeah, Koh Sumet turned out to be great. Oh!!! Other than the fact that some old woman stole Allison's wallet and camera!!!! She was evidently watching for when we went out to the water to swim , and though all of our stuff was still in sight, she swipped it! Thank God I left my valuable stuff in our room (camera, passport, keys, etc) and didn't have it with me for once! We would have been completely (I can't think of another, more polite way to say this) screwed if both of our wallets had been jacked. Allison has been trying to work everything out with her parents and banks on my Thai phone getting cards canceled and money to the ATM and stuff. Gah it's insane. I'm just sayin', that old woman is lucky we didn't catch her in the act (some guy told us what she looked like but that's about all we got; we never could find her). So about my amazing freestyle rap...yeah, it was on Allison's camera and it's gone. That's what I'm really mad about. Haha.

Anyway, good weekend for sure...new friends, a tan, a stolen wallet/camera, and good memories. Just livin' the dream...

Love yall...only a couple more weeks til I get back. Can't wait to see some snow and have some bonfires.

I'm out.
Cwalk