Bean and I took another overnight bus to Surat Thani where we were to catch a ferry to Koh Phangan. We arrived around 4:30AM, completely exhausted, where we sat at a restaurant for 2 hours waiting for the songteau to pick us up and take us to the port. When we finally arrived at the port, I realized that in my zombie state, I forgot my purse with my credit card as well as Bean and I's passports. Ooops. I begged the driver to take me back straight away and he gladly helped me out. Luckily, it was sitting exactly where I left it, untouched. I was a lucky girl to say the least!
We finally boarded the ferry and started our 3 hour ride to Koh Phangan. It was beautiful, but I
was so tired, I didn't really stay awake long enough to enjoy much of it. Kyle and Shannon were scheduled to come in a couple of hours after we arrived, so we sat at a small restaurant and waited ... Trying to gather our composure after virtually no sleep for 2 nights (we took the overnight bus from Chiang Mai to Bangkok the night before ... the day I wrote the last blog). When they got there, we quickly found a guest house and hit the beach ... Where I passed out (not a huge surprise!) The water was great, although there were a few little jelly fish that creeped me out, so I stayed on the beach for the most part (I'm a wuss, I know).
After the beach, we went to dinner and enjoyed some of the night life that Koh Phangan is known so well for ... Buckets on the beach :) They sell buckets with bottles of alcohol and mixers, you just pour it all together and enjoy a drink out of a bucket. It was a fun night with a lot of laughs. Bean entered an arm wrestling contest, claiming he was Canadian, until he kicked butt, then he was no longer afraid to be American. 
Most people didn't get it, the next day, we could hear people walking by saying "that was the Canadian". It was great fun. Shannon and I left around one in the morning, because I was ready to fall asleep standing up, but the boys didn't find their way back until almost 4AM. They apparently went the wrong direction when trying to get back and ended up in the jungle (I think it was on purpose ... they needed more jungle trekking!)Tuesday, I woke up with a terrible earache. I knew I was getting an ear infection and picked up ear drops the day before, but this pain was nearly intolerable. I went to the pharmacy and
picked up some ibuprofin and amoxicillin and prayed it would heal quickly. Luckily the ibuprofin helped out with the pain, but it was a damper nonetheless. Kyle and Bean rented motorbikes, while Shannon and I went to the beach and rented rafts to float around on. I didn't last long on the raft, I ended up in the shade fast asleep, avoiding any contact I could with my ear. When the boys returned, Shannon and I decided to brave the motorbikes and go for a ride with them to a quieter beach they had found. In order to get to this beach, we had to go up and down 20% grade hills ... Shannon and I walked part of the way back because we were afraid of sliding off the back of the bikes :)Tuesday night there was a "Black Moon Party". Koh Phangan is also known for it's raging parties based on the moon cycles (most notably the full moon). What a black moon is, I'm still not sure, but with my ear in the condition it was, I (begrudgingly) went to bed while the others forged on.
We left Koh Phangan Wednesday, travelling (or waiting for a bus to start moving) most of the day. It started with a ferry that took off on time, then we loaded onto a full bus with poor A/C, then we sat and waited ... and waited ... and waited ... for our next bus to pull away from the station. We boarded the bus at 3:30, the bus did not leave until 5:30, and until there were about 10 more people than there were seats. The bus then proceeded to stop every 10 minutes to let someone off/on. This was tolerable, since we had seats .... Until they started BLARING Thai music so loud that we couldn't hear our music on our iPods. Not to mention, my ear infection was not feeling any better (hence the toilet paper in my ear!)We were relieved to get off the bus in Krabi, until we were told there was possibly a tsunami heading our way ... Grrrrrrrreat. We quickly made sure we were on a hill or far enough inland to be safe, then found a guest house with the same requirements. We stayed at a great guest house with a really nice family who translated the public announcement that we were all going to be safe and sound.
We got up early on Wednesday and jumped onto a longtail (a boat with a Chevy engine block
sitting on the back, and a 15 foot rod with a perpeller attached at the end .... kind of like a weedwacker ... the engine and propeller look like something that could be used quite effectively in a horror movie, while the boat itself looks 
like it is straight out of a travel magazine) to Railay. Railay is beautiful ... Absolutely stunning. Limestone cliffs everywhere and clear blue sea. We enjoyed another beach day with a better view than we could have imagined. Shannon and I got foot scrubs and foot massages on the beach while Kyle and Bean "explored" and that was about the extent of our day. It was great.That night we went out and explored some of the night life, where Bean and I ran into 4 fellow Santa Barbarians. I recognized one of them and stopped them all dead in their tracks. I recognized her because a good friend of mine (Nikki Campbell) used to live with her ... Small small world.
We woke up Thursday to rain, lots of rain. Kyle and Bean decided to do some rock climbing (that's what Krabi is known for), while Shannon and I sat and waited for the rain to go away, hoping for another couple hours on the beach. Since the rain didn't subside, we took a longtail back to Krabi and hit up the Night Market where we indulged in all sorts of amazing food.
Friday morning we went kayaking. Which, 
to date, might be my favorite thing we've done this month. We did about 3 or 4 hours of sea kayaking through mangrove forests. We not only saw monkeys, but interacted with monkeys. The guides put pineapple on our kayaks and they would jump right on and munch away. I had one sharing my seat with me while he tried to get to the pineapple behind me ... It was awesome.
Somehow, after kayaking and a great lunch, we ended up at a catfish farm. Yes ... A catfish farm. We had no idea this was part of what we paid for, but apparently it was, and boy was it weird. There was a place where we could look at tarantulas and scorpions ... The guide lifted a pot to reveal a tarantula ... I nearly jumped out of my skin ... I wanted OUT! We made it out alive, and my ear was finally starting to feel better, so things were moving in the right direction. Kyle and Shannon flew back to Bangkok so they could make their flight on Saturday. I was sad to see them go, but I had so much fun having them here.
Bean and I slept in on Saturday. It was raining again, so we decided to put on our rain gear and take a walk in the rain. When we returned to the guest house I "played" Connect Four with a 4 year old ... He ended up spitting on my pants while laughing hysterically, I'm still not sure what that was about, but within 2 minutes of the incident, he decided he needed to pee right then and there, so I was just thankful I only had saliva on my pants.
Our intention was to leave yesterday (Sunday), but after checking out and packing our things, we were told about a BBQ at the guest house that we couldn't pass up ... So we got our room key back and decided to stay. I got a lot of reading in and a couple of naps, staying was a good decision. We even found super cheap flights from Krabi to Bangkok so we didn't have to take another overnight bus! The best part about buying our plane tickets ... We didn't enter a credit card to purchase, we went to 7 Eleven with a confirmation number and paid there. It was awesome.
The BBQ was well worth waiting for. The people we met at the guest house were great, guests and staff alike. We sat around eating more prawns than I've ever seen in my life and played some drinking games. It was a blast
This morning 6 of us woke up for the same flight, struggling to stay awake through breakfast, we made quite the impression at the airport, I'm sure. We were all asleep at the gate, completely lethargic.
Now we're in Bangkok, about to plan the next leg of the trip ... Cambodia.
I've got a minor case of homesickness that I'm hoping will pass soon. Not quite sure how that happens when I'm having so much fun, but I guess that's just life for ya.
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