Saying goodbye to Hadas

We arrived back at the main island just after sunset which is around 6:30 pm. Back to our hotel and the cold showers, and within the hour we were dressed and ready to go...we were starving and I was craving some cashew nut chicken...

We decided on a simple restaurant on the way down to the beach. We sat in plastic lawn chairs that the wooden tables were awkwardly too high for. Noticed that orchids lined the entire right side of the restaurant...how amazing. I cannot even keep one orchid alive in Philadelphia!

Anyway, I did get my cashew chicken and mixed veggies...long before Hadas got her meal. It didn't take me long to give up on waiting for hers and dig in. This had become routine around here....with my meals always coming first. The Thai people serve the food as soon as it's ready without regard to whether anyone else at the table has their meal. Much different from Western culture...

Eventually Hadas' food arrived and then we wandered on through the village. We got some gelato for dessert which was on the icy side, but otherwise good, browsed through a few bookstores, then moved on to Thai foot massages...a great way to end the evening.

We still ended up getting to bed very late...cause the night is never complete without hitting the internet cafe! Today was the first day in a long stretch of days that we actually had no plans and could therefore sleep in! Was wonderful even though I couldn't sleep much after 9am...something about the humidity and the mosquito netting and the sunlight breaking in through our windows. I packed up my stuff and moved into my new, single room, B11 just next door.

I headed down for breakfast, poolside, while Hadas packed up...then lounged by the pool and swam a few laps (gotta start that triathlon training!) while she did some last minute shopping. We met up again just before her ferry was due to leave for Phuket. The hotel supplied the same 70 lb 14 y/o boy to carry her luggage. Poor kid. We made our way through the village with this huge metal cart and the boy literally yelling "beep beep" the whole way to get people out of our path. After he did it I can't help but notice it's what everyone around here does on bikes or with carts, etc. Kinda funny.

It was sad to say goodbye to Hadas...but I knew it was just way too expensive for me to continue on to Bali and Singapore. And although I enjoyed our time together over the past few weeks, I think it'll also be nice to just be on my own for a little bit, especially here in the islands!

I spent the rest of the day browsing for more books and reading on the beach. It was actually really interesting...I went down to the beach around 3pm...the same beach where the tsunami wrecked so much havoc just a few years ago. The water was really far away...much farther than 2 days ago when we were on this beach. There was a thin strip of water and then a long, long sandbar where people were playing frisbee with dogs, etc. I was surprised at how quiet the beach was as well...much different from the lights and fire throwing activities at night! But all of a sudden, around 515 pm, the water began a slow rush towards the beach...it was really strange...like a pool filling up. It was almost like someone had removed invisible gates in the distance and the water was now able to flow freely fowards. I guess this happens everyday, but it just seemed so much more sudden than the gradual change of high and low tides of the Jersey shore...for example...

I stopped by a travel agency to change a few things on my itinerary...instead of heading right for Phuket I'm going to take a ferry to Ko Lanta...another island nearby. I'll be there for 2 nights, then Phuket just for one and Bangkok for 2...then onto China.

Tonight I had dinner at "Thai restaurant". Creative. The women in there spoke absolutely no English. I pointed to the dinner I wanted on their menu, mixed vegetables with chicken...in English with it's corresponding name in Thai. I ended up with Pad Thai which was awesome and served with a little pile of ground peanuts, dried chili, sugar and a lime but it's totally not what I ordered...

I ended up at 007 bar tonight in the village. Owned by Ben, a British guy who couldn't afford a house in England so figured he'd buy property here. Also met a Thai guy, Bus, and his girlfriend Debbie from England. Hilarious to meet a Thai guy with an English accent and using British expressions like bloody hell, etc. They invited me to another bar around the corner where there was a Thai cover band playing rock music. It was ok for a little bit. I'm not sure if it was the young American frat boys ordering a round of "muff diver" shots or the obnoxious American guy who refused to leave with his bucket of red bull and vodka, but shortly after we arrived I decided I had had enough...

Waking up early tomorrow...only one more day in Koh Phi Phi...better live it up :)