I’m updating myself by reading my last blog first, this time! I see I dated it Jan. 16. Today is Jan. 24. The last 8 days have all melted into one another as the tide goes in and out, so the sun sets and rises and the ever constant waves break on the white sand beach.

The hermit crabs are fun to watch and every time the tide goes out they get very busy digging in the sand and making the most beautiful decorations of little balls of sands they are spitting out as they dig.

My scuba diving experience was a wash out. The first day of theory was fine and in the afternoon we went to the pool and with all the gear on, practiced the skills under water. The next morning we headed out early on the boat for an hour and a half trip to the island of Koh Haa to dive. It was very beautiful under water …. but I hated it! My biggest problem was equalising the pressure on my ears – and I didn’t do it properly. I think to be fair, if that part had not been such a problem for me I would have relaxed more and enjoyed the experience. But – I was bleeding from my nose when I surfaced and my right ear is STILL blocked, and this is 6 days later. I didn’t dive again, and so I did not complete the Open Water Certification – just the Scuba Diver Certification. I think I’ll stick to snorkelling!

I hung out on Koh Lanta for a few more days. Changed my accommodation for something cheaper and was up on a cliff overlooking the ocean with a great view. – The place was called Top View. There were monkeys hanging around the place which added to the atmosphere nicely. I rode around on the scooter and enjoyed a bit of beach time too.

Three nights ago I got on the boat for a one hour trip over to another, quieter island called Koh Jum. It is only 9 km in length and they only recently got electricity here (3 months ago) . Koh Lanta, where I was is much busier and the entire west side of the island is lined with tourist resorts and restaurants and internet cafes and massage places – some high end, some not.

Koh Jum is another story. I am staying at a place called Sun Smile. There is no pier here for the ferry to drop off, so the long tail boats from the resorts have to come out and meet the ferry. The ferry stops and all the long tails from the various resorts pull up at once and it is mayhem for a few minutes as everyone tries to find the correct boat to get in. The sleepy little village of Ko Jum where there is internet is 3 km from my place.

Since I have been in the south of Thailand I have noticed Muslims – whereas in the north and central parts of Thailand it was strictly Buddhist. The Muslim people of southern Thailand are, for the most part much softer than my previous experience with Muslims in India and other parts. I wonder if it is the Buddhist fusion? Not sure – but in any event, they are great.

I have met some interesting women here! The girl in the hut next to me is from Finland (Suvi is her name). She is travelling around the world for 6 months on a paid leave from her job at the Helsinki Airport in a wine bar. She is a real wine connosieur and was dazzling me with her knowledge of wines last night. (Incidentally, wine in Thailand is a waste of money. Beer is the way to go)

Another woman I spent the day with yesterday is from Brazil (Ila), but she lives in India now. She leaves every 6 months to renew her visa and has been on Ko Jum for 2 months! She is as brown as the local people at this point. She was a lawyer in Brazil for 10 years and was hating her life and so she quit. Now she reads Tarot Cards and lives in Darmshala (sp?), in the north of India. She is a very wise woman and I enjoyed philosophising (oops – spell check doesnt like that one!) with her. She has figured out how to live super cheaply here and also does the Tarot Cards reading to help pay her way. You know where this is going…. Yes – I had her do the Tarot Cards with me and I’m trying to not be sceptical about that stuff and process some of what she told me, so I will say no more about that!

I went to the Health Centre on the Island yesterday afternoon because my right ear is still messed up from diving. I have damaged the drum, I think, or else there is a blockage in there. It feels like I am speaking from a tunnel, and it is difficult to hear from it. Not good. Anyway – the woman at the Health Centre gave me some drops and some pills and if nothing starts to improve within 3 days I will go to a hospital where they can actually look inside my ear. The woman at the health centre simply used a flashlight. I think the drops are just a salt/phospate kind of solution and I think the pills are an anti-imfammatory.

Last night Suvi (Finland) and another woman from France (don’t think I ever got her name) walked down the beach to visit another resort’s restaurant for dinner. I use the term resort loosely. These resorts are simply a set of huts, sometimes bamboo, sometimes cement. There is a restaurant attached to each one and the menus are all pretty much the same. They offer rice or noodles in various formats, and then they try to offer some western food, but its usually not anything like at home so I find it best to stick to what they are good at. Anyway – this place we went for dinner is owned by a Scottish man and so the décor is a little more western influenced. Very beautifully done, too! It was a great place (Called Ao Si) and we sat up on the open bar on the cliff watching the sun set. Life is good!

I have a gecko in my room and he woke me up last night. I hope to get rid of him today! Also – a monkey jumped on my roof in the middle of the night with a big crash. Those are the challenges of life in paradise!

Gregg is on his way here, as I write this. I will leave in the morning to go to the airport to meet him, assuming he has made it all the way through on stand by status. Really looking forward to this next part with him and then, back to Canada for a bit, to reload, and make more plans!

Gotta get to the beach now……

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