Apparently in the afternoon around monsoon season, it POURS here… like the heavens open up and PELT down… there is a giant lake in front of the shops where I’m doing internet… it’s insane. At least this time I wasn’t on a motorbike.

I’m now in Khao Lak, about to go onto the liveaboard. I got some banana boat sunscreen, as the Nivea one I bought at Tesco Lotus in BKK apparently did not work (I’m now sporting a lovely burn around my neck… JOY!). Go with what you know, yeah?

The trip here to Khao Lak was uneventful… ferry from Koh Lanta to Krabi town, and then picked up to go to a travel agency to wait for the minibus to Khao Lak. On the minibus were two German couples and a couple from someplace else, with two kids… I can’t figure it out. But the German couples weren’t friendly or talkative… it was strange. Most of the people I randomly start talking to are nice and friendly… (you know me, striking up a conversation…) Regardless, just a normal, boring ride. Not a big deal. Got to Khao Lak and man, it was hot! It was a bit more built up than I thought it would be, after all I’ve read about it being still demolished from the tsunami, but I can see some of the effects.

Regardless, Sea Dragon Dive Center is a lovely place, I have to go back there for 8pm, aka in 1 hour and 20 minutes, and I won’t be back to tinterweb land till the 8th…

Lanta was lovely, but it’s nice to be in a place that is a little different… not sure where I’ll go after here, but could be anywhere!! I just know I have to be back in Krabi for my flight back to Bangkok on the 12th. Where ever I end up, I want to go on a motorbike again – I now want a scooter!!

Today I hired a motorbike, the automatic kind, for the day – it was lovely. I drove up to Saladan (the main village on the island) and then over the “pass” to the other side. The view was spectacular at the top. I saw the clouds come in, as they’ve done in the evening lately, a little earlier and then it started raining softly at first… and then harder – soon I was DRENCHED. I didn’t want to ride in the rain, as I’m a newbie on a scooter, so I asked this man if I could join him under his awning on the patio… I was wearing a tank top and a sarong, and realized that he was a muslim – it wasn’t good… I didn’t want to offend, so I took off as soon as I thought it was letting up… it started harder!! I’d seen a restaurant at the “pass” so I wanted to make it there. I was so wet that I could wring my sarong and my tank top out! It was good to have stopped…

I saw a sea gypsy village, the town of old lanta and the tidal flats of the East side of the island. It was great. World Vision rebuilt a lot of the houses in the sea gypsy village, as they were all new, and I assume they were wrecked when the tsunami hit. As I got further and further South, the people got darker and darker – and more Indian looking. I find that fascinating. It just goes to show how much the sea gypsys used to travel around. Then again, the people down here in the South look a LOT different than the ones in the far North.

I then came back to the West, and more beachy, side – with the goal of driving all the way to the tip… the road really peters out, but I thought I’d give it a good ol’ college try… um, yeah, didn’t make it, as the road got pretty bad. I didn’t have much gas left, so I didn’t really want to chance it… I got pretty good at the scooter though!!

I stopped for some yummy noodles on my way “home” and my favorite dessert of a banana and fresh coconut pancake. I love it. The coconut is so good!!

I got eaten a bit by skeeters… on my forehead no less! Apparently there was one IN my mosquito netting last night. I’ll be checking that as soon as I go in tonight. GRR, hate them. I had to bite the bullet and get some ICKY deet-laden repellent. That’s the only way apparently… I hate them things… Here’s to hoping that on the ocean starting tomorrow, there will be no skeeters… let’s take a poll… What do you think?

I’ll be incommunicado, starting around 4pm MY time on Friday, aka 2am your time, as I’ll be on a boat… diving as many times each day as I can. But, you can email or post me messages on the blog… (am I talking to myself, btw? I know of two Mrs’ that are reading…)

I have a billion pictures of the colors of the water from around here – it may make me pathetic, but only if you want to see them can you… I’ll post sometime when it’s a bit cheaper (and when I’m not down to the final 2 minutes of my “card”). I need to pack also… and find the skeeters in my mosquito netting… and probably do something very un-Buddhist of me – KILL THEM. But what else is a girl with sweet blood and bites everywhere to do??

**edit: I forgot to tell you about the monkey I saw on the road. It was toward the very end of the island, on the bad part of the road. I thought it was a dog, but it turned out to stand up… so not a dog. It was funny, though. I thought you might enjoy that little story.

…it’s SUPER hot here in BKK… well, maybe it’s more the humidity, but yeah… it’s hot. And humid. But, I’m here, waiting for my friend Suthee to come get me. We’re going to go to Ayutthaya for some sightseeing. And I need to go to Tesco. There were some things that I didn’t want to bother with at Security at LAX. Which was a BREEZE, i might say… There are no pictures yet, soon there will be, but not for now.

Just a brief update to let you know that I’m here, safely…

I have 36 days and 23 hours till I leave for Thailand. I am SO very excited. I’ll get to see this lovely blue water that can potentially be behind this blog… I am SO thrilled.

That is all for today, nothing monumental to say. Just wanted to share.

I’m going BACK to Thailand… diving with mom on a live-aboard and also Ao Nang!! Or Koh Lanta… or something. I’m so excited. I’m trying to get a friend to go with me, for the last week that I’m half with mom, half not… SO EXCITED!!!!