Last days in Ko Tao :-(
Thursday (12 April) night I went out again with some people I met on the beach before it started raining. Ko Tao really has a party atmosphere so its pretty easy to get caught up in it. I didn't drink too much though and walked back to my bungalow in the rain around 4 AM. The rain was a nice change of pace actually and I didn't mind it.
Friday (13 April) I woke up to the Thai water festival called Songkran which celebrates the start of the Thai New Year. It is basically a huge, friendly water fight in the streets. Everyone gets drenched, everyone, no exceptions. It was madness, but a lot of fun. Both the Thais and the foreigners really get into it. Then the party moved down to the beach, where it got a bit hectic. It rained for most of the day but that didn't stop the festivities. While I was standing on the beach, watching the melee, I heard someone call my name behind me. It was an unfamiliar voice and I turned around to see two unfamiliar people and for a couple of seconds I couldn't for the life of me figure out how these strangers could know my name. Then slowly the memory gears started cranking and it hit me. It was a couple I met on my Trans-Siberian railway journey between Tomsk and Irkutsk, Russia (back in August) - Jill and Nile from Ireland and Australia!! What a strange, crazy place to meet! They had just arrived on Ko Tao to this madness and we hung out for the rest of the afternoon in the ocean in the rain enjoying the party and having water fights with strangers. We met again later for dinner where we caught on our respective trips and shared memories of Russia. We had followed very similar paths through Mongolia, China, Tibet, and Nepal once we parted ways in Russia and figured out that we were in Nepal at the same time, but never saw each other there. Then they had gone on to India and Bangladesh while I stayed longer in Nepal and went on to southeast Asia. What makes the meeting so strange is that not 3 weeks prior to this I ran into a guy I met in Moscow! Insane. Plus we shouldn't have even met here since they weren't planning to come to Thailand at all and I wasn't planning to stay on Ko Tao for so long. I really didn't think I met that many people in Russia.....
Tonight (Saturday, 14 April) I leave Ko Tao for Krabi on the western coast of Thailand. The ferry leaves Ko Tao at 9 PM and arrives in Suratthani - on the mainland - at 6 AM, then its a 2 hour bus ride to Krabi town where I have to catch a boat to the main beaches. I'm a bit sad to leave Ko Tao, but I'm looking forward to Krabi as I think some of my friends that I met in Vietnam will be there. I'm meeting Jill and Nile for dinner before I leave.
Friday (13 April) I woke up to the Thai water festival called Songkran which celebrates the start of the Thai New Year. It is basically a huge, friendly water fight in the streets. Everyone gets drenched, everyone, no exceptions. It was madness, but a lot of fun. Both the Thais and the foreigners really get into it. Then the party moved down to the beach, where it got a bit hectic. It rained for most of the day but that didn't stop the festivities. While I was standing on the beach, watching the melee, I heard someone call my name behind me. It was an unfamiliar voice and I turned around to see two unfamiliar people and for a couple of seconds I couldn't for the life of me figure out how these strangers could know my name. Then slowly the memory gears started cranking and it hit me. It was a couple I met on my Trans-Siberian railway journey between Tomsk and Irkutsk, Russia (back in August) - Jill and Nile from Ireland and Australia!! What a strange, crazy place to meet! They had just arrived on Ko Tao to this madness and we hung out for the rest of the afternoon in the ocean in the rain enjoying the party and having water fights with strangers. We met again later for dinner where we caught on our respective trips and shared memories of Russia. We had followed very similar paths through Mongolia, China, Tibet, and Nepal once we parted ways in Russia and figured out that we were in Nepal at the same time, but never saw each other there. Then they had gone on to India and Bangladesh while I stayed longer in Nepal and went on to southeast Asia. What makes the meeting so strange is that not 3 weeks prior to this I ran into a guy I met in Moscow! Insane. Plus we shouldn't have even met here since they weren't planning to come to Thailand at all and I wasn't planning to stay on Ko Tao for so long. I really didn't think I met that many people in Russia.....
Tonight (Saturday, 14 April) I leave Ko Tao for Krabi on the western coast of Thailand. The ferry leaves Ko Tao at 9 PM and arrives in Suratthani - on the mainland - at 6 AM, then its a 2 hour bus ride to Krabi town where I have to catch a boat to the main beaches. I'm a bit sad to leave Ko Tao, but I'm looking forward to Krabi as I think some of my friends that I met in Vietnam will be there. I'm meeting Jill and Nile for dinner before I leave.
posted by Dustin at 3:00 AM
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