Eat, sleep, swim, read, repeat. We settled into a nice little routine here in Koh Tao. Our room is an oasis perched on the rocks that split Sairee Beach. To the north and south are strips of hotels and posh beach front lounges. The past couple of nights we have walked and jogged the beach at sunset. It makes me happy to see groups of people sitting around tiki torches and buckets filled with liquor and mixers over ice, and yet I have no desire to partake personally. Perhaps it’s the budget, but I believe it’s actually something deeper and more wholesome keeping us away from those external pursuits.
Jo and I have never had extended time together in which we were not actively, physically “doing” something. Our first extended vacation together saw us driving from Oregon to California to Colorado, rock climbing, backpacking, reuniting with friends and family, attending a wedding and getting engaged – all in about 3 weeks. We fill our summers with backpacking and climbing. When we’re home, there’s usually a minimum of 2 house projects in the works, and for the last year plus, either the planning of a wedding or a trip around the world. I’m tired just typing this. I think we are finally allowing ourselves some time to drift back into balance.
We are enjoying our time. Always in close proximity even if we are off in the different realities created by whatever we are respectively reading. So content are we not to explore at the moment, we continue to return to the same restaurant for each meal. In our defense, the menu is extensive offering staples from Thai, Mexican, Italian and American cuisine. Our favorites thus far are: for breakfast muesli with fruit and yogurt, and at other times the Hawaiian Burger (fried ground beef with pineapple! Yes pineapple.) The panang chicken curry is pretty awesome too.
I’ve mentioned previously, but it’s worth noting again how incredibly friendly the locals are that we have met. The waiters and waitresses at DD Hut greet us with huge smiles and beautiful broken English. As well, the gentleman who looks after our hotel never fails to greet us with a huge grin and helpful suggestions about the area. He also lent us a mask so that we could “snorkel” together. The quotations are due to the fact that we don’t have snorkels, so I guess it would more appropriately be called “masking”. It’s essentially the same thing except that you have to come up for air every so often. I’ll take this opportunity to acknowledge my beautiful wife, Jo “MacGyver” Beebs for the creation of our other mask. We bought the broken mask second hand for the equivalent of about $1.66. Jo found a piece of twine on the ground and used it to fashion a repair for the broken strap. The “Macgyver’ed” mask actually works better than the structurally sound borrowed one.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to shamelessly promote a book for anyone looking for a good read. Tom Robbin’s “Skinny Legs and All” is one of the best books I’ve read. It manages to entertain, inspire laughter, and for me, both confirm and enlarge my own developing political, philosophical and spiritual views.
I’ll leave off with an amusing anecdote from breakfast this morning. Sitting at our now usual table at our favorite restaurant, DD Hut, Johanna announces that she needs to use the facilities. Now, for anyone not aware, my wife is fearless in almost all areas. She has jumped out of airplanes, kayaked over waterfalls, lived in foreign countries, travelled to 6 of the 7 continents and all 50 states, and she was willing to go rock climbing with me as I was still learning the art of leading and building anchors. Now, you’ll notice I said “fearless in almost all areas.” As my moment of silent contemplation this morning was interrupted by my hysterical wife bouncing off tables as she ran from the bathroom, still in the act of zipping up and buttoning her trousers, I realized that there is in fact a weak spot in Jo’s fearless armor. I couldn’t tell if she was about to laugh or cry, puke or sneeze as she struggled to control her breathing and actually form comprehensible words. When she did, she insisted that I step into the bathroom and have a look at the ceiling.
Always brave and chivalrous, I agreed to “have a look”. Sure enough, dangling from the ceiling, mere inches above where one’s head would be while standing to pee, were not one but two spiders, quite literally each the size of my hand – no exaggeration. One in fact was either dead or in deep sleep and hanging precariously by what appeared to be a single strand of web. The other spider appeared quite lively, perched and ready to pounce…or at least drop his dead friend’s carcass on some unsuspecting toileting customer. In all seriousness, the “teeth” on these spiders were at least as long as human fingernails. For any fans of “Lord of the Rings”, you’ll understand when I say that Johanna and I stared down Shelob’s evil offspring. Fortunately for us, it either wasn’t this arachnid’s feeding time, or he/she was in fact distracted by the prospect of eating his/her buddy. In any case, we were lucky to leave with our lives. The moral of the story that we will take away is this: When using the toilet in Thailand, and possibly many other places in the world, it is wise to always look up as well as down before you begin.
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