Mission Accomplished

I did it. I found Nemo! 3 of them actually, as well as some parrotfish, angel fish, and a bunch I can't name. I had went snorkeling in Koh Phi Phi about 3 days ago- or was it 4? or 5? I can't tell the days apart anymore.
In addition to snorkeling our boat took us to Monkey Beach. It was all fun and games until a monkey charged at me and began to climb my leg. I screamed my head off and shook him free. As far as I could tell, the monkey wasn't rabid/foaming at the mouth but I definitely concluded that monkeys are to be admired from a distance. Thankfully we didn't stay long, and we headed to Maya Beach, where they had filmed the movie 'The Beach' with Leo DeCaprio in it. I'm gonna have to go home and watch that movie now...

Moving on, I left Phi Phi (which was Spring Break central) and I intended on heading to a more isolated beach called Railey which is tucked away behind large limestone structures jutting out of the ocean. Unfortunately, they weren't kidding about monsoon season being as monsoon-y as imagined. I had to stay on the mainland and try to hitch a day boat to Railey, in which we had to attack the ginourmous waves and slosh our way to the island in the torrential rain. Soaked to the bones, all I wanted to do was lay on the beach, but I remembered that I only had a few hours to complete my goal of being on Railey: to rock climb those limestone karsts. It was challenging, and in the end my arms were so weak I couldn't write. But the views up top were well worth it, and by that time there were blue skies and calm, crystal clear water- as if the storm never had happened. I sucessfully headed back to the mainland where I had found a super awesome place to stay. For less than 10 dollars, I got a motel-like room with bed-bugless sheets, my own bathroom with HOT water, a mini fridge, and a TV! Luxury at its finest on my budget.

So now that we're caught up, I am currently in Khao Sok National Park- one of the world's oldest rainforests. It is such a ghost town here that most shops are closed. If you look up this rainforest online, you get to see beautiful pictures of lakes, waterfalls, and elephant trekking- all of which I didn't get to do because of lack of money. Luckily I made friends with some local Thai people who also acted as tour guides, and I "coincidentally" bumped into him as he led a tour for some Dutch couples on the trail, and I tagged along watching him magically snatch up lizards that seemed invisible to foreignors. To get a tour guide, you would have to pay 5 times the amount of entering the park alone. So to help me out, he told me what time he was leaving, and I bought my student ticket at the entrance and followed him as my unofficial guide. It's been nice to get away from the beaches for a bit and see a little more of what Thailand has to offer, but I'm getting terribly lonely and am looking forward to heading to Koh Pha-Ngan tomorrow where the infamous full moon parties are held (don't worry- the next one isn't until June 26th). Look it up on wikipedia if you don't know what I'm talking about- basically it's like Mifflin but worse.

I have one more night to endure in my rinkydink shack of a room in which it is so poorly built that there are 1 inch cracks between the floor boards. 24/7 mosquito repellent is a must, although I still got 15 new bites despite the amount of repellent I've doused myself in. Last night I was scared shitless when I heard creaking on my porch and scratching at the door. Was it a bear? A tiger? Nope, it was the neighborhood dog. But I slept with the lights on anyway.

I wish I could share some pictures but everytime I go online I forget to bring the cable to connect my camera with the computer. But hopefully you can only imagine the stuff I'm describing...

Until next time, eat a burger for me please!