oh so much to tell

sawatdee kah from bangkok! i haven't written because we were without internet access during our four-day stay on koh phangan.

we have successfully made it to southern thailand and back, safe and sound. the trip down and back was extremely eventful. i will do my best to keep it brief, but give enough details to convey what it was really like. i am working on publishing my photos, there are many.

in ao nang, we had our first official thai massage (very nice), took long boats to and from railay bay (around a cliff from ao nang), relaxed on the beach, did some shopping, and ate our first thai curry (not that hot). we stayed two nights at the guesthouse in ao nang, then decided to travel to koh phangan (phangan island) by bus, then overnight ferry (boat). we rested up and were ready and waiting for the shuttle to a bus station, which ended up being a shambled rest stop run by a thai family... nothing at all official-looking. we were picked up by a LARGE bus that brought us to another official bus station in krabi where we waited without communication of what would happen next.

eventually, we boarded another large tour bus that took us on a very rocky (side to side) and thailand-fast ride to a random restaurant in the middle of what seemed like nowhere. no one told us what to do next, again. we just sat at an outdoor table in the dark and waited. we figured out, later, that it's a ploy to get you to buy things from a business. it's always a scam. we bought nothing and waited patiently.

maybe and hour later, a pickup truck loaded those of us going to the pier in surat thani. after a ten minute ride to the pier, the ferry was ready and waiting, and we boarded the ship and found our numbered "slot" of where we were to sleep. i cannot convey to you the filth and discust that was this boat. imagine the inside of a large boat, without anything except a long sheeted matress that spans both sides of the ship. there was a pillow under each number on the wall. there was no separation of space, just the number with the pillow, on the matress. i immediately noted that the sheets were either sandy or salty, or both, from repeated use and lack of cleansing. it was gross. luckily, though, barb and i both purchased a beach mat and laid those down to make a barrier between our skin and those sheets. ick!

we had made some friends on the short bus ride to the pier and played games and talked with them until they turned the lights out on the ferry and we were forced to sleep or sit in the dark. since it was night anyway, we slept. i woke up many times, though the ride was smooth and slow. it took between six and seven hours to get to koh phangan. barb and i were awake much earlier than the ferry arrived, so we just laid there and watched everyone sleep. i must mention the bathrooms on this ferry. they were the worst to date. we, the farang (tourists), were on the upper deck and the thai travelers and shiphands were on the lower deck, with smaller, but similar sleeping arrangements. the bathrooms were three steps lower than their deck. these bathrooms were our first experience with squatters... a toilet with no seat, just a hole that you have to squat over. a sprayer was also absent, as was toilet paper. next to the hole was a large bucket of water... that looked clean, and had a large cup to pour into the toilet... or something. when i entered the bathroom a man was coming out and had just bathed in the bathroom, with the bucket of water, so the floor was full of ... some sort of water and i didn't have shoes on. there were several thai men that were already laughing at me because i didn't know where to go and they didn't know what i was saying, so i just went in and did my best not to touch anything or fall in... or fall over. remember, i was squatting on a moving boat. i think i'll just leave it there. it was discusting.

i hate to leave you on a low note, but i will write more later. we're saying goodbye to a friend who has been staying with us in bangkok.