A Little Thai Narrative

AMY: Hello from Thailand!!!! I've had four beautiful days in Thailand thus far and the trip has been fantastic. So far, we've been to Bangkok, Koh Pha Ngan, and we're currently in lovely Koh Tao. Sunburn count is currently at ONE. Bangkok was a busy city to start the trip on with Singh and Sabs but we managed to see a few neat little places. Our craziest experience as of yet has absolutely been the Full Moon Party on Koh Pha Ngan. But I'll let Sabrina tell you more about that!

SABRINA: Amy and I have chosen a narrative approach to this blog -letus know what you think! Anyhow, the Full Moon party was insane!. With nearly 10,000 people on one long beach scattered with retail stands selling buckets of mixed drinks, mayhem is bound to ensue. Our evening began with some pizza with two freinds we made at the bungalows we were staying at, and Jay. We painted our bodies with colourful paint that glowed in the blue lights on the beach, and then headed down to the crowded beach area. The bars along the beach had techno music BLARING and even tall somewhat sturdy wooden stages for extremem dance moves. We tested one of these out, just to make sure they were 'safe' - of course.

Mostly it was a great celebration of the full moon with our new, 10,000 friends - both tourists and thai alike.

AMY: We've met some fun people along the way - many English and also plenty of Canadian! My favourites thus far have been one girl who was travelling by herself and originally from England. We also met a couple of really fun girls from Montreal (new friends for Simmonds!) and partied with them for half of the night. Sabrina and I also had a lovely encounter with a couple of Texan fellows. Naturally, we engaged them in talk about politics and their "wonderful" state of Texas.

SABRINA: I may or may not have convinced a texan, Republican who works for a Petroleum company, to vote Obama :)

AMY: It's true. Sabrina is a wonderful salesperson. Go Obama! Anyway, we met these two boys at one of the many body paint stations along the sand where they had just gotten matching tattoos on their chest of the American flag. Ty-pi-cal.

The shopping and locals in Kho Pha Ngan were also delightful! We had time to peruse some stores and all picked up a few knick knacks along the way. Singh officially became "Summer Singh" when he purchased a white linen Jesus-like shirt along with a neon green sweatband for the party. He even got himself a piece of jewellry in the form of a braided bracelet! Go Singh!

The locals are all very pleasant and speak a little English. They also love a good bargain. Or, from our perspective, often a good rip-off. But, such is Thailand!

SABRINA: The food has been pretty good so far! My general rule is that I will try anything Amy does, as she is just so knowledgeable and well versed in her willingness to try new foods. I thought I was more willing to try anything until I got here. However, pad thai and soups for breakfast are common. I had a penang curry for breakfast the other day which was delicious. We had burgers for breakfast today, as most menus are very tourist friendly and provide great variety for travellers who want a bit of home.

In Koh Phangan we rented Sea Doos (yes mom - I wore a lifejacket. It was safety approved and quite comfortable). I LOVE SEA DOOING WITH A PASSION. WE saw some amazing rocks and different parts of the island from the water, thatwe would not have seen otherwise. It was a nice getaway from the hustle and bustle of the shops and tourists. Also, Amy let me drive the whollleeee time which was amazing!

AMY: That's right, I happily let Sabrina drive while I clung on for dear life! Let's just say my shoulders and inner thighs are sore today from being so tense and stressed on the boat. Althought it did somewhat take me back to the good ol' day of driving in Sabs' SUV back at Western. Just without the Tegan&Sara or Burial blasting!

But really, all in all, the SeaDoo ride was great and at one point, we were on such open water that all we could see in front of us were the waves and the sky. I felt like I was falling off the edge of the earth and was probably one of the exhilerating things I have ever experience. Very, very cool.

Our other Sabs&Amy combo experience was our first time on a motorbike! This time, I was behind the wheel. Thank God. Just kidding.

Although a little rough to begin with (my first time revving the engine resulted in Sabrina and I falling off the bike because it went so fast and also into a tree) we quickly got the hang of things! Don't worry Mrs.Sdao! By the end of the excursion, we were smooth sailing and only hit a few potholes along the way. We were so good of a team that everytime I drove particularly straight and smoothly down a hill, Sabrina would literally give me a pat on the back and tell me how proud of me she was. Yup, positive reinforcement is a beautiful thing!

SABRINA: By the way, we are writing a long post today because we're waiting by our hotel for our good friend Jay. Who is late. Very late. Maybe we should leave him a note that says where we are, instead of waiting in this air conditioned room.

AMY: Good idea, let's go buy some sarongs instead!

SABRINA: Jay if you are reading this by chance, as we have no idea where you are, we are on the beach by the hotel. Amy will be the one running, I will be the one sleeping.

AMY: And on that note, we will sign off for now! Thanks for reading and we hope you are all doing well back home or wherever you are.

Love,

Sabrina and Amy

and probably Love Singh but he's currently underneath the ocean somewhere scuba diving.