Day 47 - Thursday, March 31 - Rei Ley to Ko Pha Ngan

I woke up, as you mow know, and decided to leave Rei Ley as I was anxious to get to Ko Pha Ngan and I didn't really need to stay any longer. It truly is a great place but for some reason, was ready to go. Maybe it was the 700 price tag per night. Maybe it was me dealing with the reality that come tomorrow, April arrives, and only 17 days remain on my journey. Whatever the reason, I packed and found a long tail boat that was about to leave with just 2 persons on board. I made it 3 and the driver was happy to see me. On the boat, I met and chatted with Jeremy and Archie from San Francisco.

When I landed back at Krabi Town at 10:35AM, I discovered there was a bus leaving for Surat Thani at 11:00AM. GREAT TIMING as this is the jumping off point to the islands in the Gulf. I ran to one of the shops I was at yesterday, bought the few trinkets I didn't want to lug to Rei Ley, and boarded the bus for Surat Thani. This drive, across the peninsula, would mark the last time I would see the Andaman Sea / Indian Ocean. A feeling of sadness came over me being that I had such success here in finding Paradise and Eden.

We got to Surat Thani and had an hour to kill before the next bus would take us to the Ferry at Donsak, about 45 minutes away where the boats to Ko Pha Ngan were docked. For some reason, I thought the boat left from Sura Thani but that may be the morning ferry and I had missed that one. I was starting to feel like a real backpacker who spend most of their time on busses, trains, ferries, etc and never really stopping to see the place they actually just came from.

So with this hour, what do you think I stumbled across? You guessed it, a UPS office. I am starting to hemmorage money but the goal is to be as light as possible now that I may be moving faster than the first part of the trip.

I packed a small box, this time with the souvenirs I had just purchaed in Krabi, my sneakers which haven't seen my feet since the trek in Chiang Mai, and 26 rolls of film that was starting to weigh me down. Did you read that last sentence? TWENTY SIX rolls of film, and that is in addition to the 6 rolls that are in storage in Bangkok and I still have almost 3 weeks left. I am starting the "please help Marc develop his film fund" for anyone who wants to donate.

Boarded the bus to Donsak, this time a big coach bus and finally got to the pier at 3:55PM, only to find out that the 4:00PM ferry was rescheduled to 5:00PM. I chatted it up with a few different travelers trying to decide who my next Katie and Dave, or Logan and his parents would be. Found a few possible candidates but didn't make a move yet to invite myself into their group.

On the ferry, I quickly spotted the FOOT MASSAGE area and plopped down in one. WHAT A GREAT IDEA! What a great way to pass some of the time on a boat ride across the Gulf of Thailand. The massage was pretty good and when finished, I went outside to see the scenery as it was passing by.

On the boat, I went back and forth conversing with 2 German guys and a group of 3 English (a guy and 2 girls), all of which I had to convince that ALL Americans aren't Bush loving assholes. Sometimes, that's a hard task and to be quite honest, I want the days back where I could say I was proud to be an American and have people envy that I was from the greatest nation on earth......gone are those days.

The boat stopped briefly at Ko Samui and then we were off to Ko Pha Ngan. The sunset was pretty great at sea, the sky pitch black with the stars as bright as can be and 45 minutes later, we pulled into Ko Pha Ngan. I got in a truck (songthaew) and headed to Royal Orchid, the bungalow operation that my friend Alex and Cass recommended. When he read about Miami being my paradise, he told me that they had found their paradise at Royal Orchid. The room is 200 baht, no air con and I'm going to give it a try for a day or 2. I haven't seen this place in daylight yet so I'll check it out tomorrow and see if I like the beach, the people, etc.

I went to Sunshine Restaurant, just up the road from Royal Orchid, and had a vegetable pizza, my first pizza in Thailand. It was pretty damn good and better than some I've had in LA.

This brings me current. I am on my way back to Royal Orchid and calling it a night, HOWEVER, just before I started this blog entry, I checked my e-mail and got one from Logan - they are in Ko Pha Ngan also. They have no idea I'm here until he checks his e-mail being that I replied and told him the coincidence. Maybe I'll be moving away from Royal Orchid sooner than I had planned......we'll have to see what tomorrow brings.