Some Island Action

Courtney and I spent three days in Bangkok, saw lots of temples (I got yelled at for showing my calves while a bunch of girls in miniskirts pranced by the guards sans problem), ate lots of street food, met some drunk Brits, and then hopped on a plane down to southern Thailand to enjoy beaches.

We spent a night in Koh Samui, then took the ferry to Koh Pha-ngan to make the half moon party: a huge rave scene with lots of people on ecstasy (undoubtedly my least favorite demographic). Watching ravers I feel like the world is DEFINITELY going to end in 2012, I can't believe that music has devolved to just basic repetitive sounds and beats and that members of our generation spend as much money as they do getting to these places to see these mediocre DJs "spin." Anyway, it was interesting to see - not what I would have predicted on a remote island in the gulf of Thailand.

Before the half moon party, we met a couple kiwis at a free pool bar (from Blenheim - small world) which was lots of fun. One of them gave us a ride on his Vespa to the half moon party, which entailed lots of taxi chasing to figure out where this party even was. The Vespa ride was fun, though, and inspired us to rent our own Vespa the following day. The Thai man in charge of "mortorbike" rentals seemed concerned with our driving skills but we figured it out quickly enough (after failing to turn a few times an ending up briefly off-roading through the jungle). We spent the next couple days exploring beaches, snorkling (lots of disgusting sea cucumbers and some really pretty fish), and eating more Thai food.

Yesterday, we took a fishing boat to a more private part of the island (saw lots of honeymooners) to read and nap in hammocks on the beach. It rained for about 30 seconds at one point but we were protected enough by our tree from which our hammocks were hanging to stay completely dry. It's been incredibly relaxing all-around.

Today we're headed back to Koh Samui to meet up with Courtney's parents who are also vacationing in Thailand. Hopefully, updates to come soon, photos to come in a few weeks (no means of uploading at the moment). I'm definitely enjoying vacation and still can't believe that I'm going to be back in the states within the month...