July 8th, 2018
A truly great day-July 8,2018
Woke up bright and early (as one would expect from someone who had slept the better part of the last 16 hours). Everyone up and ready for breakfast by 7:30am! Breakfast here at the P.P. Casita was very good! And everyone felt up to eating. They had the usual fruit, toast, cereal stuff, coffee tea etc and they were making eggs to order. They had real bacon and ham and they even made potatoes for us! Great start to the day and the fourth day in a row we awoke to beautiful sun (and the accompanying heat).
After breakfast we set out to hike up to the viewpoint. ‘Twas quite the set of stairs to get up there but the view was phenomenal.
We met a couple up there that asked me to take their photo. I took couple and then when giving them their phone back I say to let me know if you want more. They smiled and moved on. They spoke English and appeared to have no accent. About 10 minutes later they came back and asked me to take another. They says they wanted a ‘kissing picture’ as they were on their honeymoon. So I leapt right up off my rock to assist in creating this photographic memory for them, and tweaked something in my lower back. Grimace ensuing I got them their beautiful pictures and then just had to ask where they are from. Small world….SEATTLE! I knew they sounded normal. They had come through Phuket to phi phi, tomorrow going to Ralay for a couple days then going to Chiang mai. This is exactly our travel plans!! The world just got a little smaller yet!! They spoke about taking the ferry and getting through right before the 3 boats sank as part of the storm on Thursday.
Sooooo, back to the lower back thing……apparently not going to fix itself?!?! I hobbled over to a chair in the restaurant and tried to relax. No small feat, but I knew relief lay at the bottom of the mountain in the form of ibuprofen! We just hung out for an hour or so probably then it was time to head down. All’s well that ends well (I think I’ve said that a lot in the last 6 days). But we did get down just fine and I got my ibuprofen and then we all got in the pool! It sure was hot today. After bobbing around in the pool we got out and went out for lunch. We were set on going to a restaurant we passed yesterday called Anna’s Restaurant! How could we not?? I had pad Thai and the girls both had Tom Kha and Troy had a burger (??). He said it was good. Actually all the food was good! I told our server that Anna’s name was Anna. So maybe it was her restaurant….ha ha. My humour….he then told us that Anna was a child that died in the tsunami. Her photo was on the wall. A really beautiful child actually. Her father and a brother also died and another brother and the mother went a different way and had lived. But they named restaurant after Anna. Stories of that tsunami always surface when we come to the beach areas. 😞
We walked down to the ferry terminal and explored some beach areas where all the longtails gather. Then headed back to the hotel-you guesses it, back in the pool! You see how the day is progressing.
Then we decide to get a massage. Four footies ordered up at the place right across the street from our hotel. Troy and Rachael 100% had ladyboys doing their massages, no judgement, but whatever! And according to all of them, I was the only one that got a decent foot massage. I guess they were all watching. I had to pass on the “back” part of my foot massage due to my issues from earlier in the day and as soon as I said that, she wrapped it up and oddly enough everyone else’s was also over. So not sure what was the deal there. When I saw those ladyboys, I was like “those two are gonna get the heck massaged out of their feet” but apparently not. But as we always say even a bad foot massage is better than no foot massage! 😂😂😂
We meander down to what we are affectionately referring to as “the people beach”. We get there and see the source of all the bumping bar music we could hear last night. There are many bars along the beach that seem intent on serving as much nasty combined alcohol and Red Bull mixer as possible in buckets. Buckets are bad juju here. Quite risky for many reasons. There’s one bar/place called Ibiza pool party. It literally a gigantic pool with about 75+ drunk people in it and many more loitering on the deck getting really drunk. Funny point, a sign that says free entrance with a minimum 500 baht purchase. Ummmmm. Now that’s not free is it??? So we are literally standing there watching, marveling and maybe some of us (Rachael) dancing to the beats, when a very drunk mid 20s guy comes storming out the gate, headed straight to the ocean. Staggering swinging his arms…this doesn’t end well we think. He walks straight into the water and we are watching to see who comes to stop him. He seems very angry and is slapping at the water. I’m thinking “where’s the girl?” (These kind of bar escalations always involve a girl). Oh sure enough a big mixed group comes out 30 seconds later. Two guys (hopefully not as plastered) follow him in. But they have some catching up to do as he’s just a bobbing head now. I hear a bar staff member tell someone “it’s ok, very shallow” but I guess he didn’t get the memo that people can drown in one inch of water. And prolly less for a drunk Person. Anyway this is a fascinating drama unfolding right in front of us. Most of the group waits on the beach and right along with us watches the guy beat the snot out of the water and alternate between struggling to resist the friends’ help in coming in and hugging them. Except the two girls in the tiny thongs that waded our far enough to squat down and take a pee break. We saw another girl do it too. I think the bar just sends people out to the ocean rather than supply them a washroom???? Anyway, the skies opened up for a quick downpour (AKA humidity booster) so we headed off for cover. I hope we don’t read about this young man in the news tomorrow. I am much happier to read news about the boys being rescued from the cave in chiang rai. News is saying 6 are out so far!
We had a quick supper at the Indian place by our hotel. I had pizza, Rachael had phadThai and troy and Anna had chicken tikka masala with garlic naan. So I’m sure the kitchen loved that diverse order and I’m also sure it was not actually “an Indian place”!!! Haha
