Back to the Land of Smiles
This is the point in the story where I was meant to be writing a post describing the life changing experience I had over the past five weeks in two so different Southeast Asian countries. Instead, you can expect that post in three more weeks when I get one more country under my belt! That’s right, I haven’t had enough and I’m headed back in for more. After a rushed goodbye at the Bangkok airport I headed back into Thailand for my third 13 hour trip to or from Koh Tao, where I’ve spent nine days diving, exploring, and blissing out before Mark and I head out on an extended visa run to Malaysia.
Though I had never expected to set foot there on this trip, we quickly sketched out a rough plan for our too short 12 day trip. We’re going to start in the metropolis capital of Kuala Lumpur, where Mark will renew his Thai visa, then head to the Cameron Highlands for some hiking and other adventures, and round out the trip with more diving and beach bumming on the Perhentian islands.
Reunited at Lotus Bar
the lovely Louise
flatmates
As for this second stint in Koh Tao, I’m caught between having nothing to say and being able to fill a book. The lack of bloggable material comes from each day running together like a perfect island movie montage, a blur of days spent diving and discovering new beaches and nights spent swinging in hammocks and making too many new friends drinking far too many buckets. Nine days goes by so quickly and before you know it we’re leaving and making plans for my last night on the island before our ferry departs at 9pm. Of course it wouldn’t be a day in the life of Mark and Alex if something didn’t go comically wrong, and as we’re strolling down the main drag that day around 2pm, I casually glance at one of the tour agency’s time tables and my stomach drops as I realize our boat leaves in two hours!
I’ve made the journey three times at this point and Mark countless more and so I don’t know how it didn’t occur to us that the we could not depart at 9pm and arrive at 4am for a 12 hour journey. I blame heat stroke. In any case, I had two hours to pack up my life for the past 5 weeks and to say goodbye to the friends I had made, nothing could have ever been enough but the quick hug hanging off the side of the motorbike really didn’t cut it. In any case, we were soon on a ferry headed away from the place that I had grown to love so dearly, and the sadness was eased only by great adventure ahead of us. I love Koh Tao and I know that I will be back, but this, this was my saddest goodbye.
my favorite rock.
