Life as a decisive Libran....

Heeeeyyyyy!

Right then, life as a decisive Libran means that as usal I can't make my mind up about anything and as such all my plans have changed again.....(Patrick, I almost emailed you to make the decision for me!!!!)

First of all an apology....for those of you who are about to receive a postcard from me with those infamous words "Shame I'm not going to be here for the Full Moon Party" please cross this sentence out when you receive the postcard and write "Shame I'm gonna see bugger all of Malaysia as I'm staying here for the Full Moon Party"...!

Dan, I did write you a postcard telling you about the Full Moon Party and didn't write your address on it as I thought I'd check with Taytie if you've moved yet....never mind though coz the next thing I did was stick a stamp on your postcard and post it so if you get it I'd be amazed - Mr D Hammond is all it says on it!!! Ooops sorry, maybe I'll write another one.......

Back to life, I arrived in Koh Pha Ngan on Friday and was only meant to stay until after the weekend but somehow they tell me today is Thursday so I guess I've got stuck again....If anyone can tell me where the last ten months have gone I'd be curious to know as in exactly one week today I'm flying to Oz..????

Koh Pha Ngan rocks, it is a total party island and for those of you not in the know it is famed for its Full Moon Parties where around 5000 people party on the beach from dusk til dawn on the Full Moon (funny that!) and there's loads of loud music and dancing and fire dancing and the atmosphere is just amazing....the warm up parties have been going off for the last few nights and tomorrow night is the biggie!!! It is a sad fact that apparently the hospital in Surat Thani has to almost double it's staff to cope with the casualty ratios from the party...there's one guy in our guesthouse this morning who can't walk as apart from thinking he was Spiderman or summat and therefore invicible he also thought that the floor of the Drop In bar was actually sand so decided to jump off the balcony/floor above only to discover it was solid concrete so in agony to walk it's off to hospital he goes on the back of the boss' motorbike this morning!!! Too many buckets for him!!!!

The journey here was amazing in a bus and even though I was relegated to the back seat, I was so comfy as I didn't have the whole world, it's wife, household contents or any livestock sitting on me this time. And what a blessing all the fixtures were firmly attached and I didn't have the bother of refitting my seat every ten minutes or so!!! Yes it was a breeze! I was doubly impressed as the bus had lights that worked, air con that worked, on roads that were smooth and not a pot hole in sight, where they put your luggage in a proper hold and it didn't come out looking like it had gone ten rounds with Tyson and when you got off the bus you didn't feel like you'd been stuck in a cement mixer for 10 hours. Granted the guy drove like a loony and got us here three hours early for the boat over but what can you do? Anyway, the remaining smarties helped the journey.

We stopped off in the same cafe as Millie and I had on the way back from Krabi so that was quite a poignant moment....I met two Brits on the journey who had just arrived in Thailand and were a bit shell shocked by it all and they quizzed me for ages about life out here and do I think it's safe to eat the food???? Then the girl asked me where the loo was so I told her (being my second visit to this classy establishment) she came back moments later and said "I'll wait til I get to Samui!" If she's gonna be like that maybe she should wait til she gets to Australia!, she'll learn...

Slept the rest of the way and then had a wonderful couple of hours sleep on the boat curled up on the oh so comfortable (not) molded plastic seats....I can officially now sleep anywhere and have become a dab hand at eyeing up potential sleeping spots! Won't know what to do with myself when I get to comfy, clean and organised Oz!!!!

The island is really beautiful, waterfalls and beautiful beaches and gorgeous sunshine. It does however operate the reverse way to the rest of Thailand I'm sure. Everyone's up all night and then in the morning if you walk down the street at around 9 o'clock there's absolutely no-one around...all sleeping and it's really quiet. Even the boat trips around the island don't leave until mid morning as they know no-one would go on them if they left at the usual 8 or 9 in the morning. Definitely a nocturnal island....but then you kind of have to be as you have absolutely no chance of sleeping if you were foolish enough to go to bed at night!!!

Anyway I am staying in the thick of it all at Hat Rin but down the other end of the not very long beach to the main bars and stuff...I have been adopted by the guys at the guest house and they are a really cool bunch of people...it seems, like most places, word soon gets around about who you are and where you're staying and then you end up with around 100 pairs of eyes keeping a watch on you...glad they don't know my parent's email address !!!!

Olwen you were right about the bakery...sniffed that one out on my second day ! Yummy!!!!Since arriving I have had a look around and done the touristy thing and am now content to spend the days on the beach, although it's getting a tad crowded now....it's fab weather, it very politely has only rained once and that was during the night....I haven't taken a single photo yet so that is my mission for this afternoon.....

Other than that there's not too much to say really. The plan is, well it is for today anyway, to stay here until Monday and then hot foot it by train through Malaysia and get to Singapore on the 22nd as I fly to Darwin on the 23rd (I think!) Having read and chatted to a few folks about Malaysia there's not too much that fascinates me there and it is only in the way of getting to Singapore.... However, knowing me the train might turn into the boat and then it might turn into an aeroplane and then I might even change my flight and maybe go to America instead! Who knows! Some of the guys here are trying to convince me that I should get a job teaching in Surat Thani and then come over on the weekends to party and they have even started making enquiries for jobs for me! Bless. Not a chance of that though but then being a decisive Libran who knows..?

I feel that it will be far more amusing to experience the Full Moon thing and report back to you all about all the freaks I met and how they all thought they were a reincarnation of some Egyptian god or that they'd had too many mushroom shakes and are now convinced that they are a strawberry and that everyone is trying to eat them! There's a German woman her who really does look like a grey witch, she must be fifty, rake thin and she is off her head all the time. Last night she was talking to the bushes in the garden and then went into the guest house restaurant to tell the Manager that the trees were upset coz he'd had them pruned and they didn't like the style they were in so this old bag was chasing him around the restaurant and the poor guy just didn't know what to do with himself !!! He seems to have also become the object of her affections and she just keeps chasing him around. Wonder what would happen if I told her I see his girlfriend sneaking out of his bungalow at around 6.30 most mornings????

Anyway that's about it from yours truly. It's a million degrees outside so swim and beach time and then the five yard stroll back to my hammock for my afternoon siesta......then down the beach to the volleyball competition. All the bars and staff are having the competition and it's a cool spot to hang out.....I will be filling you in on the goss in the next few days....

Hope it's not too cold where you all are....tee heee heeee!!!!!

Loadsa love

Lillie, Lisa

xxxx