Messing about

Tuesday 31st

For the first time in weeks I didn't wake up early. In fact I thought it was still early when I did wake up and was going to try to go back to sleep but decided to check the time - It was 9:20 and I was supposed to be at the bar near the beach at 10. I had a quick shower and no breakfast and headed out. I didn't see the other 2 from the hotel so assumed they must have left and got general instructions from Danny as to its location. I bough a bag on the way - plastic with a zip for towels etc for 100B. Didn't really have the time or inclination to try and barter. Once I got on to the Beach road I called Dane who gave me the signs to look for and was waiting for me.

There was no panic as it was still 15 or 20 minutes before we boarded the buses to go to the boat. They loaded up a heap of slabs for the trip plus some cartons of soft drink and spirits. The boat it self had 3 decks and was a decent size but not the luxury yacht I had envisioned. We headed out from the port past a boat that was clearly partly sunken - a diving wreck for people who can't swim perhaps.

The trip to the island took about 40 minutes and we dropped anchor 2-300m from the beach. The island we visited was next to the larger Kho Laan, which is one of the main tourist islands. The water was fairly clear and a lovely colour and we were soon swimming off the boat. I got some snorkeling gear but the bottom was fairly barren. Just sand with the occasional chicken bone and one old tyre.

Apart from the 4 Aussies and one Guy from San Francisco and an English guy who manages the bar, most of the guests were Norwegian. This tour is run by the Blue Lagoon bar and the owner, Roar, is from there. There were also a number of Thai girlfriends on board. Just my luck that the only other non Thai woman on board was a 30-ish blonde Norwegian in a skimpy bikini and a body to match. Still I wasn't in a beauty contest so I spent most of my time in my not so skimpy bikini anyway.

I started with a few glasses of soft drink but after the swim and as lunch was coming I even had a San Mig light beer. The second can was mixed with lemonade and after that I had weak whisky/cokes. Lunch consisted of Rice, Green curry, another stir fry with mushrooms in it and fried chicken drumsticks, plus fruit. Most of the time was spent chatting with the various people and eating and drinking.

At one stage we could see rain over the mainland but it was still dry and sunny on the boat. I was on the top deck sun baking when a strong wind came up and I looked up to see dark clouds approaching and the water getting dark and choppy. They pulled anchors and went round to the other side of the island to get away from the weather. On the way we passed an actual yellow submarine - so it's not just an imaginary boat in a Beatles song. We still had a short but heavy shower before it cleared. Then the sun came out again and a few people went for another swim. Some of us tried our hand at fishing but only 3 smallish fish were caught (none by me) and these were thrown back.

We got back to shore about 4-30 and went to the bar where we hopped in the Jacuzzi. People started buying rounds of Sambuca shots but after 2 I'd had enough. That stuff tastes like cough medicine anyway. I headed back to the hotel and lay down and fell asleep. It was about 7-30 when I got up and I decided to check the cards from yesterday, discovering 3 of the 8 had errors. I got these checked by a couple of the other guys. TVL had just got in and we headed to a nearby restaurant for dinner. It has a selection of European dishes and I had Beef stroganoff - not too bad but with no mushrooms or sour cream was not really what one would normally expect. They had a 2 for 1 on Funky elephant cocktails, which I took up - a mixture of triple sec, Havana club and blue curacao.

I had a chat to Danny on the way back who assured me the rest of the courses would be better than the one we played yesterday. He is expecting 4 or 5 of his regulars to be joining us tomorrow.