Railay Beach

Picture this: cool turquoise water, soft and warm sand, limestone cliffs, palm trees, fresh squeezed juice, hot sun, quiet bungalows with hammocks and amigos! Almost Paradise was literally stuck in my head the entire week I was in Railay.
Getting there left something to be desired but I chucked the bad experience up to the travel gods and be done with it. After one tuk tuk, one train, two buses, and one longtail boat we arrived on Railay. Just in time to grab a couple of bungalows up a MASSIVE flight of stairs, change into bathies and hit the beach.
The water was glorious, cool enough to feel awesome but warm enough to run right in.
And although I was feeling pretty crappy I had a quiet night of rest that was much needed in the bungalow.
Oh and we all got tattoos. Bamboo style which is far less painful. Not at all in fact and you don't have that horrific buzzing of the tattoo gun. Small little abstracted peacock feathers I drew based on these earrings I bought in BKK. Mine is on my shoulder. Pix to follow.
The week is kind of a blur because Island time is slow and yet it flew past so quickly. I was feeling really bad with flu symptoms, which unfortunately also happen to be the symptoms of Malaria. And just coming from Laos and northern Thailand where the risks are higher I was starting to worry. And the island was so small that it didn't have a clinic. So I was forced to wonder and wonder and wonder. And my throat became worse and worse, and continuous sleep pretty much didn't happen. Luckily we had met up with Erin so the girls and her stayed out after I turned in early every night to try to sleep despite the pain.

I felt pretty good one day and we all rented Kayaks and traipsed around the limestone cliffs and caves and looked at enormous bubblegum pink jellyfish blobbing about in the water. And got totally ripped pumping against those waves. Eh Jackie?
We went all the way to Poda, this cute little island with tons of shade and Longboats selling delicious and cheap food. Quite a change from slightly overpriced Railay. So we all bought some cheap fried rice and were given some free Rambutans (red, slightly hairy but delicious, lychee tasting fruit inside). But the break was over when Jackie and I headed back at around 3pm and got stuck in a whirlpool created by fast moving waves and longboats and ARRRRGGGGHH! I got sooo pissed off. We rowed and rowed and got nowhere. And Erin and Yumi were long gone. I also mistakenly was sort of headed to the wrong beach for a while, but luckily Jackie pointed us right. But it was a fuckin struggle. I've never been so glad to be on land in my entire life. My arms felt like jellyfish. And the mint chocolate chip ice cream cone I had as a reward was breathtaking.

All the bars on the island are very chill and play tons of reggae and overcharge for drinks. Except of course for Whiskey Buckets. We frequented a couple and by our third night were friends with everyone around our guesthouse area. We found this cute little restaurant Mom's and ate brekkie there everyday afterwards. I tried to order(sickly as I was) just tomato juice but got a bloody mary, but didn't realize it and became drunk without knowing it. NOT cool. Jackie and I danced it up to GASOLINA! Yumilike got a free tattoo, and we saw Thai boxing, cobra show, and fire twirlers almost nightly.

One more thing. The water is filled with Jellyfish. Bright baby boy blue jellyfish, and I was nervous at first, super nervous cause in OZ you have to wear stinger suits to protect from these guys and here everyone didn't seem affected. So the swiming was a little unrelaxed at first, until one day this Norwegian woman just picked one of the suckers up to show me that there was a crab stuck inside. Well. I guess they're not poisinous then?

Poor Jackie and Yumi were reacting really badly to the tropical heat. We were all pretty much a pathetic shit show for a while there. I was puking and sore throat and fever and sickly. Jackie had mosquito bites that were as big as golf balls, and Yumi had crazy heat rash all over. Then Jackie got heat rash too, then some crazy spider bites, then Yumi's eyes started hurting, then my eyes started goo-ing, then Jackie was hungover, then Yumi was hungover. And on and on.

But we found logical solutions for it all. Erin pointed out that the anti-malarials that Jackie and Yumi were taking say to avoid direct sun exposure, so at least they know the cause. Jackie got some anti-inflammatory stuff for her bites, Yumi some eyedrops. And I unfortunately went in and got tested for Malaria. I had to wait until today in BKK because of the no clinic on the island. And I went in, gave the doc my symptoms, did a breath test and a blood test and a stethoscope looksy. And she said I probably have a respiratory infection and so I'm starting some anti-biotics today along with some vitamin c and some stuff to gargle. And I had to wait all day for my Malaria results. She stated that the infection was probably it, but since I have been in Laos and N. Thailand that the test was a good idea. And if I develop flu symptoms again, I'll need to get tested again. But at 3pm she took me into her office and showed me the piece of paper. Malaria...............Not Found!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So no need to worry all, It's just a little infection and hopefully I'll be back to normal in 5 days or so.

I'm so happy my friends came and visited me! It was a total blast! I'm also super sad, Jackie left this afternoon and Yumi departs the day after tomorrow, and then it's Liz on her own again. I'm excited though, because Erin had done some WWOOFing up near Chiang Mai so I might do some farm work after my sickness heals, save some moolah, work it out a bit, I think so!