The Beach

We made it. Two days of cramped buses tried to seperate us from our sanity but we were not detered. On sheer willpower and lots of pocky sticks and potato chips (flavor: sweet basil? lobster? nori?) we made it to the Andaman Coast. First we lapsed into luxery at our new girlfriends from Arizona's FIVE STAR resort. That was bliss. Then we opted out of the craziness of Phuket and Patong and headed over to Railay aka the most stunning place this side of Eden. We are currently holed up in an off season beach resort with a bunch of fire spinning hippies and more rock climbers than you can shake a stick at. Tia found climbers and I found kayaks so we're both very pleased and content. Plan on staying here at least a few more days, hiking to a nearby lagoon and paddling to an empty island across the way. Famous Koh Phi Phi is nearby but prices to get there are astronomical so we're going to continue our bohemian, non touristy ways. Still not sick of delish thai food, and getting much better with chopsticks. The water is much warmer than Maui so it doesn't really cool you off but is still a treat.

Here is a funny anecdote: yesterday we awoke to monkeys running around on the cliffs that back our guest house. We whipped out our cameras, thinking it was such a special treat to see them. Little furry demons with tiny babies clutching onto their chests for dear life. We went to breakfast all smug at our sighting. After we devoured our usual banana pancakes, Tia roped in with some guys from California and started climbing up a nearby rock face. Five minutes later the monkey tribe descended upon her, screeching and rattling the scrubby trees. It was a riot! Climbing with monkeys in Thailand. That's going to be the title of her new book.

A fun game we've developed as we travel is Name that Farang. Farang is the thai word for westerner and when we see them we try to guess where they are from before they open their mouths and we hear their accents. We are getting quite good at differentiating between an Australian and an American and a Brit. Impressive, huh? It's all in the hair, the shoes and the attitude.

Well, hope everyone is doing well! I'm starting to feel spoiled that I get to go home to Maui from here but hey, that's life. I'm planning a trip to the mainland in September so hopefully I'll get to catch up with the w. coast crew.

Lots of love!

Kai

Row rak nai loo-ang!
We love the King!
That's what my new bright yellow shirt says so it must be true.