Saturday: island time

That party was no joke! It takes place at Guy's bar, starting around 10:30-11 and not ending til at least 9! I headed to the beach over the hill to explore and have breaky so I'm not sure what time it actually ended. The music was so loud you could hear lyrics and the dj talking. Not the best  sleep was had.

I headed to Had Yuan which was quite a trek over the hill.

From the top of the hill, The Sanctuary was to the left.

It's not a dime, but one baht resembles one at first glance! 

This rickety walkway was the majority of my path. Adventure!

Swings in the beach! Loving the swings everywhere!

❤

I continued across the beach to another side of rickety walkway...

Complete with stairs missing in the middle

My breaky of rice pudding with fruit and tea at Ocean Rock.

Ocean Rock to the right, over the hill in the distance was The Sanctuary. 

Headed back to check out of The Sanctuary and move onwards to Koh Tao.

Spotted this at Bamboo Bar. Eckart Tolle has come up several time on this trip, time to pull out the box of books! This coincides with my reiki session as well.

Beautiful lotus spotted on my way out

Goodbye to The Sanctuary.

Boats are the new tuk tuk

I arrived to the main beach, Had Rinn and hopped in a blue truck (just like the red truck) to the pier where I purchased my boat ticket. I didn't have to wait long before boarding in the upper air conditioned room, which I had to pay an additional 30 cents for! I fell asleep on the 2 hour ride, rocked like a baby. 

I arrived on Koh Tao and immediately hopped in a taxi (which is more like a personal car) and was taken to Sairee Beach Cottage where I hoped to stay and perhaps do a one day dive excursion. Koh Tao is known for diving.

 

I was immediately sent for a rude awakening as none of the hotels had places to stay. I must have walked and asked about 20-with my gargantuan bag on my back! I was beginning to feel a bit flustered and needing to use the lady's room. I stumbled into Good Times hostel and asked for a room, was told they were full and then asked for the bathroom. When I came back out the girl working the desk, a young American named Valerie from Portland offered to put me up on a couch in the hostel. My original plan was to have this part be my treat and stay somewhere nicer than I have been. A hostel would have to do as she said many people were just camping out on the beach. Apparently the island was recently voted #5 on some list and the influx can't be handled by the existing accommodations. Also the full moon party is on Thursday and many people come here to dive before heading to Koh Phangan for the party. My timing wasn't so great. More balance to what was going to well! 

I am still feeling a bit off and stocked up on water and Gatorade. Don't feel everyone reading needs to know exactly what's wrong, perhaps a little too much  information for some. Thankfully I have antibiotics with me and have started them immediately upon realizing my I needed them. Don't worry, moms! There is a hospital nearby and a pharmacist downstairs from my hostel if I need it! I'm taking it easy, chugging my water. 

I walked around town looking for hotels for tomorrow and for the remainder of my trip sans my bag and was told to check back in the morning. I am debating paying a bit more and heading to the other side of the island where it is far more quiet and less people ready to party. This place is so crowded! I am in need of some peace and quiet and solitude. 

I am definitely feeling ready to be home. I know not feeling well and lack of nice accommodations are a huge factor. 

Friday: leaving on a jet plane to Koh Samui

My alarm woke me at 5am with a start, confusion to where I was. I suddenly

remembered I was in nasty Bangkok and was filled with excitement to get to the airport headed to Koh Samui. 

I fell asleep on the flight which was just over an hour. Zleepy! It's so strange to me to get a meal on every flight, no matter how short it is. I awoke to a plastic tray of food that was left for me on the next tray table. I ate the 4 bites of fruit before landing. 

Sight of Koh Samui!

The Koh Samui airport is gorgeous. All open air with thatched roofing overhead. We rode an open aired trolly to the baggage claim. Love it already! 

I grabbed my bag and headed to the bus and boat ticket counter. Quickly I was on a mini  bus headed to the pier to catch the boat. 

Beautiful pier

I met Joanna (Jo for short, from Australia) who was  headed to the same place as I, The Sanctuary on Koh Phangan.  We sat with a lovely couple as we waited who were also from Austrailia, Lizzy and Tertius. Lizzy was so concerned of me traveling alone and said I was "so California". Never in my life would I have thought to appear Californian. I mentioned something a few minutes later about having travel insurance and she said, "that's so California". Everyone I have met seems to think we live the California dream of going to the beach and shopping. It's quite comical.

Lizzy, Jo and myself

I'm on a boat! Enjoying my coconut shake en route to Koh phangan.

View from the ATM. There are birds in cages everywhere here!

We got off the boat and were approached by several people offering water taxis. We agreed to one and headed to the ATM.

Coral beach getting ready to hop on the boat.

This is "so Thailand"! The boat ride was only about 15 minutes and gorgeous! 

The hillside

We arrived at The Sanctuary and were immediately handed a ginger drink with mint and lime. So delightful! I hadn't booked a room, but thankfully there was a nicer dorm room available for relatively cheap. This place is swarming with new age type hippies-definitely burning man people here!

The path to my room, it's oh so long and steap-but gorgeous! The boulders are all built around, even in the bathrooms.

I changed and headed straight to the restaurant for lunch

Green curry with veggies and brown rice.

I walked 30 feet and made myself at home! These are the boats we rode over.

I had a headache all day and decided to take a nap, skipping the afternoon yoga class. I did wake up in time to head to meditation which was much needed after such a hectic two days of travel. Calm my monkey brain.

Outside Buddha Hall where meditation was held. You can see the Buddha inside lit up in the background...

I prepped my mat and made myself comfy to chill out.

The instructor came in and she immediately reminded me of a hyper version of my dear friend, Bruna. She hit play on her laptop and Ricky Martin began playing. Not exactly the relaxing idea I had. She quickly explained we were in a dance meditation class. I immediately was a lil weary and had a flash of disappointment then reminded myself to be in that moment, I was supposed to be here. 

 I was so wrong! It was a blast! We started with shaking with our knees soft  and feet grounded. The directions were to keep our eyes closed and let our body move us, not the way we learn to dance to appeal to others. We then moved on to dancing for about 20 minutes with eyes closed-I had never thought this would be so fun! The last half hour was spent on our mats in stillness. So glad I stayed! 

After meditation I headed to dinner and quickly had to move inside as the rain began to fall. I enjoyed some spring rolls that were amazing! This place offers detoxing and fasting so the menu offers a variety of vegetarian and raw foods. No meat at all. 

Once I was done, I continued to journal when Jo walked up. I sat with her for a bit while she ate before heading to bed. This headache is getting the best of me and I am feeling a bit nauseous. Time to sleep it off! 

We have been warned there is a loud party over the hill and ear plugs have been provided for all. This should be fun!