Finishing up week 1

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We finally escaped Pattaya, not our favorite place at all. Now we are on one of the biggest islands called Koh Chang. We took another 'bus' which is more like a big van from Pattaya to the ferry terminal and then walked on the ferry which is smaller than the gulf island ferries. A girl from Norway was on our 'bus' and we had to pull over for her to throw up. I'm surprised it wasn't me but my sea-bands worked or maybe it was the new wonderous gravol that i found that doesn't make me throw up. i bought it in vancouver before we left just to try it because unlike normal gravol it is made of ginger and it works amazingly! i am already worried about what to do when the 20 capsules i have left are gone. i don't think you can buy that here.
So we arrived on Koh Chang and caught another truck taxi to a resort we found in the lonely planet. it is a bit of a party place called sunset beach resort. it is on lonely beach which is nice but too populated for me. i think a deserted beach would be more my style. hard to find here though! there are parties every night with bbq's and music. not our thing really. no other canadians either. we haven't been meeting any people at all. maybe we are anti-social? we have been sleeping about 12 hrs a night and passing out around 7 or 8 most nights from heat exhaustion i'm sure. it gets dark here very early so it feels much later.
yesterday we rented motorbikes (which are more like 150 cc scooters) for the day ($5 each plus gas) and drove around the entire island. we drove on some crazy roads. it was pretty scary on the mountain roads with switchbacks and huge trucks that you have to pass on the wrong side of the road or get stuck behind them breathing in their fumes. the thais are insane and i'm surprised they don't get hit more often. it took Craig awhile to get used to the bike but it was fine for me since i've been driving lambchop all summer. silly craig didn't wear sunscreen except on his head and he got a very bad burn on his arms, neck and legs. i got a bit on the back of my calves cuz i forgot that bit and some on my shoulders where my backpack rubbed off the sunscreen but mostly i am fine. no color though. i think i am destined to stay white! i do have a ton of freckles and mosquito bites though. Craig can't believe the huge welts i have are mosquito bites but i think i have a bit of an allergy since they look like this at home too.
we went down to a place called bang bao which is a town on a pier. it is like the never-ending store in china town. you can keep walking forever and then some more and eventually you get to the boats and a lighthouse. we had the best food we've had yet here in a little restaurant. the stuff for sale is amazing but i am holding out for chaing mai where it is cheaper and it means i have to haul it around less time. i am currently trying to figure out how to lighten my load as it is. i need to get rid of about half of what i brought. i will find out how much it is to ship it home and that might be the way to go.
we waited outside today for about an hour in the blistering heat for the truck heading to long beach, a very long drive from where we stayed on lonely beach. there is a nice place there called treehouse which we were going to check out but we didn't call ahead so i was afraid we might not get a room. the truck finally passed us and it was jammed full of backpackers so we would have had to pay close to $35 to get another ride there and even then it wasn't guaranteed we would have a room. we decided against it and came back to bang bao and rented a hut, literally, on the pier. it has huge cracks in the floorboards and is just big enough for the bed and about 3 feet of space on the one side. i am afraid of what kind of things lurk around there at night but it is only 200 baht a night and very close to where we are hopping on a boat to the island Koh Mak tomorrow. This island is very small and remote with not much more to do other than swim, sunbathe and eat. we will try to go snorkeling i think for the first time as well. we have only been in the ocean once at lonely beach and i'd like to get wet a bit more. it is way too hot here.
we are going to find some lunch and of course Craig wants to drink beer so i suppose i will update with how snorkeling goes next. hope you are all well!! i had a little cry the other day behind my sunglasses because i am missing my marmaduke.

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