Dilemmas and challenges

Day 27- Friday

We are filling in a quiet afternoon prior to our flight at 6pm to Bangkok connectiong with our midnight flight to Athens. There have been a number of challenges over the last few days to prevent any updates to this blog.

Wednesday 23rd/ Day 25
We enrolled in a cooking school with some misgiving as the staff at the guest house/ restaurant in the town where we were staying were rather vague about the details. However the ad in the brochure about the island sounded impressive so we each paid our $30 and waited. In due course we were delighted to find ourselves in a group of six sitting round a table in the shade outside a kitchen for six . The teacher was a remarkable young woman, marrieid to a Dane who is working on the island. Between them the have a number of enterprises including several restaurants, a travel agency and touring van.

The woman herself has cheffed in Europe in a variety of cuisines and conducts these classes daily, starting at noon. The are two assisitants, one to bring the things we need and another to clear up. First we discussed which four Thai dishes we wanted to make. I seemed to know more about Thai food than all the others . The other students were uni students, a girl from Dublin and a boy and girl from Winchester.

So our first dish was something I had never heard of before ' No names" a kind of tempura of chopped mixed vegetables but quite unique and delicious. We were each brought a small tray of ingredients , a chopping board and a cleaver and guided as we chopped and prepared. Most efficient. When all was ready we went in the the kitchen where we each had a wok on a typical Asian gas burner. This emphasised the point to the others the necessity of preparing everything before you even turn on the heat! Once you start it then all happens really quickly.

That cooked we returned outside to sample our efforts. Delicious! Serve with sweet chilli sause. A great nibble with drinks. Next was Pad Thai...Even though I have made similar noodle dishes many times I learnt a lot....smaller quantities o f sauces, shorter times for cooking. Again delicious. We could not eat even half of what we made. Next one of my great favourites...Tom Yam Kung (hot and sour prawn soup) and then green curry of chicken. Half a day very productively spent.

We then took a van to the other side of the island, having requested a quite beachside location. So this time a lovely white sandy beach with palm -covered hillside behind. Everywhere is a scene of rapid and recent development. A lot of Europeans have invested in various guest houses and resorts. They are packed tightly everywhere. As you can imagine this type of location is very popular with northern Europeans during the colder months.

We were glad to find a simple but atttractive place owned and operated by a local family. Again, about $7each pernight. One of our dilemmas was whether to pay $3 each extra for air conditioning. Rosemary always feels cold, Connie hot and I was concerned about the lack of flyscreens. This time Connie and I carried the vote and we duly paid the surcharge.

Next for a swim in the sea. It was only when I stood up to get out that my suspicions were confirmed....everywhere were tiny shreds of toilet paper! And other unthinkable matter. The beach has really been over -developed right up the hillside with a range of holiday accommodation. However I do not think there has been any overall planning or preparation with infrastructure. They still discharge the untreated effluent straight into canals that flow into the sea as they always have done. Of course in Australia we do similarly (although we do have some primary and secondary treament first). Before the secondary treatment plant was installed at Cronulla after rain the surf used to be bad -tasted like dirty dihwater- so after a few hours doing life saving patrol I would rush home ang gargle with a shot of straight brandy then swallow it to kill the bugs. Seemed to work. So this time I could only find a beer.

My dilemma was whether to tell Connie and Rosemary. I am a bit too particular about hygiene at all times. I did not want them to think I was a crank. In bed that night as I felt my throught tightening up with the first signs of a cold I decided that I would. Next day I realised that I was getting a full blown cold. I guess I was mainly thankful that that was all it was. They have both been and had all manner of shots over the years and travelled extensively in Indonesia. So they probably have a lot more resistance than I do. Roseemary declared that she couldn't believe they would be so stupid.

Then off to the internet. Connie had been writing for a long time and I had just logged on when the power went off. It came on again and we restarted. But then it went off again. This time it stayed off. We were all in the dark. It stayed off until after midnight. So ur debate about air con was in vain. Then of course everythingincluding the lights came on again after we had gone to sleep! We turned off the lights and went back to sleep leaving the windows open and the fan and air on! Rosemary and I slept in the king size bed under the mosquito net and Connie who is more concerned with the heat took the mattress on the floor.

Adding to my concerns was the plight of the young Dutch girl in the next cabin , who despite taking malaria medication had contracted dengue fever in Laos and been hospitalised on this island. She is still recuperating and taking an amazing assortement of medications .

Day 25- Wednesday
So next day I decided to take it easy and try to throw off the cold. The others went on a seven hour snorkelling expedition in an open boat around the north side of the island. No more internet, though. They turned off the power the whole of the next day trying to fix it. Apparently it was out all over both islands.

Day 26- Thursday
Connie and I left Rosemary with great regret. She must return to her job next week in Melbourne. She teaches academic English at Holmesglen College of TAFE , similar to my job. Connie and I took the ferry back to Koh Samui, the bigger island, in order to catch the connecting plane back to Bangkok. We thought that that would be less arduous than travelling by land to meet our international flight.

So here we are, back at Home Bay in the same nice beach bungalow. There are very few guests now...it is the low season. So when we asked if we cculd stay till 4.30pm the only charged us $3 extra for the late check out.

This is the first stage of our journey, almost over. We have had four marvellous weeks. I could not imagine two more congenial travelling companions. Easygoing, considerate, fun, intrepid. I am the fussy one. But I try to keep my concerns to myself unless they are really serious. I am indeed fortunate to have been able to join them on this trip which they planned together. I have tried to just tag along . It is not always easy for three people to make decisions for the group. However we have each of us had three children. Rosemary's are slightly younger than Connie's and mine. Thus we are used to sharing and compromising. We tend to focus on the things that are important. So we now feel free and happy and compromise is not difficult.
How lucky we are.

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