still in paradise...

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March 23rd 2007

Published: March 23rd 2007

Hello,

Life goes along quite nicely when you're surrounded by palmtrees and turquoise waters... everyday I wake up, look outside... sunshine... breakfast at a bakery... some internet time... then either the beach or out on the boat. I actually can't believe how fortunate I have been. I have had the opportunity to see these amazing islands from almost every angle with all these boat trips! I have stopped to snorkel at countless spots and relaxed on so many beautiful beaches...

I have actually figured out a fun trick with the fish. When we're about to jump in the water, we throw in bread - this makes them appear from out of nowhere. Within seconds you have several 10s or 100s of fish. Most of them are sergeant major fish (do a google image search and you'll see). Then I jump in with a slice of bread... feed them... they eat out of my hand! When the bread is finished, i just keep my hands above water and they think I still have bread! hehehe... so now I swim to the right.... all the fish follow me.... I swim to the left.... all the fish follow me... I do circles... they do circles... its so much fun! I was surrounded by so many fish that I couldn't see anything but fish! Some crash into your face, head, or back... I could even pet them! ...however, once in a while they'd take a tiny bite out of me... no harm, just a little love bite! haha

Yesterday, when we were returning from a fun day on the boat, the clouds rolled in. For the last four days we've had these clouds arrive at about 3 or 4pm... they're here now - which is why I'm writing this and not laying on the beach! The rain is so thick that you actually see it come. A curtain of rain crossing the ocean. When it hit us, it hit so hard that I thought it was hail! It was falling so hard and so much that it was literally stinging my skin!! Then the clouds closed in and at the worst point we had maximum 20meters visibility around us! It actually gets cold when its raining! Probably down to 25C at that point!! brrr... haha seriously - you start shivering...
but the good thing about these storms is that they come fast, and usually pass pretty quickly too! This one took some time, but it settled down a bit, and we returned back to Phi Phi completely soaked, but safe.

That morning when we were on the way to pick up the tourists for the tour, we were lucky enough to see a family of dolphins swim by us! Apparently, it is relatively rare to see them. Lucky me!!

We went to Maya Bay for a part of the tour. This is the famous bay where they filmed The Beach. It is really an amazing beach. Everytime I see it, I can't believe it actually exists! This time we swam through a cave to avoid the 200Baht fee for landing on the beach by boat. So we put our cameras in a plastic bag, sarongs in hand, and swam to the cave from the boat with one hand each. The other hand straight up in the air holding the sarong/cameras. Must have been a funny sight. Once we arrived at the cave, we went one by one through, timing it with the waves so we don't get slammed up against the cave's walls... it was easy - don't worry!
then we emerged on the other side... a small lagoon and the jungle. We walked through this jungle to the beach. Just like they did in the movie. Leonardo was not there - however, one of the french girls on the tour said that he did join her for a swim... hmmmmm..... well on the other hand - at least those killer sharks didn't show up either!! It is really an amazing sight to step from the jungle and see the blue water emerge through the palms and bush... I took a picture of this for you!

So life is not ALL that easy here. For example, showering is a bit of a hassle. I miss my shower... running water... this island has running water... so i hope this doesn't scare some potential visitors away... but where I'm staying - there is no running water. Actually, sometimes there is no water at all. But eventually the barrel is full again, and I can shower by pouring buckets of water on me... I've gotten used to it, and its actually quite refreshing. In fact, it is better than most showers I've seen around this part of the world - one drop at a time... eesh.

I avoid to shower in the evening and night since there is the additional issue of large spiders and cockroaches that appear out of nowhere. I actually don't mind spiders - if they don't move. And cockroaches are acceptable if they are far from where I am. However, this is rarely the case. The other day, one appeared up from the crate stairs (yes, beer crates are the stairs), his little antennas sniffing the air. nasty. It was a bit of an obstacle to jump over him and out the door...

I don't really have anything to talk about, but wanted to share these experiences and observations with you.

bye!!

Jessica

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