Today I woke up bright and early after a nice long sleep. Unfortunately I missed out on the "last night on Ko Tao" party, but since it isn't my last night after all I still have a chance to participate in this nightly affair. After sending Andrew and the Irish girls on their way to Ko Pha Nagn around 10am, I returned to my bungalow to sort my things out. I opted against attempting a dive today, and I think this is the right decision as my ear is still a bit sore. I went out onthe main street in Mae Haad "town" and found a place to rent a motorbike. Ever since Chiang Mai I have been itching to do this, not having had the courage, or maybe the sense of adventure, to do this. For 5$CAD I rented a beautiful Honda Dream for 24hours, what a thrill! I clumsily learned how to shift gears and I sloppily weaved my way up the street. I'm sure the shop owner was shaking his head and laughing at this ridiculous farang who can't even operate a scooter. Even the teenage girls here can do this! Everyone has one! Secretely the shop owner was probably hoping I would crash it so I would have to pay the replacement fee...
I scooted over to the next "town", sairee, where I learned my Swedish buddies were staying. I happily found them and we had fruit shakes and curry for lunch. I convinced them to rent bikes as well and we set out to explore the east and south coasts of the island. With a tiny little map we struggled to follow the 'roads' and eventually found one of the bays we had set out to find, but the road was VERY poor, even by Kootenay logging standards. Perhaps driving up and down steep water carved paths was a good way to learn to drive. A crash course, if youwill. And I did 'crash' once, but I was fine and so was thebike. WE found ourselves at the top of a cliff looking down on a gorgeous bay, surely one that recieves few, if any, visitors. WE decided against going down, fearing both the descent and the necessary ascent. We found our way back to populated areas and veered south to find Shark Bay, which turned out to be one of the more beautiful beaches I've yet seen. A palm tree forest lining the long white sand beach. The water was an incredible turquise punctuated by darkness where the coral reef started. The wind was strong and so it was a bit wavier than the west coast, but truly amazing. I lay out in the sun and read my newly bought book, The Alchemist (350b! expensive!). After a bit I wandered the length of the beach looking for shells that might make a nice necklace, as I did on Ko Samet. Eventually we all headed back to our huts, and agreed to meet later for drinks.
I went to the restaurant next to my room and ordered a mango/orange shake while I lay on a thai pillow (triangular) reading my book. It grew dark and the mosquitoes became a bit thick, so I quickly ordered a seafood curry and ate it with the help of a banana/coconut shake. I am truly addicted to these darn shakes... Picked up my laundry and went back to my room. I've been preparing a parcel to send home, but I think it might be too expensive, or take too long. To mail 5kg, which is what my souvenirs and gifts weigh, costs almost 100$CAD to ship by air mail, and to send by boat may take 3 months... I will be home before my parcel...
might end up carrying the extra weight...

Finished the book, which was very good, a real thinker, and returned it to the book shop for a 50% refund... MAde the initial cost a little easier to swallow, though i guess I actually rented the book for 175b, turning out to be about 20baht an hour... should have kept it longer, would have been cheaper?

I will try diving again tomorrow, and if I'm unable the I might have to resume the course somewhere in Malaysia.

I hope all is well back in Canada. I know it was Ralph's birthday, and I wish him all the best in his 90th year. Wish I could have been there...