You can check out.... but you will never leave!

Back to Thailand!
 
Wow, is this post ever over due.  Must have been all that ‘living in the moment’ I’ve been doing since I landed in Ko Phangan. 
 
The flight from New Zealand was uneventful, but I was surprised to hear the announcement when we landed at 1 am that the outside temperature was 29 degrees!  I am not kidding when I say that it is hot here.  Damn hot!  The average temperature hovers around 34-37 degrees and at night, it doesn’t cool off..  Thank goodness for air conditioning!!!
 
Lucia came up to meet me in Bangkok and we spent a few days being girls and shopping like rock stars.  We also found happy hour (oh bless! 2 4 1 drinks!) at a fancy hotel with a gorgeous pool and rode the motorcycle taxis through Bangkok like locals.   After that much needed girl time, we parted ways with me heading South and her North.
 
Arriving into Ko Phangan is like going home for Christmas break.  It is a familiar place for me that I hold so close to my heart.  I headed back to Haad Yao beach to be welcomed so warmly by the family I always rent from.  It is nice to see them after being away for a month. 
 
I have found a killer house that I am now renting in Haad Yao.  It is cut into the hill so the views I have are amazing.  I have a kitchen with fridge, huge room with a/c (man, it’s super hot here!), and even a bathroom with a beautiful soaker tub. All this, for a princely sum of …. $16 per night.  I am getting more spoiled every time I come here.  Next year I am going to be such a princess… where I am going to stay?
 
The other great thing about coming back to a familiar place is all the friends you have met from previous.  Ko Phangan just happens to be this weird vortex for people.   Once they get here, all the plans about checking out Northern Thailand, Laos or Cambodia end up getting scrapped.  There are so many people who come with great intentions to stay for just a few days and then they end up riding out their month long visa never leaving.  Not so bad, as I have done it more than a few times, but imagine losing days to all the parties all over this island.  Kodiak (a wicked Canadian that threw a party discussed in previous post) laughed about it over dinner tonight when he says that he’s been here for almost 3 months. It’s shocking to a lot of vacationers, who ask him constantly what he does while he’s here, but he just tells them that he has barely any time to hit the beach because of all the parties.  Colin returned today from traveling around Thailand while I was in New Zealand and he said that when he got off the ferry, he knew he was going to see all the same faces that he left here a month ago and the first person he saw was Kodiak who admitted he hadn’t even left the beach, let alone the island and then Kodiak told him where I was.  Colin couldn’t believe that nothing seems to have changed and that we are all still here.  It truly hasn’t, my friend.  As the full moon party nears, a few more familiar faces that I have mentioned in previous posts will be returning for this island’s biggest bash.   I am looking forward to seeing them as well.  This island does have that Hotel California feel to it.  You can check out… but you’ll never leave! 

On a sad note, a car hit my cute little puppy, Jackass - the day before I returned.  My other dog that followed me everywhere, Mama, is back by my side and… is once again knocked up.  And even though she answers to Mama, I am starting to notice she is quickly recognizing ‘Knock-up’ as another name she will come to.  She is living with me in my new house and guarding it very well.  I love her company.
 
Ok, now onto a little rant…  I have received a few emails from some of you asking me about the trip and why there hasn’t been any mention of the boys here.  I am aware you are used to my stories and trash talk, but I assure you, I am still the same Merie.  I went on a temporary hiatus to insanity when I agreed to stay away from making out with boys while I was on this trip.  I can’t tell you why on earth I even agreed to such a thing (and of course it was a insecure guy who suggested it!), but maybe it was a bit of a challenge to see if it was at all possible for me to accomplish.  Apparently, it is not. I have tested my limitations and I can honestly share with you all - there is no guy out there I have met, that is worth the wait.  And seriously, it isn’t realistic.   I am surrounded by hot single people on this island, why would I not sample what traveling has to offer????  After this realization that all this was ridiculous (I have only wasted a few months), I am off the wagon.  And, there is no better way to kick off the fun times, than with a quick session in Bangkok.  After being chased by a cute naked English guy for a couple of days (are you looking at my ass?), I began to remember how much fun being single really was!
 
Anyways, I have rented a motorbike to get myself around the island I am having piles of fun.  I have altered my plans to stay in Thailand for longer and I have cut out going to Ontario before LA.  It is too cold to go there after all this heat.   There are a few parties and more pictures to follow, but I really need to get on with my day.  Hope you are all well!!!