June 3, 2002. The guys who worked for the tour kept screaming "Pee pee! Pee pee!" on the bus, all the way to the pier and snickering amongst themselves as they paused to catch their breath. I would have loved this job when I was 7.

Here's Me, Tuan and Abok on the boat, heading from Krabitown to Phi Phi Don. It was about an hour and a bit to get there, and oddly enough, I didn't have to swallow my own vomit this time.

I think that fresh air makes a difference. See? Here's Tuan and Tao, vomit free.

Ok, you know our names by this point. I'm not going to introduce again.

Bought my ticket to Hong Kong today. I'm set to leave in less than a week. *sigh* I know that Hong Kong is nice too, but I won't be waking up to sights like these each morning. So anyway, this is Ko Phi Phi (pronounced pee pee) Don - it's not where they filmed that james Bond Movie or the Beach. That's Ko Phi Phi Ley, where we will be heading later.

Here's Abok with the guy who owned a fruit stand near where we were staying. This guy was really something, he cracked open a durian with his bare hands, not using a knife or anything!

We got caught in a heavy downpour, so we ducked into this small restaurant to keep dry. I didn't mention this earlier, but the part of Phi Phi that we stayed in is largely Muslim. Most of the shops and stands here are owned by Muslims, which is really great because they won't try to screw you on the prices. I'm not making any sort of stereotype, it's actually well known for this.

Here, the three of us are running through an enormous fish. I ate its eyeball, which is supposedly some sort of delicacy. It tasted exactly like what I expected a fried eyeball to taste like.

Different restuarant, same day. This time we are ripping apart a few fried chickens. We are watching the world cup on a huge projection screen, just behind the camera man. Tonight, Japan was playing. I can't explain it, but each time a Japanese player got close to a ball, the entire restaurant would explode into cheering and yelling.

Personally, I hate soccer and spent the time trying not to eat any of the flies that kept landing on my plate.

Here we are after visiting a lady boy club. Tao was completely enthralled with the shows. She was convinced that these lady boys were indistinguishable from real women. We, men, of course begged to differ. There are two easy ways to tell. First, from afar: Lady boys are the ones with really really hot bodies, who dress very skanky. Second, close up: Adam's apple, voice, face/jaw line, stubble, etc. So, in Thailand, live by this little rule I learned: Good from far is far from good. You can't always be 100% certain here.

When the show was done, we headed to one of the many bars on the beach, grabbed a few drinks and fell asleep. Something about the sound of lapping waves that's incredibly soothing. All of a sudden, I understood those Sounds of Nature tapes they sell at Walmart.

The three of us, about 10 shades darker than we have ever been in our lives. It's funny, looking back at pictures of when I first arrived in Thailand, I can't remember being that person. It's a whole different world here, it was ridiculouly easy to forget about Canada. I've never experienced anything like that before.

June 5, 2002. Ao Dalama. Just found this place, damn. It's so beautiful here, much better than where we stayed. If we had come here first, then I would have stayed longer for sure. Our hotel was in the middle of the town, right near all the restaurants and clubs and a bit of a trek from the beach.

We're all sunburnt to a crisp from the day before, we went on a snorkelling trip to Ko Phi Phi Ley (see Phi Phi Ley entry). It was great, we met a couple from South Africa. Today I'm sore as hell, but it was so fun. Iminent skin cancer aside, it was the best 300 baht I ever spent.

Take a good look - you won't see this too often. It's me at my happiest. Seems I've lapsed into nirvana.

This is how I will always remember Abok. Ripping into some poor fish or, in this case, a slice of pizza. You'll notice that most of our shots here are of us eating. It's a wonder we didn't balloon up into Macy's Thanksgiving Day floats. Though I'm sure all the snorkelling and lying on the beach helped keep us trim.

Well, that's it.

Buying tickets to go back to Krabi. Tao and I are watching Urban Legends on a TV they have in the store. It's offensively gruesome, yet I cannot look away.

This is a girl who worked at the travel agency. We bought everything through them, I even got my flight to HK with them. Very friendly and very cute, she helped us out a lot by suggesting stuff for us to do and giving us a deal on the prices. Wish we met more like her throughout Thailand. This photo looks terrible because it's originally a Polaroid Joycam photo that I scanned and enlarged.

Well, this is it. Back in Krabi, we are parting ways. These three are off to Malaysia and I am off to find the Viet Thong hotel to buy a bus ticket back to Bangkok. Goodbyes are so sad, it's going to be weird being on my own again. It was my original plan, to travel Thailand alone, but that never happened. I came with Aubri and Sandra, and the day they left, I met Abok. Then Tao and Tuan. I suppose I will see what it's like now to be alone. I don't expect it will be nearly as much fun. journal