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A heating element. An enclosure with a door. An oven. The bungalow that we’re sleeping in does not have air conditioning. It’s not a problem except that if you want to sleep past 11AM (we’re on vacation, ok? movies play until 2 or 3 in the morning…) you’ll be baked like a fresh cake resembling a sweating pig. It might be a good thing that we have this hot alarm clock. I can see the advertisements. “Fresh morning bake included!” Free breakfast? Really? Not quite.

When we’re cooked out of our bungalow just before noon, we lazily walk to the restaurant overlooking the beach and ocean. A welcomed breeze gently blows away the effects of the alarm clock as we order our fresh fruit shakes. The award winning combination of the week is a pineapple, oranage, and carrot lassi.

Fresh fruit is in abundance in Thailand. Something I’m greatly going to miss when I return home. I’m not saying the U.S. doesn’t have fresh fruit, it’s the price and availability of it that’s attractive. You can walk down many streets and you’ll find a vendor selling generous amonts of mango, watermelon, pineapple, papaya, and other fruits I’m unfamiliar with. Usually withing sight you can also find a fruit shake vendor blending said fruits into perfect cold refreshments. Both of which will cost you around twenty baht - that’s fifty cents.

As we savor the morning lassi (ok, maybe it’s just past noon now), the onsite chef is preparing our favories. Nat’s hooked on the pad thai with chicken, Rachel the yellow curry with chicken and vegetables, and I the fried shrimp with vegetables. The amount of garlic the chef uses would kill most vampires, but to Rachel and I, it’s a dream come true. Side effects include a higher immune system, a mouth watering meal, not getting a date within a twenty foot radius, and keeping away the mosquitos. A meal with a fresh fruit shake runs just around 100 baht. That’s $2.50. No, the decimal is not in the wrong place. If you could meet our English friend Simon, you’d appreciate it when he says “That’s like one pound fifty!” A phrase we repeat to no end when content with the cheap prices we find. When it’s even cheaper the Simon coined phrase “That’s like fifty pee!” comes into play. “Pee” being the phoentically spelled verbal abbreviation of pence. (Browsing through the Beijing pictures, you can find Simon wearing a pleasant pink hat we insisted he wear at his birthday party)

Coconut trees at my back, sand between my toes, water lapping in front of me, sun shinning down on my face… I could get used to this.

Today, like yeserday and the day before, we have to figure out what to do. Go swimming? Go for a jog? Use the internet to see what gossip our email boxes hold? Maybe watch some more episodes of Battlestar Galactica? Yeah… on that Battlestar Galactica thing… You see, we ran out of Lost episodes and Chuck, being a fellow sci-fi enthusiast, thought he would include two seasons in our “keep Rachel, Jacob, and Nat entertained on the latest televison” package. Well, like Lost, we’re hooked. The effects and cinematography have caught our attention. I should also mention that our further addiction to Family Guy finds us empty in that folder too.

As I pay for my last meal on Koh Samui, he is sitting there. We’ve come to call him “Beetle Nut.” Not to his face, mind you, just to each other. We haven’t been able to quite figure him out. Every day you can find Bettle Nut sitting either at the bar or the clerk’s desk. On one random evening we walked past the bar to find him sitting completely nude at one of the tables, his belly the only article of clothing luckily covering things no one wanted to see. Usually he barely one ups the birthday suit with a ragged towel around the waist. “Where you go?” he asks as red beetle nut juice drips all over his lips. His breath stinks even from this distance and his teeth are rotting from chewing way too much of this nut. I tell him we’re leaving the island. “Come back soon” he says through a goofy grin.

Today we are leaving paradise behind. I’m currently sitting in a pickup truck turned into an open-air bus headed for the rainforests of Khao Sak. One paradise to be replaced by another. Our bags are roped to the top, there are two benches facing each other in the truck bed, and a small platform hanging off the end for overflow passengers. I was the overflow, but the driver was nice enough to let me sit in the front cab with him for the two hour ride.

See you again Koh Samui. Try not to change too much while I’m gone.

I’m lucky, you know. I’m part Irish. I’ve held lucky bamboo. I’ve picked and held a four leaf clover. I wore (out) my lucky shirt. It wasn’t cancer. I survived that car crash. I’ve gotten lucky on many occasions*, but most recently I’ve been blessed by the lucky waters of the waterfall on Koh Panghan. Kings Rama V and VII have been here many times before, rendering the falls lucky and also popular with the locals. The tour guide tells us this as we jump into the natural pool just below the waterfall. “You go home and win the lottery now. But you must come back and give me ten percent!” He laughs through his crooked teeth just before he jumps into the water with us. I don’t know if it’s my subconscious or what, but somehow I suddenly feel lucky - tangibly lucky. Since I’ve left the falls I’ve been finding coins on the ground.

Is luck a trump to probability? Or do you make your own luck? Maybe I started looking for those coins. Maybe the tour guide’s luck blessing reminded me of our friend John’s enthusiasm for using his metal detector to find coins which in turn caused me to subconsciously keep my eye out for that subtle glint of a round baht baking on the pavement. Maybe Falcor** is about to swoop down and take me on an amazing adventure. Either way, I do feel extremely lucky while traveling this world. An American passport will get you to most any destination you want without much, if any, trouble. Why, Falcor, I didn’t know I could put you in my pocket! A savings of $3,000 with a budget conscious mind will get you from eastern Europe to southeast Asia in three months. Is this luck? Or determination?

As I’ve gone through England, Russia, Mongolia, China, and Thailand, the most common parting phrase I’ve noticed from non-native English speakers is “Good luck!” At first it felt odd to hear this phrase as a “goodbye.” Similar to when a clerk at the tourist office in the Black Forest of Germany responded to our “Thank you for the directions” with “Do not mention it.” An awkward and rigid delivery spoken with confidence.

* Not that kind of luck, perverts, and for the record that kind of lucky has nothing to do with luck

** If you have happy childhood memories of the movie referenced here, don’t ruin them by re-watching it now that you’re older. I did. Consider me your “luck warning”

I never would have thought I could sit in a tiny open air hut on the beach and have wireless internet, but here I am. Photo editing by the beach front prompted me to turn on the wireless card just for the heck of it and voila! Although we’re staying at a budget bungalow, the high priced resort next door is pumping out tunes (bad ones) and technology.

It’s dark right now. The water is quietly lapping on the sand and there’s a light breeze flowing through the leaves of the palm trees over me. In the distance there is a lightning display randomly lighting up the coast - a great contrast to the fireworks the locals are blasting off from the sand in early celebration of the Thai New Year. Crickets are singing and occasionally you can hear a monkey “woot” in the distance.

This is most definitely paradise.

Time doesn’t exist here. I can see why so many people get sucked up by the beaches and end up lazily, but happily, living their lives away. For me, however, it’s a bit different right now. Despite the relaxation, views, swimming, food, and down right awesomeness, I am getting restless. I’m ready for more challenge. I want to feel my pack searing into my shoulders again while I wonder where I’m going to stay for the evening. I want to meet more people, take more pictures, and see more places. I strive on the challenge.

Two days ago Rachel, Nat, and I went frisbee golfing. Of all the things you can do and see on Koh Samui, frisbee golf was the last thing I expected to be here. A friendly American from Texas started a course on a plot of land full of coconut trees. We asked if anyone ever gets knocked out or hit from random falling coconuts. He said he’s never heard of it happening to anyone. About one hour later, I almost became that first case. I was running after my disc. As I passed under a tree I heard some rustling above head. Thinking it might be a bird or other animal I turned around to look and “THUD!” - a baseball sized seed had fallen out of the tree and landed about six feet away from me. It was shortly followed by another. I wonder what the probability of getting hit on the head is. Luckily I didn’t find out.

I’m not entirely sure when I last wrote about our whereabouts so I’ll pick up from Shanghai?

Shanghai is way gone. A big city with little attraction for the world bound traveler. I’d say go to New York or London for a better big city experience or if you’re Asia bound, definitely go to Beijing for plenty to do and see. You can’t, however, beat the street prices for dumplings and pork pizza in Shanghai. It was probably the cheapest place we’ve eaten on our whole trip. The best part is that it’s all fresh, just finished right in front of you!

We left Shanghai with the intent on returning to explore a job possibility for Nat. One of our friends hung onto some of gear in the meantime. Well, the interviewer decided to skip his Shanghai stop leaving us with a mandatory gear pickup that might have been avoided otherwise. Nat generously offered to go by himself to help save us all some traveling expenses. About 65 hours later he returned to Yangshuo where Rachel & I were waiting and living very inexpensively.

20 Yuan per night was just the right price for a bed in Yangshuo. That’s the equivalent of about $2.50. Not even Koh Samui is that cheap! Yangshuo is a total tourist attraction for all travelers, including a large number from China itself. We checked out some caves, took a boat tour up the river, saw water buffalo and cormorants, climbed mini mountains, and saw a light show originally directed by Ang Lee. Once a tiny place, Yangshuo attracted (and continues to attract) a lot of attention because of a visit from none other than Mr. Bill Clinton.

Yangshuo has introduced new merchant phrases as well.

“Hello, banana?”
“Hello, apple?”
“Hello, money?”

and the more crude…

“Hello, sex massage?”

After Yangshuo we hopped on a sleeper bus to Hong Kong. Here’s a city that knows what’s going on. It’s so clean compared to Shanghai! No one spits. In fact, no one spits because they would be fined a hefty sum. There are garbage bins every 100 yards or so encouraging people to keep the city clean. It’s something I strongly miss while walking around the streets of Thailand. There aren’t any garbage bins ANYWHERE. (Oh yeah, and if you want to be cool like the Brits, you’ll start calling it rubbish.)

City life in Hong Kong is expensive just like any big city. We stayed in the infamous Chungking Mansion. A run down, cheap place that continues to house thousands of poor workers and travelers. Cockroaches and interesting smells are free, but the beds are clean and the shower oh so nice. We met up with our English friends Tim & Daniele for a few days of sightseeing and fun before they moved on to Vietnam. We hoped to show up in time to also see Simon, but we missed each other within minutes.

Birthdays have dotted the last couple of months. Simon had his birthday in Beijing. I had mine in Shanghai. Nat had his on the train to Yangshuo. And finishing off the string of birthdays was Tim’s in Hong Kong.

That quickly brings us up to speed. We’re currently enjoying the hot weather of Thailand on paradise island Koh Samui. Fresh fruit shakes and a delighful cook are keeping us very happy!

I was also lucky to have a visitor last week! Lisa came to visit on a last minute whim. Immediately after flying home from D.C. she hopped on another plane headed for Bangkok. What a trooper! Aside from the excitement of seeing a friendly face from home, she showered us with items you absolutely cannot find out here. One being DEODORANT! Rest assured I’ve found knock off, interesting stuff to do the job in the interim, but it’s extremely refreshing to have the real stuff from home. I’m sure everyone is happier with this.

The second item being MICROWAVE POPCORN! If you know me, you know my obsession with popcorn. Asia has popcorn - but not your regular yummy bag of buttered popcorn - they like to put sweet flavoring on it. I’m not talking Kettle Corn flavor - it’s something else - similar to pouring a spoonfull of sugar on it. There is no decent popcorn to be found east of Europe. If I had to pick between the deodorant and the popcorn, I’d say popcorn hands down. Unfortunately finding a microwave proves to be the second challenge of this game. Maybe I can get a magnifying glass and….

Huge thanks to Lisa for visiting and bringing us a taste of home.

Speaking of popcorn, I should go get some dinner before our awesome cook goes to bed.

As usual, I’m still lagging behind with pictures. Fortunately I’ve been able to upload a few. All are still from the freezer that is Russia. Enjoy!

http://jacob.davida.com/gallery/view/trips/WorldTrip2006

I love it. Addiction. It’s a borderline obsession with me at the moment. If it ever gets out of hand, my thanks to Chuck for providing the goods might turn into blame. In a good way of course.

What’s even better? How about watching Lost ON an island off the coast of Thailand. Yeah, doesn’t get much better than this.

Today we went on a boat tour around the island. Stopped at a couple of beaches. Had a late lunch at a less populated beach, shared a bucket of whiskey & coke with our tour mates, and then went snorkeling. I’ve never been snorkeling unless you count that one time I tried it at home in the swimming pool. Yeah, doesn’t count.

The fish were awesome! Rainbow colored ones. Striped ones. Tiny orange ones. And the Nemo looking guys floating in the anen-anen-inen-inimies were pretty slick.

I also learned today that American’s don’t do much traveling out of the country - especially out in these parts. We were told that after the fateful 9/11, American’s have completely stopped visiting this island. We’ve shocked many locals and travelers from the middle east. I’d say that’s pretty significant. Everyone on this island assumes the three of us (ok maybe just Rachel & I) are Israeli.

Time to get some food. There’s a great falafel deal up the street from us. One falafel sandwich and a watermelon shake please. Yum.