January 25, 2023

Woke up this morning to a torrential downpour that started with the bang of a car accident. No sprinkles, just an immediate and intense downpour. I have an elevated porch that is about 10×15′ and there’s water inside my room beneath the windows under the porch.

Theresa and I had a video call this morning to catch up on things in both of our worlds. I told her she looked about 3 weeks older 😄

The downpour lightened to a light rain. I’m quite hungry so I grabbed my scooter keys and drove off to Bubba’s for breakfast. As I picked up my helmet, rain poured out from the inside. I wore Amy’s helmet that was sitting in the dry section under the seat.

I drove through several large puddles covering the entire road. Maybe going to Bubba’s wasn’t the best idea, but a girl’s gotta eat.

The staff at Bubba’s had me take off my raincoat and leave it outside. I must have looked as wet as I felt.

I grabbed a table inside and ordered a chai latte and avocado toast with poached eggs. While I waited, I texted my family the videos of the monkeys. I also bought my tickets for the ferry and van to Khao Sok National Park for Saturday. I carried on with my to-do list while I kept glancing outside. The rain still didn’t let up.

Eventually I decided to drive to Papaya for a massage. I signed up for the 60 minute neck and back massage for 400 baht. While the massage in Pai was extremely relaxing that I could have fallen asleep, this massage was deep and intense. My reactions to her strong little hands went:

Ohhhh

Ooooooo

Awwww

Ow ow ow ow ow ow

Ahhhhhh

Ohhhh

Ow ow ow ow

Ahhhhhh

And so on.

There would be no sleepy time during this massage. Amazing that little woman’s fingers and elbows could bring such force.

I stopped by Pom Pui for lunch but they’re closed again. Instead I went to the ATM to withdraw more cash so I could pay my bill at Loyfa.

I spent the early afternoon recapping the last few days, then decided to walk down to Orion to fill my water bottle and get a late lunch. The rain mostly dissipated but it was windy so still wet from the trees.

The waves crashed over the sea wall, so all the digital nomads were pushed up against the exterior wall. Nowhere to sit, I ordered my food to go.

Upon getting back to my room I noticed housekeeping came while I was out. The ashtray that had been covering the dead cockroach was on my nightstand. The dead cockroach, however, was still on the floor 😐

Maybe housekeeping is visually impaired.

I spent the afternoon writing up posts and researching my next stops. I happily booked a really nice looking place in Railay Beach for 5 days after Khao Sok National Park. Can’t wait for the next stages of this trip!

I had planned to go out to a medicine song gathering down the road at Orion this evening but the rain picked up and I talked myself into staying dry. I finished booking some transportation on 12Go and looked at accommodations on Koh Lipe. Still not 100% sure I’ll get all the way down there but I think it’s likely.

Eventually I turned off the light and rolled over to go to sleep. I started hearing the chirps of something inside my room. After the fourth chirp, I turned the light back on and found a lizard eating the dead cockroach. We had a two minute stare down, neither of us moving. Then I googled the lizard to see if it’s anything I should be concerned about. Nope. Common household lizard that eats the pests.

As I moved to turn off the light again, the lizard dropped the cockroach and ran under the trim. Curious if the cockroach will still be there tomorrow.