February 12, 2023

This morning I talked with Rose and Steve at breakfast. They’re joining me on the boat tour of Hong and the surrounding islands. They said yesterday they got in a scooter accident. They weren’t injured and Rose laughed about it so doesn’t seem very serious.

Our host took Rose, Steven and Gabriel to the pier and I followed them on my scooter. We took a long boat to a total of six islands, beginning with a few small ones nearby including Monkey Island. Monkey Island is inhabited only by monkeys, some of which swim out to collect the food thrown by the boat operators.

After touring a few, we got to Hong Island, which is the biggest and most established of the ones we visited. It has a beautiful beach and a 360° lookout atop one of it’s mountains. Rose and I climbed to the top and were rewarded by the views.

After our hike, Rose and I went for a swim to cool off. She talked about their daughters traveling Thailand for three months when they were 19 and 20. She is a big believer in travel being one of the most important life experiences. Her girls left for their trips and came home adults with plans for their lives.

She also talked about how mad she was at her husband for wrecking their scooter yesterday. She was so mad she couldn’t talk to him. I still don’t really know what happened, but it sounds like he ran into a group of 5 people and they have to pay damages to two scooters. I can also see she has a busted lip, some scrapes on her knee and a memory that doesn’t forget 😂

Gabriel was very concerned with snorkeling and was happy to tell the staff when it wasn’t up to his standards. I’m not sure where he got the expectation that the snorkeling would be great because no one else even knew there would be snorkeling.

I asked the others if they had seen any lizards in their room. Everyone had, but only one or two little ones. Gabriel brushed off my concerns about my big lizard by my pillow saying they’re good to have because they eat the insects. I showed them the picture from last night and he said “Oh! That’s the biggest one of the species. They can grow quite big. They eat the little lizards.” That’s what I’ve been saying! Not sure if I’ll make it till Wednesday at this place…

Neither our host nor our boat operators told us where we were going, how long we’d be gone, or that they would provide lunch. The whole day just unfolded before us, and it got better and better as we went. This kind of sums up how things work here. Thais are very laid back, with very few rules, and very friendly. In the end, we were gone for six hours and we all had a great time.

When we got back to the pier, our host was not there to collect everyone. Gabriel drove me and my scooter back since I’m not comfortable driving with someone else on the back. I found our host and told him the other two were still at the pier and not sure how to get back. He very casually said “Oh, they can walk! It’s not far.” Ha! I drove back down to let them know he wasn’t coming for them.

They shouted me down from across the street. I delivered the news and we all laughed. They demanded I have a drink with them. We talked about their move from England to Vancouver, Canada and their in-law visits. Apparently when Rose’s parents came to visit, her father left the shower running for 8.5 hours until Steven came home to a foggy bathroom and melted soap. Her father didn’t have his hearing aid in so he didn’t hear the water running all day 🤣 

They told a few more stories that had me laughing so much my cheeks were sore. Steven started talking about getting a scooter when they go to Koh Lanta and I could see the dread on Rose’s face. Hopefully they’ll make it through that island unscathed! I really enjoyed meeting them and am glad we got to do the boat tour together. 

After getting back and showering, I noticed my room had been cleaned which I wasn’t expecting since it’s just a bungalow. I checked for the giant lizard, but it’s not behind the pillow anymore. I still expect to host a lizard party tonight, though. As I sat on my porch debating where to go for dinner, a baby lizard fell from the ceiling and landed with a splat right next to me.

I went to dinner at Lek’s and ordered the barracuda steak in coconut curry sauce. It was the bomb. I will be back to try more of their curries. It also reminded me about a cooking class on the island. I think I’ll sign up for the class in hopes they’ll teach me how to make that amazing curry.