Chumpon

Up at 6:30, laid in bed until 6:55, dressed and paid my bill and walked to the street to the catch blue taxi #6. One came a few minutes later. A man driving and a little girl, presumably his daughter, was sitting in the passenger seat. I said "Bus station?", and the little girl gave me two big thumbs up and said "Yeah!". Haha. I hopped in the back, and he meandered along numerous back streets, picking up and dropping off other passengers. After about 20 minutes, we made it to the bus terminal and the little girl turned to me and said "Bus station for you!" and pointed across the street to it. I paid the fare (11 baht!) and walked to the bus terminal and got a ticket for the next mini-van to Chumpon, leaving at 8:00.

Left at 8:00, and the van filled up quickly, a smelly older Thai lady next to me. I'm sure I didn't smell that great either, though, and it was a hot ride, as I was sitting on the side with the sun for most of the trip.

Got to Chumpon about 10:30 or 11:00, went to Suda Guest House, recommended by Let's Go. They were full, but she said she has another place close by, cheaper. Then she was thinking and said that she wants me to stay at her place, and decided to bump another couple to the other guest house. Haha. But, she told me, I could only stay one night.

I showered and went for lunch and decided to go to Koh Tao tomorrow, since I couldn't have the room for tomorrow night. I also inquired about a rain forest trek my book talked about, but because it's dry season, it's not happening. Booked ticket for the boat. I have to be up at 6:00am tomorrow morning.

Rented a motorbicycle and went out to Hat Thung Wua Laen to see the beach. Not great, but as I was walking along the beach, a Thai guy invited me over to have some beer with him and the rest of his family and/or friends. He had a 12 pack of large Chang beers, and him and two other guys and two women were sitting down on the mats, while all their kids were all playing in the ocean, having fun. None of them really spoke english (just some basics, where you from, where you go, etc.) and of course I didn't speak Thai, so not a lot was said. They had food laid out on the mats as well. It was fun, I stayed for about an hour, but had to start refusing more beer, because I had to drive back to Chumpon on the motorbike.

Got back to the guest house about 4:30 and went to Fame restaurant, a place totally catering to tourists and had an iced coffee and wrote in my journal. A girl sitting at the table next to me used a great pickup line on me: "Excuse me. Can I have your orchid?" I chuckled and said sure, and asked why. She wanted to draw it. She likes drawing flowers, especially orchids, and I had got one in my iced coffee. Megan is her name, she is from England, close to the Scottish border, so has a hint of a Scottish accent. We talked for quite a while, and decided to go to the night market. I first headed back to my room and had a shower, all sweaty from being in the sun, and then went back to the restaurant and we headed to the night market. Walked around, had a bite to eat, then back to the restaurant. She is catching the night boat to Koh Tao, she fell in love with Koh Tao and spent many weeks there. She then headed up north (Chaing Mai), but lasted only a week, and wanted to go back to Koh Tao.

Anyway, she suggested to me where to stay and told me about some of her hangouts, so we may run into each other. While she waited for her boat, she tried to teach me how to juggle and how to swing poi's

About 10:00, I headed back to my room, I have to get up really early and catch a 6:00am bus to the ferry.