Thailand, part 4 - Camping, giant lizards and Bangkok revisited

Next in Thailand came the final leg of our journey, camping on an island in the Andaman Sea. We got up early, and by longboat (of course) we were ferried to another island. This place was actually a national park, and during the day it's quite a tourist hotspot, with fleets of boats lining the shores. By night however, we would have the park almost to ourselves, and we were scheduled to stay for 2 nights.
At first we set up camp, and then took swim after swim in the crystal blue waters, because DAMN it was hot. And this, remember, was in January; previous years would find me in a parka, chiseling an inch of ice from my car windows. So after loafing about a bit, our guides conspired to once again cram us onto a boat, but what came next was worth it. We were taken to the mouth of a sea-cave, again shoved into the sea, and all of us proceeded to feel our way through this cave in pitch blackness. This wasn't the good part, in case you were wondering. When we got through the cave however, we were dumbstruck. The sea had carved out a huge column in the rock, and the sheer walls encircling us climbed a hundred feet above our heads. Below, the small sandy lagoon was bordered by a small patch of lush plant life, where birds chirped and butterflies flitted through shafts of golden sunlight. This was the definition of paradise.
After reluctantly leaving this place, it was back to camp for a demanding afternoon of frisbee in the surf, and lying in a hammock. It was a special evening though, because it happened to be Victoria's birthday, and she demanded to be spoiled rotten. Happy to have any excuse for a party, the rest of us were happy to comply.
After getting dressed to kill in the sarongs we had picked up on Khao Sun Road, we first had an amazing fish dinner, giant barracuda I believe, courtesy of our hosts. The picture shows all of us, just about that time, as the sun set on our party. Then, as Vic sat in her freshly woven crown of wildflowers, the drinking games began. This was followed by a serenade from one of our hosts who had brought a guitar, and then Vic's birthday cake, which was actually a stack of pancakes, but we won't split hairs. We would later stumble to our respective tents, stuffed, flushed and happy.
The next morning began with me stumbing to the bathroom, only to be confronted with a 4-foot long monitor lizard blocking my path. The island was crawling with these guys, and I'm only marginally more fond of lizards than I am of sharks, so I peed in a bush. Later that day, Lee, Mark and I went on a trek through the jungle on the island (no lizard encounters, thankfully) to a hilltop overlooking the island and the ocean for miles around. Then, joy of joys, it was to be more snorkeling. I got roped into this because everyone else was going, and at first I resisted, but with no fat Germans in sight, I finally went in. It was neat, and there was a lot to see, I admit - hundreds of kinds of fish and coral, but the whole time, in the back of my head, I swear I could hear the scary music from Jaws. Fish look better as sushi anyway, in my opinion. Later we played cards, drank beer and called it a night.
We left the next morning for the mainland, and then spent an hour in a van on our way to our next destination, Trang. This place was supposed to be great for local coffee and food, but it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. It was hot, crowded, the local market smelled like cat pee for some reason, and the coffee gave me the runs. I was happy to leave and get on the train back to Bangkok. Once again this was a sleeper train, and we arrived in Bangkok the next morning after we spent the night - you guessed it - playing cards and drinking beer.
So as the official tour wrapped up, we had a final night in the Vieng Thai on Khao Sun Road. There was a goodbye dinner, followed by a night out, the details of which are so fuzzy I won't even hazard a guess. Then the next day, we had another stay at the Asha Guest House before our flight out in the morning. We went out to the downtown core of Bangkok, and tried to drink in as much of it as we could, pardon the pun. A sumptuous dinner, dancing, some new friends, and aside from saying that I barely made it back from downtown in time to get the plane, I'll leave the rest to your imagination.
I have a passion for this country now, and would go there again in a heartbeat. The people were warm and generous, the land was like something from a fantasy, and the great company made it truly complete. Except for Bob, of course. Wherever I go from now on, it will be measured against Thailand.