(written 28/08/09, posted 06/10/09)R gets up at 6.30am due to spending the whole day yesterday asleep on the bus. She tells me one of the other guests has been wondering around unashamedly naked. I go cautiously to the showers and see a man now in a loincloth. It’s M from Somerset, who’s been in early retirement in Thailand forever. We get chatting to him and he’s lovely and enjoying being aimless. May move on soon, may not.
For some reason I’m excited this morning. I think it’s the prospect of my last two weeks on a beach and I’m hankering after some time alone too. R goes off to buy shoes and I need to back up photos. Again. On the net I find out another reason to be excited, my VSO placement in Delhi has been confirmed! After a failed placement, an semi-offer that wasn’t suitable, one delay due to visas in what is essentially a run of bad luck, I now have a bona-fide confirmation with leaving date. Woohoo!
R and I have beers over lunch to celebrate before we part ways. I’m sad to leave her as I reckon we’d have lots of fun. Time to go though…ferry it is. Raining out on the sea which comes as no surprise. Phi Phi looks great when the ferry docks. A tiny set of alleys where the locals and tourists mi together. I find a bungalow which has been my little dream so I head off down the narrow, car-less streets in search of one. I reach the beach on the other side in a few minutes which confirms for me how small this island is. Bungalow sorted, I unpack and within two hours have eaten, had beers and booked diving for tomorrow. I couldn't walk past all these diving shops without stopping. I'm very excited so go to bed early to prepare for my first dive in over a year.
