A Whole Lot of Nothing

18 September 2009

Doing nothing takes it out of a girl...today is possibly my first quality time alone in months. David, Rich and Denis have gone off to partake in some of the world-class rock climbing that Railay is known for. Fully expecting at least one of them to come back limbless. Louise has taken herself off on a snorkeling trip to Koh Phi Phi, where parts of Alex Garland's 'The Beach' was filmed...just couldn't rouse myself to accompany either jaunt. End result, I am lounging about on beaches, interspersed with some blogging and package-tracking...how can it take 3 months to get from Bangkok to Arizona?

We've all been deeply indolent so far...there is loads to do in Railay (the brochures say so). But mostly we're swimming and sunning and drinking and eating and generally rewarding ourselves for surviving Central Asia. Some occasional dancing to Flo Rida's 'Low', some seaweed crisps, a little competitive Trivial Pursuit (I did not win, but also managed not to have a tantrum, so count it a success).

Avoiding the monkeys is taking some effort...nasty little things. I'm no animal lover, god knows. But surely failure to evolve into creatures that value hygiene and stand upright isn't reason for humans to get all excited about them? Everyone else seems charmed. Apparently the monkeys here are only afraid of men who pretend to shoot them with a slingshot (and I'm assuming this was a hard-learned lesson) so of course Dave and Rich and Denis have been doing this regularly. Personally, I think the monkeys are laughing at all of us.


David and I went round to the isolated beach at the bottom of the peninsula yesterday, wandering along the mangrove-y East Side on the way. It's no beauty, but dramatic and quite cool. The lovely beach at Phra Nang is also home to a grotto-shrine dedicated to the spirit of a drowned princess. The local fisherman (Muslim and Buddhist alike) bring her offerings of carved penises and Fanta. Awesome. I really feel like more religions should be giggle-inducing. The world would be a better place.