Fish Are Friends

Where do I start with the past few days? They have been so busy in the most wonderful ways. Now that my time on Koh Lanta is coming to an end I've got to do all the things I thought I still had time for. One of my flights changed and it turned into a bit of a fiasco where everything had to change and I could either fly home a week later or the day before. I took the last seat on the plane for the day before so I'm leaving Lanta next Wednesday now. I have eight more nights here and it's freaking me out how much I know I'm going to miss this place.

Since I last wrote I've experienced Songkran, the Thai new year, gone kayaking in the mangroves (which isn't as cool as it sounds), went snorkeling for the first time, and had the last proper Why Not Bar night before a few band members left, among other things. Friday was Songkran and it was brilliant. Imagine an island-wide water fight where everyone participates. For this one day kids and adults are equally armed with plastic water guns. We are merciless but with no hard feelings; we wish you well, we wish you a happy new year, that's why we're soaking you in freezing cold water, obviously. About 10 of us clambered into the back of the shelter's van with water guns ready. I think we were all imagining spraying innocent pedestrians but it was an entirely different battle scene that we faced. Jon, our manager, was driving and outside most stores and restaurants were gangs of friends and families armed with buckets of water. We'd be spraying them with all our might and they simply would pour an entire bucket of water over us - slightly more effective than our cheap guns. By the time we got to Saladan, a normally 10 minute drive that took at least 30 minutes, we were completely soaked. Here we all got out an engaged in intensely friendly warfare. People just coming off the ferry were not spared; with a happy, "Welcome to Lanta! Happy New Year!" they were drenched in our icy water. Besides spraying people with water, it's also typical to make a paste of talcum powder, water, and food dye and smear this lovingly across your enemies' faces. We went from simply wet to practically tie-dyed and then back again as more water was dumped on us. I had to work part of the morning shift so I got a little bit of a late start but I was still involved for a solid 7 or 8 hours. By the end, though, once the sun went down, a little of the fun wore off. Then you're left just freezing cold; that was the first night my shower actually felt warm in comparison to my body temperature. It was probably the most fun holiday I've ever experienced, but one day was enough unlike the five days in bigger cities like Bangkok.

Today was my day off and Tilly and I went snorkeling. We were supposed to do that last Thursday but the people we booked our day trip with never showed up for us so instead we went to the east side of the island and went kayaking through the mangroves. Essentially this guy put us in a kayak, gave us each a paddle, and said, "Okay, well have fun!" There's no route, you just paddle as far as you like and then turn and paddle back but the current makes it quite difficult. It was cool for the first five minutes but then the landscape is exactly the same. We did an hour or so and both our shoulders were aching by the end. Definitely today was a much better day off. We went on a one day tour to four islands. I've never snorkeled before but it was unbelievable. The first island was alright and had a fair amount of fish but nothing extraordinary. The second island had Emerald Cave where you swim through a dark tunnel and come into a small but beautiful beach with massive cliffs rising up around us. Emerald Cave is the only way in and out of that beach. The third island was where we had lunch and hung out on the beach. Picture white sand and clear, turquoise water. This was a place out of a paradise brochure. Finally the fourth island was for snorkeling again and it was truly unbelievable. It was just like Finding Nemo; I was in the middle of hundreds of fish of all different kinds. It's like a highway for all the different schools. I was the last one back on the boat; I didn't want to leave my fish friends.

As for the Why Not Bar and band, since high season is pretty much over now a few of the members are leaving Koh Lanta. A couple of us from the shelter went to enjoy their last night and it was such fun. I keep using the word "fun" to describe things but, really, that's what Thailand has been like: a lot of fun. That was Sunday night and coincided with the last night of a few of the volunteers. The vets and two volunteers, Sam and Mitch, are over in Phi Phi right now doing a massive sterlization of every cat on the island. None of the other islands have shelters like this and it shows in the population of animals and their overall health. Sam and Mitch won't be coming back after Phi Phi and Julia, one of the vets, is also flying home to Brazil from there. It's quite a different atmosphere with those three gone. And tonight is the last night for Justin and Meagan. The worst thing about saying goodbye to all these wonderful people is that I may never see any of them again. It's like graduation but with people I like.

So what's left in the next week before I go? I'm doing a cooking class on Friday. The owner of the animal shelter is also the owner of Time For Lime restaurant and cooking school and volunteers who stay at least a month get one free class. I also want to get souvenirs for some people with whatever money remains. I still haven't got a bike but I may rent one just for a day or so that I might do some last minute exploring perhaps in the Old Town.

In truth I'm also really excited that I'll be home in three weeks.