Finding Nemo (aka Rob)

Spoiler alert...I FOUND HIM! It was actually incredibly easy and there is zero story surrounding our reunion in Pak-up Hostel on the other side of the world. First words of greeting? "Hey dude!!! I'm so fucking sick! For like days ..yeah it sucks!" .....hey Rob. Good to see you too.

We wandered around Krabi last night and happened upon a huge sports complex where people of all ages (but not genders) were playing soccer. There was also a group of men playing a sort of hacky sack  game only the "sack" was way bigger than normal and the ball went a solid 20-30 feet in the air every time it was kicked. After laughing at the ridiculous outdoor work out equipment that involved some logs and what we believed to be an extremely intense stretching apparatus (it was up to my shoulders so at least as tall as the average Thai), we found this basketball court with little kids rollerblading all over. It was legit rollerblading with cones and backwards skating involved. Definitely a slice of life kind of moment.

We ate at the night market and I had my first official Pad Thai in Thailand. It was definitely extremely good and also only about $1.25 for the meal. Score one for Thailand.

This morning we woke up relatively early, got some breakfast, and then waited for the boat men to take us to Railey Beach...not an island but inaccessible from Krabi because of these massive limestone cliffs that jut out of the earth. I have no idea how they are formed but they are compeltely beautiful and quite dramatic. I would add a pic but my internet isn't strong enough. There is this honor system amount the boat men that I've never seen in other places...whoever tags you on the street because your man and the other boat men won't drive you because you've essentially been marked as someone's territory. I'm used to such intense competition over customers, but these men, although aggressive, are also extremely respectful of one another. We mentioned we had talked to the man in the blue polo and all of sudden all hands were off...we had become someone's property.

After an unbelievably scenic boat ride, we got to Railey and dove right in. Luckily, Rob's inability to sit still far outpaces mine so we went adventuring to find the lagoon. It's a legitimate scramble up these limestone rocks, hand over foot and some ropes involved, so it was SOOO fun. You 100% felt like you were in an Indiana Jones film, exploring to find the lost cave of treasure and save the beautiful Charlize Theron (spelling?) from getting in bed with the wrong man. We had to climb up for a quite a bit and then the path wove around to go into a depression. At the bottom were even more, steeper limestone rocks that you had to climb and rappel down until you reached the lagoon. So. Cool.

The lagoon is this massive body of water that fills with the tides.  The best way to describe it is an exact replica of my mind's eye image of Jules Verne's underground sea. Crystal water and stalactites everywhere, it was the size of three football fields. The bottoms was the squishiest of mud BUT (thank the lord) no worms. My favorite character who joined us was the portly Chinese man who stripped right down to his whitey-tighteys and proudly stood in the middle of the lagoon for a picture. Sexy can I.

Rob grumbling about me taking forever (no idea why...I'm a super punctual individual) SO there is just one last note about globalization. When I was in the airports two Buddhist monks checking for a flight with their non-Monked friend. Non-monk turns around...is wearing a Bruins t-shirt. 1. Go Boston. 2. What world do we live in?!?!

Also there is an insane number of 7/11s here. Significantly more than home nobly instead of taquitos, there are sticky rice bowls. The world is flat!