After calling Koh Tao home for 2 months it was time to move on. The Catalyst for this being our visa’s were expiring and wanting to travel with friends Jeff and Ji.
Was I sad leaving the island? Well no, I had a great time, met some awesome people. But the beauty of finishing one chapter is that another chapter starts. If I was going back to settle down and find a new job, hell yeah I would be sad leaving Koh Tao, but the reality is that I’m going to Argentina. So the sadness of leaving is replaced with the excitement of Argentina and catching up with friends and family in New Zealand.
The first problem I came across leaving the island bubble was my bare feet. For 2 months I had worn bare feet, walking in the street, playing soccer, riding motorbikes, standing at the urinal. I started wearing bare feet after my jandals (thanks Crystal for reminding me of not forgetting my kiwi roots, so I will say jandals not flip flops) were lost to the Koh Tao jandal thieving epidemic. This epidemic would of started with one tourist misplacing their jandals and taking someone else’s, then that person took someone else’s, and so on. Now it’s an epidemic. Mandy and I lost 4 pairs to the epidemic in 2 months, that why I refused to get anymore. Bare feet became second nature to me.
After walking into a 5 star resort in Burma whilst on a visa run and walking the streets of Bangkok I felt a little out of place with my bare feet. Not only the looks I got, but when I saw that even the Bangkok homeless wore jandals, I knew I had to invest in a pair. I reached into my backpacker pocket and forked out the $2 for the cheapest pair I could find. A snow camouflage pair, perfect, I will also be able to wear them in the Argentinean snow.
After a day in Bangkok we met up with Jeff and Ji. Then it was onto another overnight train, but this one was more enjoyable than the night before. This was due to Jeff bringing along a bottle of wine and the train staff making regular stops by our seats with buckets of ice cold beer. They really are an entrepreneurial bunch.
At 6 in the morning we arrived in Chaing Mai, the capital city of Northern Thailand. We plan to spend the following 10 days up here, renting a jeep and exploring the mountain towns and the green jungle scenery. I will try and get some posts up of what we get up to.