So, nearing the end of the Thailand trip posts. Unless I get around to taking photos of all the beautiful things I bought. Anyone interested in seeing those?

If you were reading while we were away, you’ll know that the Ko Samui leg of our trip did not go so smoothly. I was just told off by my brother-in-law last night for keeping all of Jorge’s friends and family on edge wondering if he had ever gotten out of Cambodia. Sorry ‘bout that.

Before I go sounding like a nasty old curmudgeon again, let me just say that we loved Thailand. It was beautiful, interesting, and fun. And the people were really lovely, no matter what I said in my spiteful loneliness.

That said, the beach was a little disappointing. I was expecting tropical paradise. Instead I got “hmm, that’s pretty.” I stayed at the Arayaburi Resort, which was probably the best choice for us, within our budget. There were only two other hotels in the area, and we pretty much had a beach all to ourselves. It was a great place for just relaxing. Most of the other beaches in Ko Samui tend to be packed, Waikiki style.

Jorge finally arrived two and a half days after me. The following day I had booked a snorkeling trip to Ko Tao, so I added him to the booking.

If Jorge had not gotten stuck in Phnom Penh, we would have stayed two nights in Ko Tao. When we went snorkeling there, we were kind of glad we hadn’t. There was very little sand beach at all, so it actually looked just like Lake Malawi, with big bouldery shores. The snorkeling was pretty sad. Too many people, and too few fish. It was a pretty disappointing day overall.

So we decided to wise up and spent the rest of our holiday there at the pool. Jorge and I love the pool. It’s like chlorine is some sort of magic potion that turns us into 10 year olds. Most of the other hotel residents just huddled at the other end, watching us nervously, as we played all of these fun pool games, and more:

• Underwater breakdancing (my specialty is the worm)
• Swing dancing (the Lindy Hop, naturally)
• Surfing (Jorge swims underwater and I try to stand on his back. It's harder than it sounds)
• Underwater streetfighting (You sink and let the other person kick you in the stomach. Then you pop right back to the surface! Fun for the kids!)
• Wrestling
• That move from Dirty Dancing where she runs through water and Patrick Swayze holds the chick over his head. This one did not go so well and resulted in me snorting a lot of water through my nose, then yelling "It burns! It burns! The chlorine burns!!