The cold I have been trying to fight off for the past few
days really hit me hard today so my day didn’t turn out quite the way I had
expected. I felt okay when I woke up and was pretty excited as I made my way
downstairs for breakfast as I had made plans the night before to go exploring
with the guys from my room who had all rented scooters for the day. The
excitement quickly faded because when I sat down with them downstairs they told
me they had decided that none of them were comfortable driving a scooter with
someone on the back and I was welcome to join them if I rented my own but there
was no way in hell I was doing that so I now had zero plans for the day. This
was probably a blessing in disguise because if I had tagged along I would have
been begging them to bring me home shortly after we left.
I lounged around the hostel before heading out for a bit of
a wander. I asked the receptionist for a map and she provided me a map of the
entire island that only showed major roads, not at all helpful. I asked if she
had a map of Kata (the area I’m staying in) and she just pointed at the two or
three streets on the map of the island that were located in Kata. I left the
map on the desk as I walked out the door. I had no idea where I was going so I
just wandered aimlessly trying to make note of landmarks so I could find my way
home.
By this point in the day my sinuses were clogged and I’m
fairly confident I had a fever as my shirt was soaked right through and while
it was hot out it wasn’t hot enough that I should be drenched in sweat within
two minutes of walking outside. I felt like absolute garbage but I was
determined to do something with my day so I walked until I found a small
temple. I explored the different buildings of the temple and was about to
venture a bit further into the grounds when I saw a big scary dog and took it
as a sign to head home.
Now I need to learn to take my own advice and not use 7-11’s
as landmarks because I thought I had passed 2 of them on the way to the temple
but I guess I had actually passed three because I ended up in some Thai ghetto
complete with dirt roads and sheet metal shanty’s. I backtracked to a paved
road but not all the way to the road the temple was on because it was up a very
steep hill and my water bottle was feeling heavy at this point so I thought
climbing would be a bad idea. It probably took me about a half an hour to find
the hostel and I collapsed on my bed almost as soon as I got into the room.
After resting for a few hours I still felt like garbage but
I also felt like I was wasting the day so I was determined to do something. I’m
pretty sure you’re supposed to ‘sweat out’ a fever and what better way to do
that than to spend the afternoon laying in the sun? I changed into my bathing
suit and headed to the beach. I was melting by the time I got there even though
it’s only a 5-minute walk so I tossed my towel on a chair and waded into the
sea. The water was so warm and refreshing. I didn’t really swim though, just
quickly cooled off then headed back to my lounger, burning my feet in the sand
along the way.
I sat baking in the sun for about half an hour before a Thai
man approached me and told me I needed to pay for the chair. I didn’t have any
money so I got up and left. Besides I was sure I had sweat more than enough to
beat this stupid fever by that point. I was wrong. I still felt like trash so I
headed back to the hostel and climbed into bed where I stayed for several
hours.
I didn’t really have any plans of leaving my bed again
tonight except for maybe to go get some food but when James came in and asked
if I wanted to go check out the surf simulator thingy I decided I was feeling a
bit better and decided to go with him. After driving a scooter all day he felt
more comfortable with it and was able to let me hop on the back and we whizzed
off down the beach to the surf thing. I really don’t know how to explain this
thing, an artificial wave maybe? It looked like a large plastic ramp, kind of
like a half pipe but rounded at the top, and water was being forced over it
like a wave. People would jump on a small board and ride the wave. Some people
were really good and were doing tricks; others were falling pretty
spectacularly every time they tried to surf. People in both categories were
quite entertaining.
We watched the surfing for quite a while before walking
further down the beach for some dinner. Once we both had food in our bellies we
made our way back to the hostel to see if the other three boys had come back
yet. There was no sign of them so we decided to head out for a bit more
exploring and jumped on the scooter and made our way to Patong. Patong is known
for partying and ladyboys.
We weren’t planning
on doing any partying but I was really hoping to see some ladyboys. The road to
Patong is hilly and since it follows the coast it is quite windy with some
rather sharp turns. I was pretty nervous about being on the back of this
scooter, I barely knew the person driving (truth be told I completely forgot
his name until he introduced himself to someone when we got back to the hostel
later), they drive on the wrong side of the road here, and they don’t really
follow traffic laws. I managed to hold onto the bike most of the way and only
held onto James a few times while he was driving like an idiot just to wind me
up.
We made it to Patong in one piece and cruised down the
beach. I definitely made the right choice staying in Kata, while Kata mainly
caters to families and seniors and there aren’t as many backpackers around it
is very relaxed and easy going. Patong’s streets are lined with shops that have
large neon signs and has several venues offering ping-pong shows. It is a lot
more hectic and seems pretty grimy. I kept an eye out for ladyboys the whole
time we were there but I don’t think I saw any.
I was much more relaxed on the way home and since I wasn’t
constantly thinking I was going to die I was able to enjoy myself. I still
don’t think I would ever drive a scooter but riding on the back of one wasn’t
completely horrible after all.
When we got back to the hostel I hung out downstairs and
chatted with other guests for quite a while before heading upstairs. I think I
might have pushed myself a bit too hard tonight because I’m feeling pretty
rough again. I have a day tour booked for tomorrow so I should probably get some
rest. Fingers crossed I feel better in the morning.
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