Hot and Rainy and Steamy in Trang
Sunday - In Trang, the interior city in Southern Thailand where Janis used to teach a few years ago. It is hot when the sun shines and very wet when it doesn't. We were lucky yesterday - arrived just before the rain started and rain it did and is again this afternoon. The thunder is shaking the buildings and the lightening is lighting the sky. They are full monsoon rains - unseen in Canada. The sky opens and the rain falls at a velocity like standing under a waterfall. The air temperature stays hot and the rain is warm....until you get soaked and then it is a little chilling.
Yesterday, after checking into our odd hotel, we hopped a tuk tuk out to a big department store - Tesco's - yes, the giant British chain - and enjoyed walking up and down the fully stocked shelves. I have been away from a big store for nearly three months so, for this shopper that is joyful.
Trang is a business center and very few tourists pass through here so farang (foreigners) are still quite exciting, especially in a grocery store. Little boys were following us around, trying to get a peek at us and older kids were waving and saying hello. Very sweet. Even on the street we are worth a double take.
Tomorrow we are headed to Ko Libon - an island not so far away - about an hour and half by minibus and then long tail boat. Long tail boat is a drag when one is carrying a pack or heavy bag a s you have to wade out into the sea to grab the boat, steady it enough to hoist your bag up and over the side, then hoist your own leg over the edge, then, sometimes the rest of your body, all the while the tide is pushing the boat back and forth and the others already in the boat are watching, secretly telling you to hurry up and get on with it. Sometimes I have been able to get in on the first try; sometimes it takes a scramble of arms to haul me up and in where I have mostly landed like a big tuna just reeled in. I don't like it as I am worried my computer or my big bag will fall in one of these times. I have always ended up soaked and sandy. The problem is there is no other way to get to these smaller islands because the tides are so shallow at different times. Even if you can find a bigger proper boat, you generally have to transfer to one of these long tails.
Here's hoping the rain stays off of Ko Libong for most of the day because there is not much to do when it is raining.
Next country, Malaysia, is supposedly changing from the rainy season into the dry season. It doesn't seem that far away so I hope that is true or I shall have to push south or find a place where it is not raining.