It is the return of the earache - previously seen in Indonesia last year, and most likely again brought on by too many underwater excursions. More rest time.

Koh Phangan had two immediate reference points for us before arriving here. The first is that the island is known for its infamous Full Moon beach parties that are apparently the stuff of legends. We are purposefully not here on a full moon. (We have since learned that Koh Phangan likes debauchery so much, it even has Half Moon and Black Moon parties.) The second point of reference is from the movie, The Beach, where Tilda Swinton's character tries in vain to recruit someone from their idyllic community to go back with her to the raucous Koh Phangan to get supplies. So…in theory this island is not for us. But we had also read that as the island is so large, there are plenty of quiet beauty spots to hang out at, and it's true that it isn't difficult at all to find reasonably priced accommodation that even manages to be beachfront. Our place on Salad Beach (luckily the available cuisine does not reflect the locale's name) looks very similar to our place on Koh Tao, only on a bigger, slightly busier bay. Shallow water even during high tide means that swimming looks a bit like being a beached whale, but the water is so bathwater warm that it's all good! Our splurge was a day trip to Ang Thong Marine Park, home of some of the lovely limestone formations that we love in south Thailand so much. We did a very hot and steep climb to the lookout point that was so challenging due to the extreme humidity, there were guides with first aid kits along the way, presumably to make sure that people didn't actually die on the way up. Oh, the things we will do for a prime photo.

And all of a sudden, that is the end of Thailand! It is sad to say goodbye. So long Thai curries, beaches, massages, laid-back lifestyle. Do people walk barefoot everywhere in Malaysia, our next stop, too? We can't remember. We will miss that. We do remember that that is unfortunately not the cultural norm back in Canada - maybe we can try and change that.