thailand!

well, you all are going to have live without photos for the next little bit, unless i can find an actual high speed wireless hot spot. i tried uploading four photos and gave up after fifteen minutes of watching the little hourglass thingy sit there doing nothing. but! i am in thailand! yeehaw! and i passed yesterday's initiative test with flying colours!
after arriving at bangkok airport more or less in one piece (medium smelly and very tired after a million hours in the plane, although i did get to watch harry potter in chinese, which was fun) i sat in the line for passport control forEVUH behind the archetype of the ugly american - a fat sweaty dude who was talking to his friend in a REALLY LOUD VOICE about how 'we kicked the japs' ass in WWII' (i didn't know people under the age of forty even _said_ 'japs' anymore, let alone in a loud voice in a public place, and 'i don't see why guys can't get paid golf vacations, shit, after all, women get paid maternity leave.' at one point he stepped backwards onto my toe and when he turned around to see what he'd stepped on he asked me where i was headed and i completely ignored him. i don't remember the last time i was so overtly rude to someone. it was thrilling.
after collecting all my luggage (hurray! everything arrived! not that it matters - most of it is things like bikini bottoms and extra sunscreen) i took a taxi to the ekkamai bus terminal (sort of a cop-out, not taking public transportation, but i figured i already had enough of an initiative test ahead anyway), got myself a ticket, and within half an hour was speeding through the countryside on an erratically air-conditioned bus (pink viennese confections for curtains and a kungfu movie for entertainment) towards the coastal town of ban phe. the countryside is very lush and green and pretty, and while there is definitely evidence of poverty, it's not horrific and desperate african/indian level poverty. there are lots of road-side businesses that could be anywhere in the developing world (cafes with plastic tables and stacks of coke bottles, carparts, rebar, tires, building materials, dogs, plastic bags, laundry hanging up), but every so often you pass a yard full of dazzling golden buddha statues for sale, which is not anything i'd ever seen before. everyone seems to have one outside their house, but there are also buddha statues at random road intersections, all public buildings, etc., as well as gigantic billboards of pictures of the royal family in full royal family regalia.
on arrival at ban phe i had missed the last official ferry BUT luckily there were a handful of others in the same situation wandering haplessly around the pier, so we joined forces and chartered a boat (for a whopping $3 each) out to koh samet, the island/marine nature preserve that is famous for having the whitest sand beaches in all of thailand (so there). sunset from the boat, then arrival on koh samet, then via back of a jeep to ao tubtim beach resort, where a dish of sinus-clearing green shrimp curry, a shower, and a little beach bungalow with a comfy bed had my name ALL OVER them.
things i am nervous about: heat (it is 9:15 in the morning and 80 degrees already - i think this afternoon may be strictly limited to mad dogs and englishmen, or at least mellow beach mutts and sunburnt australians), state of intestines (two medium-urgent trips to loo so far. but some period of adjustment is to be expected).
things i am pleased about: dearth of mosquitoes on island, high-level yumminess of food, fact that i have places to stay now booked for entire trip, snorkeling expedition planned for this afternoon.
love to all!