I’m here! And can you believe it — I already have the typical scars of a new arrival: a lobster-like burn and a nice little pussful road rash from my first and embarrassingly brief encounter with a scooter bike.

Ridiculous really. And completely comic. I actually ran the thing into a wall. *lol* Certainly a finalist for America’s Funniest Home Videos had it been caught on tape. Why I choose to expose the shameful details of my absurdity here instead of just saying I had a “motor bike accident” is truly beyond me. Maybe I’ve just had too good of a time laughing at myself to hoard all the hysterics. Conveniently, I crashed the thing in front of a pharmacy. Not so conveniently, when I stood up and went into the pharmacy, the attendent handed me some toilet paper.

*?!*

After pointing clearly to the blood running down my leg, the attendent went behind the counter and returned with a large bottle of Eye Contact Solution.

I repeat…. *?!*.

A little translating and peroxide later, I was bandaged and happy. Of course, it’s quite difficult to be UNhappy when you’re hammocked up outside your bungalow on a white sand beach with a cold beer and a stomach full of the most delicious pad thai your taste buds have ever had the good fortune to meet. I’m living in a Corona commerical, and no amount of iodine or neosporin can put a damper on that fact.

Yes. Thailand is about to go down in my travel journal at the very, tip top of my “Best Beaches” list. It’s clean, outrageously beautiful and ridiculously cheap. It’s high season, and I’m payin’ no more than 1 US dollar for the finest of meals and $3 a night for a bungalow on the beach. I’m not sure it gets much better than this. (Although the diving is, I’m told, “shiat” and the Whale Shark is JUST as legendary and mythical as it was in Honduras.)

This whole “full moon party” business, however, is something I’m NOT so sure about. Ah. But maybe I shouldn’t speak so soon. I should give it a chance before I comment, eh? And that chance comes tonight. The estimate is down to 10,000 people — not that that really makes a difference. I see here that the computer next to me is compliant with my camera, so I should have images coming soon. And that’s where I’ll leave it. Okay. I’m just gonna limp and gimp my way back to my hammock now. Feel free to laugh out loud. 🙂 Cheers!