Beach Bummin'
Trip Start
Dec 01, 2004
1
29
30
Trip End
Apr 08, 2005
Kata Beach,
Thailand
Thursday, March 3, 2005
The ocean took some getting used to for me. I was a little nervous at first but by the end of our first week I had been snorkeling. I used to think that hanging out at the beach must be horribly boring, but that was before I had actually experienced it
01 - Paradise
. I'd go back to Kata Beach anytime. Gino managed to find high adventure one day when a walk around the beaches turned into a daylong effort to stay alive.... I had decided to stay inside, read and recover from my sunburn while Gino went out exploring. I started feeling left out of the fun when dinner time came and went and Gino still hadn't made it home. He finally came back after dark wearing a different shirt, with a fantastic tale to tell (of course).
He set off walking north along Kata Beach and decided to climb over the rocks at the end of the beach and around them to see if he could get to nearby Karon Beach by following the water. It took him a while and the rocks were difficult to maneuvre in his sandals and it was a lot farther than he thought, but he did it. Since he was there and Karon Beach wasn't that much longer than Kata Beach, he decided to walk north along the length of it to the rocks that separated it from Patong Beach. The rocks were treacherous this time and he was "concerned" as he clung to the rock face and looked around at his surroundings. He pushed on and finally made it to a beach, but it wasn't Patong. By now, the midday heat had started getting to him and needed to find water (he didn't bring any with him). This beach was small and looked like it might be part of a private resort that had been abandoned since the tsunami
02 - Just before dinner
. As he approached the building he came across a couple of people who looked to be cleaning up the area around the hotel. It wasn't open, but the lady he spoke to had some water - to sell. Gino had the equivilant of nothing on him and the lady wasn't concerned with his hydration issues, so he kept moving. He found a path off the beach which led into some trees and decided to follow it looking for shade and maybe some fruit to eat. He found a cocnut tree but didn't have the energy to climb it, and he found a peculiar looking kind of fruit - sort of the shape of a bell pepper - but didn't know if it would kill him or not, so he kept going (we later learned that it was a cashew nut fruit and they're quite delicious). He followed the path till he came across 3 or 4 locals sitting around a table in front of a small house. They all had beers and invited him to join them. Gino grabbed a bottle and slammed it. He was an instant hit. One sort of spoke english and they spent a couple of hours getting to know one another. He shared his cigarettes and they shared their beer, and then there was an exchange of shirts (not sure why) and before he knew it, it was dark. He never made it to Patong but he did find the road back to Kata, so he started walking. A moto taxi slowed down to offer a ride, but kept going once he learned there was no money for the fare. As Gino's luck would have it, another moto slowed down and offered him a free ride. Needless to say, he was tired and hungry and fell asleep shortly after eating his favourite Kata meal - grilled meat, sitcky rice, hot peppers and garlic chunks. I'm a lucky, lucky girl.... 
