I arrived back in Bangkok on Christmas Eve, met up with my friends Blake, E, Danielle, Jason, and Matt from the TESOL course in Phuket and spent 3 nights on Khao San Road along with about 3 million other backpackers. Or so it seemed anyway. Khao San is a place of chaos: endless offers of custom tailored Armani suits, cheap “massages”, bed-bug laden guesthouses, and relentless lady-boys and tuk-tuk drivers made for quite an interesting weekend. One amazing little bar tucked down an alleyway, Happy Bar, did offer a break from the insanity – good live reggae music will never fail to put me in a good mood. But after 60 hours of the madness that is Khao San Road we were all quite ready to get as far away from Bangkok as we could.
So four of us took a bus 5 hours south to Trat, where we boarded a ferry to Ko Chang, the second-largest island in Thailand. The island is still much less developed than Phuket and some of the other more touristy resorts, so the beaches are a bit less crowded and yet still just as beautiful. We stayed in some pretty basic bungalows right on Lonely Beach in Bailan Bay, fully equipped with mosquito nets. There were even water buffalos grazing around in front of our porches and under the guesthouses.
The beaches stretch around the entire perimeter of the island, but if you venture inland you quickly find yourself surrounded by deep jungle terrain and a lot of exotic wildlife. As we drove our motorbikes to the Nam Tok Khlong Plu waterfall, we had to stop to let some elephants cross the road, and later, as we were hiking to the fall, a somewhat menacing looking snake slithered by a few feet in front of us. The waterfall itself flows into a little rock and granite cove; you can swim right up to the base of the fall and tread there as water comes crashing down over your head. 
Just imagine using the highest pressured showerhead in the world…it was extremely refreshing. After swimming around the cove for a while we rock climbed up the side of the fall until we had reached a little ledge to stand on, then cliff jumped down back into the bay below.
I didn't get the chance to do any diving, but instead went sea kayaking for a few hours in the Gulf of Thailand and through some small nearby rivers. E’s friend Rich works at the Amari Resort here in Ko Chang and guided us around for the afternoon. Apparently, I am only the second person to ever capsize during one of his trip. Later, we were having a drink on the beach, and JUST as I was describing how I
had capsized earlier, my chair tipped over in the sand and I collapsed to the ground on my back. So smooth of me…it might have been the most ironic moment of my life.
With the exception of one miserable morning, I did not cross paths with gluten in Ko Chang. I didn’t stray too far from my normal routine of fried eggs, green curry, steamed rice, and many, many M&Ms and Lays’ originals, but twice indulged in some delicious authentic beef tostadas at an amazing Mexican restaurant, Barrio Bonito. The place itself is really chill, with couches and cushions everywhere, crazy rock structures and plants, even a pool of water to relax in. And the owner actually knows what gluten is, and can point out which items are okay to eat. Now it's back in Bangkok for New Years Eve, where 2011 will start waaay before it does for all of you back home. My 2010 has been absolutely crazy, 
I have come so far from where I was a year ago health-wise. Tonight, Blake, Danielle, E and I are staying up all night, boarding a flight to Kuala Lumpur at 7:15 in the morning, and connecting to Incheon in the afternoon. It will be brutal to trade the 90 degree paradise that I've enjoyed the last two months for the sub-freezing temperatures in South Korea, but I start work as an English camp teacher on Monday and am excited for the next step. A very Happy New Years to all of my friends and family and random blog stalkers...make some great resolutions and then give them up in 2 weeks. I'll be spraying champagne out for all of you.
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