Fun in the (Blazing) Sun on a Catamaran!

Today is our last day on the island of Samui which makes me think to myself in a very whiny voice, I don't wanna go back to China... sigh. More to the point, I don't want to fly all night on a Chinese airline... for whatever reason Asian airlines schedule flights all through the night with only one option for the one you want - weird and makes for unbearable traveling!

Anyway, focusing on the fun stuff... (don't you love this picture? It's one of my favorites I've taken so far!)

Yesterday we did the most amazing thing - we booked a catamaran for half a day and sailed and snorkeled around the island! We were so excited - we both love sailing and neither of us had ever been on a catamaran before... there is something about being suspended above the bright blue ocean on the net in between the two hulls that I think is kind of magical! I told Curt I felt like I was on the Bachelor, but it was better because I knew him, haha!

The sun was blazing, but we had a nice breeze and the temperature was so nice. The ocean was beautiful greens and blues where the sandbars litter the deep, and it was just us two on a huge net with cute little Ray sailing us slowly around the island (Ray was our Thai guide - so cute, probably early twenties, and so timid with his English but he was great)!

We had the best time - we went snorkeling in two different areas of the island, and it wasn't perfectly clear but really cool kicking it around the shallows. There are different kinds of life in the shallows so we had fun checking it all out. What I find funny is that I am more nervous snorkeling than diving. When I have to clear my mask I worry about stirring up the bottom so I flail a little bit trying to tread water in the top two inches of the surface and then end up sucking water in my snorkel - LOL! I know it sounds weird but when it comes to breathing underwater, I'm ten times more comfortable 60 feet below the surface than at 1 foot, apparently! Though with no gear, I have to say there is nothing like the feeling of swimming in general... water makes me feel at home and one of my favorite things is to feel water rushing through my fingers and toes.

The second spot we went snorkeling in Ray said he wanted to get in the water and check for "jelly shell." I wasn't sure if I understood him correctly with his accent, so I paused, repeated what he said in my head, and then asked, "jellyfish?" He blushed and said yes, and sorry that his English wasn't great... it was SO adorable... I quickly reassured him it was awesome and thanked him for checking for us - it was so sweet! He got in and swam around the boat for a few minutes and let us know we were all clear. He told us how big they were so we could watch for them so you can sure bet I was!

Curt and I developed a good snorkeling system though which we're unable to employ scuba diving, but holding hands helps me to keep track of him and show him things (and vice versa) while we're unable to speak, though we did explore a snorkel language which made us laugh and made me suck in more water! We saw crabs, lots of little fish, some of which we've seen before in the deeper waters, and some new fish we've never seen that were really interesting!

We got rained on a little towards the end, but the coolness of it felt good so we didn't care. When our trip was over, I knew we'd be a little crisp later, but I was hoping it wouldn't be too bad. I applied sunscreen to Curt 3 times, myself once, but like yummy chocolate chip cookies, we kept baking after out of the oven! We decided we'd go straight in for our massage because we were worried it would hurt if it were delayed it too much. There were people in our favorite hut, so we waited about an hour - I finished my book about Gutenberg and Curt worked on labeling Epic photos, and then we walked back down for another delicious massage - this time with Aloe for Curt (fresh from the plant with ice!) and more Lemongrass oil for me... love, love, love!

Curt was starting to really show the redness and he couldn't understand how we were both in the sun for the same amount of time, I applied MUCH less sunscreen than he did, and how I already looked bronze with a slight tinge of red instead of the bright red tomato color he was turning. It is simple, I told him, I am a child of the sun and belong in her rays - it's in my blood.

Poor guy, though - he is in pain. Our learned lesson is that it doesn't seem that spray sunscreens work as well as lotions (even if they claim to be waterproof) so I'll have to work even harder next time to keep him slathered up. His stomach is the worst so we're working hard to keep him caked in Aloe - hopefully our travel won't be too hard on him...

Later after we rested a bit we got ready for dinner and took the scooter out on the town. We had a lovely meal, then hit a stand for a thin Thai pancake for dessert - they are SO YUMMY! The other night I had strawberry, lime juice, and sugar on mine, and this time I tried cinnamon, sugar, and chocolate syrup which was also delicious! Then back to the hotel for some TV and early bed - the sun had sapped our strength!

Today we've had a nice breakfast on the water and are just chilling out trying to rest up in anticipation for tonight. Time to get back to the real world, I guess!

Hope everyone is having a great day!

Here are pictures from our other camera that we just downloaded:

An example of the different colors from sand to deep blue...

Me as Speed Racer (we have the same helmet) doing some shopping

Curt on his Road King, haha (his helmet matches our scooter!)

Our very cute room / bungalow at Corto Maltese (it's a half level so this is from the ground)

My feet with some very fun Henna!

Beautiful rock jutting out of the sea (from the boat when we were on our way back from diving at Sail Rock)

About 100 paces out of our bungalow :-)

Two kids having a ton of fun (pictured on the dive boat)