Orchids in my Hair, i don't care :)

Indeed, it was one of the most carefree days that I've had in about a week. Naturally, I got up around 7:30am and strolled to Coffee and Beer guesthouse have a proper American style breakfast. Poached eggs with sweet chili sauce on top, buttered toast, tomatoes and coffee. It totally hit the spot after a physically, mentally and emotionally taxing week. My comrades and I hustled over to make the 10:00am ferry to our beloved Koh Larn, the island experience we'd been dreaming about ever since we got here on Sunday.
The ferry ride over was lovely--we made friends with some amiable Russian folks, who we see a lot of here in Pattaya. Not quite sure why that is, but that's another story.

We arrive at our magical destination about maybe twenty five minutes later. We hopped out of the subsequent long tail boat which took us almost to shore, splashing in the gently lapping waves as we walked toward the umbrellas. Jewel-toned, crystal blue water, white sand, white orchids in the coconut shake, purple cushions for the reclining chairs--it was pretty damn perfect. The kind of scene people think about when they think of "getting away from it all". Carefree. No schedule. No watch. No nothing. Fair skin tends to not do so well in sun soaked settings, so for the most part I opted to stay under the cool shade of my umbrella with my coconut shake, reading Eat, Pray, Love. However, I definitely had to take a couple of waist-deep dips in the water to further cool myself off.

The afternoon pushed on and eventually we dragged ourselves back home, totally beat by the heat. Definitely had to stop by our favorite Lebanese place to grab some melt-in-your-mouth-goodness Doner kebabs before making the song-tao ride back to the guesthouse. Later, we made our way back down to Walking Street in search of a nice place to sit down, get some grub and catch the beauty of the sunset. The seafood was overpriced and bland, but what we really ended up paying for was our view. Literally seated smack dab in the middle of the strip of pier restaurants--the perfect vantage point to witness one of the most perfect sunsets I've ever seen.

And now, I'm sitting in what will be my room for the next week, contemplating how unclear my next steps are. Where am I going to end up? Koh Samui? Koh Phangan? Krabi? Chiang Mai? No clue. I'm just taking things day by day here because that's all I can do. I can only operate from this moment in time. A lot of shit has gone down this week, and I finally realized that this is the point where I start to operate on a solo basis instead of the refuge I take in a group setting. I am on my own. Unsettling? Kind of, since I just started dealing with this thought last night. It's all stewing in my headspace--everything that I've seen and experienced, and everything that I have felt in the past three weeks. It has been one hell of a ride, and I think it's proving to be a lot more interesting in the coming weeks. My plan to deal with everything that comes up is to constantly remind myself that I'm on my path (however it shows up), I can't mess up, and that I'm perfectly guided, safe and loved through all of it. Thank Goodness!