Off the island

Back in Bangkok after 5 days on the islands. Was pretty fun and a nice break but not surprisingly (for me anyway) not as relaxing as it probably should have been. Whenever I'm somewhere new and exotic, I have a very hard time not trying to do and see everything. "When will I ever be here again?" I say to myself as I run myself ragged. I'd been planing on 10 hr of sleep a night during this "vacation" but have probably averaged closer to 6. That's just me being stupid. Hopefully I can work on that a little from here on out, but doubtful.

Flew back early this morning and now its 11am and I'm already in my hotel in Silom (near my dentist) with a little time before my 3pm dentist apointment. I'm getting the Novocaine today. Last visit I first tried without Novocaine and it was pain like I'm never known before. Then tomorrow will be a busy day too. I have a meeting on the morning with Peter Dupont, head of the Eco-Asia Clean Development and Climate Change Program. They are doing many things in lighting, especially with CFLs and they are going to be setting up a lighting laboratory and CFL testing program. I want to learn a little more about what they are doing and see if there is any way I can help. Especially if that might mean a trip or two to come back here! Then I have another 3pm dentist appointment. My 2nd to last one (hopefully) and my very last one will be the day before I fly home, so I will essentially be free to leave Bangkok for the rest of the trip (which will only be a week...). Then I hope to catch an evening flight to Chaing Mai and hit the North for a week. Hiking and hopefully mountain biking. They also have "homestays" up there where you actually stay in someones house, help them cook, etc. Might be pretty interesting.

Anyway, overall the islands (4 days on Ko Phan-gnan, 1 day on Ko Samui) were great but probably could have been better if I was smarter. The festival was pretty cool, though largely got lost in the noise of the full moon party. The party was pretty fun too, but certainly would have been more fun if I was there with someone (though it was pretty easy to make friends with the friendly and extremely drunk crowd.) In retrospect, a quieter beach scene and a better place for the festival (Chaing Mai or maybe even Bangkok) would have been better. No major regrets though. Hard to not be happy with "great."