Welcome Home .....(!!??!!)

So we said our Goodbyes and we were taken to the bus station by Dom, Melanie, Ingrid, Sunle and Dr Tao. It was nice to have a full send off but very sad to say Good Bye. We really enjoyed Dom & Melanie's company along with Ingrid and Sunle. And so it was off to Khuraburi.

We got there real quick and we jumped off the bus (well in Joanna's case, she fell off the bus - we laughed but it could have led to an unhappy ending and a super short trip) and there we were in a manky dusty old town that goes by the name of Khuraburi! :)

As soon as we were off the bus M (that's her name, well nickname, Thais all have nicknames here which makes it easier for us Pharangs - foreigners) was there telling us all about her bungalows that we could check into. Like the green backpackers we were, we said ok lets take a look and ended up saying yes before looking at the competition. Apart from the Deet Slick on the floor that night to stop the stream of ants ...it was ok. :) So all checked in and ready to go we booked a taxi (pick up truck) to the beach 5 k away and went for a walk and what did we find?

We walked along the beach, heading north and in the general direction of back to our friends at the WARF project when we happened upon this beach. We were told that there was a village a couple of beaches down but we didn't expect 'The Beach'!!!

OMYGOD.... we walked along this beach and I thought it was strange that the 'villagers' lived in tents. We stumbled across the Rainbow group... apparently. Walking along the beach we were being stalked by this white guy who was walking inside of the treeline. He came out to greet us, he was Swiss, wearing Y Fronts (!!!) and his hair up in something that resembled a turban.... they we the left over group of 800 Full Moon hippies that gathered there for the 'Rainbow Festival' They lived in tents and in tree houses and were a community much like that in the film The Beach....

It was hilarious, we were invited in to the 'Kitchen' for Pineapple tea, which I had one sip of and they all approached with happy smiles arms outstretched saying 'Welcome Home'. All we could see was a lot of hair approaching, like a lot of underarm hair, and we some how both avoided those hugs which were acoming!! hehehe OMYGOD it was surreal.

Some were naked and there were at least three kids running around (also naked, of course) We joked that we were not coming home but more like Tourists that needed visas, they seemed to like the joke and offered us a stay (should we so wish) on our return from Ko Surin the island opposite (60km opposite) of course we are now in Khao Lak another 70k further south haha phew.....

Yep