Feb. 5-6, 2013 - Koh Lanta, Thailand

Feb. 5-6, 2013 - Koh Lanta, Thailand
Feb. 5th:

The 5th was a very long day.  We took the night boat from Koh Tao to the east coast of Thailand.  Then a bus to the west coast of Thailand and then another minibus from Krabi to Koh Lanta via a 3 hour drive and a ferry.  All along the way the drivers and people arranging our transport were real assholes.  They were very short with people about the smallest things.  Our driver from the East to West was literally yelling in Thai to all the people in our minivan about the windows being down while the A/C was on.
There was apparently a really bad smell in the back of the van (Alene and I had the front and couldnt smell it) so the consensus of the van was to ride with the A/C off and the windows down.  That only latest about 20 seconds before the guy started his yelling fit.  Then a guy at one of stopovers was passing out stickers to let the drivers know the locations we needed to go to.  He yelled at a girl because she wanted a to wear the sticker on her shirt rather than her skin.  It was so weird and those are just a few examples at how moody these people where.  When we finally arrived to Koh Lanta the minibus driver dropped us off at a 7-Eleven and told us our hotel would pick us up in 10 minutes.  Not the case.  We waited for 45 minutes before deciding to pay the almost $20 fair to our bungalow in the south of the island.  BAH!!!! We finally checked in around 4pm.  Long long day.  And we didnt do much but read and have dinner on the beautiful secluded beach.
It was about the time we got checked in that I really started getting worried about the blisters on my toes.  The blisters were from my fins while SCUBA diving.  They started on the first dive and I just kept wearing the same fins for all 5 dives.  They were pretty good blisters.  The area around the blisters and parts of my foot were beginning to turn red and swell accompanied by some incredible pain.  So much so that it kept me awake the night before.   I asked the local staff if there was a clinic close by and how I could get there.  The best they could do was give me supplies to clean it out and offer a shuttle for the next day.  OK, sure, it wasn't that bad yet, but I seriously want to keep all my 10 toes.  They helped me clean it and put some weird stuff from a capsule on it and wrap it.  I decided to put off going to the doctor until the next day.

Feb 6th:

We slept in and had breakfast around 9:30.  We also arranged to get the 11am shuttle to the clinic, which, of course, didn't show up until about 12:15.  Its a good thing I wasn't bleeding out.  We finally got to the clinic and, of course, had to wait in line.  I finally saw the doctor and he told me exactly what I thought he would. Its infected and I need some stronger anti-biotics.  The Dr. visit cost me 500Baht, the cleaning and dressing cost 600Baht and the antibiotics cost me 2700Baht.  That's over a hundred bucks on 2 stupid toes.  BUT like I said I really do wanna keep all 10 of em and I'm hoping my travel insurance will reimburse me later.  So now I have to take 3 pills a day for 5 days and I CANT GO SWIMMING UNTIL THE WOUND HEALS.  Its supposed to be beach month!!!!!!!!!  hahahahah.  And on top of that my allergies are going crazy.
But on the positive side:  The sun is shining, I can still sit on the beach, I can still drink fruity drinks, and I still have all my toes (for now).  Also, we are pretty far from town and our beach is amazing.  Very few people and all you hear are the waves lapping up on the shore.  All in all, it hasn't been too horribly bad. Its just been a long irritating and painful 3 days.  The next week should be pretty easy and smooth.  Going to Koh Phi Phi and then Phuket and then Singapore for 4 days.  
 

These pics are from early this morning, but ya get the idea of how awesome our little beach bungalow place was.

What I have learned:
The doctor should spend more of that money he is making on a better wig.  That thing was awful.  It was horribly poofy and weird and not the right color.  He should just go bald. That would be a better option.

What I have learned:
I'm fine with long train rides, bumpy bus rides, and boring boat trips, but when people start being rude I lose my temper and my patience rather quickly.