After getting off the ferry we caught a taxi to our hotel, both of them in fact, as the taxi driver got confused and took us to the wrong hotel. In fairness all of the hotels in the area had ‘River’ somewhere in their name, so it was understandable.

That night we went out to dinner and I had food for the first time in three days. I absolutely love food, so not being able to eat was torture, especially with my parents accidentally, or so they say, flaunting all the delectable goodies they were gorging themselves on. We walked along the river and there was a large open-air market with food stores selling all the Thai food you could possibly desire, plus drinks and desserts.

When we tried to order something a woman ushered us away from their stall, and had us sit down. We discovered that the market actually functioned as a giant sit down restaurant, with waitresses taking your orders, and delivering them to the different stalls all about the place. We wondered at the organisation and complexity of the system, and sure enough from different corners of the marketplace my noodles as well as my pineapple-dragonfruit juice arrived, and both were absolutely delicious.

I was feeling so much better than I had, and although I was weak, I was now able to walk around again. However just as I was getting better, my mum came down with the same nasty bug, although not as bad as I had it (although she disputes this). So plans were put on hold for the next couple of days, while my dad and I assumed the role of caregivers, and were tasked with nursing her back to health, which was challenging as she gets a bit *cough, cough* difficult *cough, cough* when she’s sick. She would get cranky at us for the most random things…

Example: The shower was just a nozzle and there was nothing to contain the water, so the bathroom looked like it had been hit by a tsunami after I had showered (it was unavoidable). Naturally being the darling that I am I mopped it up with the bathmat. My mum then got angry at me for making the bathmat so wet, but later got angry at my dad for not mopping up the water after he had a shower.

Once she was finally on the mend (we were all very much relieved) we took a bus (which was actually a ute with a cover on it, and had 5 children clinging onto a pole at the back, perched on a tiny ledge) to Ao Nang. Unfortunately however the beauty of the beach-side location was lost to us, as it immediately started pouring as soon as we got there, masking the sight in a cloud of darkness. We took refuge in a cafe while it rained, and by the time it stopped it was dark.

We walked back past the market stalls, and I heard a man out the front of one say, “You’re cute, I think I love you,” to me. I kept my vision straight forward and kept walking as fast as I could, and never actually saw him. Since then I have wondered whether this could have been love at first sight and if I should have not ran away so fast, but I have decided a) stranger danger, b) he was probably just trying to sell something and c) the long distance would never have worked, so I think I made the right call. Prince Charming will have to wait.

On the bus back we sat next to a girl who was Facetiming someone and talking in German. As I didn’t want to be that awkward person who listens to another person’s conversation when that person thinks you can’t understand, I introduced myself and we had a great chat in German. She’s actually from Switzerland, and was super lovely and encouraging of my German, even though I made tons of mistakes.

The next day we did a kayaking tour, which was the highlight of our time in Thailand. Our guide was very kind and accommodating, even assuring us that if we didn’t want to kayak ourselves, he would find a peasant to do the hard work for a small price. We politely declined, and I shared a boat with my dad, while my mum got to share with our guide, which was an excellent deal for her, as he did most of the work, while she just sort of splashed her paddle around a bit.

The views through the mangroves and of the cliffs were breathtaking, and every moment we were encapsulated by sights that looked like digitally-enhanced pictures from postcards. However not everyone was having as great a time as we were… Some English girls (who we talked to and were actually quite lovely) kept getting caught in the mangroves and bumping into rock walls. It was all the more funnier when the guide tried to help them out and they couldn’t understand what he was saying, and when he yelled, “Left!” they would go right. Although they were the least proficient kayakers, there were others in our group who also seemed out of their comfort zones. As a joke my dad asked the guide if we were the worst group he had ever had, to which he was notably unwilling to provide an answer.

After all that had gone wrong in getting to Thailand and during our stay, it seemed only fitting that leaving would also be a battle as well. Dad had lost his hat and eBook reader in airport security at Bangkok airport when we arrived, and was determined to retrieve it. My mum and I patiently waited as he left to look for it, and didn’t return until an hour later, empty handed.

Although he had been shown a photo of his possessions, they were unable to retrieve them from the room where they were being stored as it was after hours. But as my dad is a persistent man, he left again and returned half an hour later, again empty handed. As frustrating as the situation was, finally a somewhat acceptable compromise had been made. The stewardesses on the next flight leaving to Vienna would drop off his stuff, and Dad just had to talk to someone in Vienna to arrange pickup.

Simple, right? Nothing ever is…