Wednesday 4 June 2008

Stung in the sun when I should be having fun

Today I abandoned my bike and rode on the back of Ric's. I've rather gone off biking after yesterday, but it's really the only way to get around Koh Phangan. I don't fancy those hills on a push bike, though I've seen people try!

The damage I did yesterday has cost me 125 squid and I lost my new silver bracelet in the fall!! Seems steep for a few superficial scratches. I am not amused.

In an effort to banish my sense of annoyance I made a point of getting a Thai massage today and it was great! It was quite intense what with the lady pulling my limbs half out of their sockets. I was twisted, squeezed, pummelled, knelt on and rubbed with a gel that looked and smelt like Tiger Balm. Fabulous.

Ric being less than enthusiastic about massages, opted for a 'Herbal Sauna' but it stung his eyes and he had to keep coming out for a shower. It completely wiped him out too and he was in bed by 8!

We played around for hours in the hotel pool this morning with my camera. It's so hot here that it didn't matter that the rain was falling hard. It's the first we've experienced in Thailand and is something of a relief occasionally. Soothing almost. How very English I am!

I need to be soothed at the moment. You'd think after nearly two months on holiday I'd be nice and relaxed. Alas no. Not always anyway. Gosh, I wonder if I should write about this kind of thing:

I'm not a religious person any more but I'm afraid I do believe my Obsessive Compulsive voice that pops out of nowhere telling me that I must do this and that or bad things will happen. I suppose you could call it a kind of superstition. It's irrational but utterly compelling. Usually when I don't do the said activity (be it walking round a lamp post, retracing my steps, touching things a certain number of times etc.) the worry passes and nothing comes of it. None of the bad things ever happen.

Back home, I felt more or less on top of it. I could conceal it better too. Since leaving London however, I have felt more and more possessed, for want of a better word. I can see it's bonkers and yet it's almost impossible to shake off. After a couple of days of relatively bad luck here in Phangan I'm seriously contemplating the feasibility of going all the way back to Koh Tao just so I can walk down the road next to the pier and back, as that is where I believe the problem lies. At least that's what the OCD tells me. Crazy or what??!!

It fills me with horror and frustration this problem. I'm thinking about hypnotherapy quite seriously now. After all, what haven't I tried over the years? It's hilarious in a way that I am still doing the things I feel I really should have grown out of a long time ago, say, about the time I stopped sucking my thumb.

Poor Ric. What an awful burden I am at times. At least I'm not moaning about my bites...
He reckons the cure is to eat chicken, as always.

In spite of the damn mosquitoes, Ric's on a roll here, creatively. I think it's good for him to have a bit of downtime and a relief for us both to do nothing but eat, watch sunsets and play around in the pool. Watching the telly seems to inspire him and he's come up with loads of ideas for his own. His friend back in Manila has also rekindled his once fervent passion for film-making. Who knows where he may take in in Australia? I just wish I was more of a buff so I could talk about it with him more knowledgeably.

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