There are Lots of Jellyfish in the Sea

"It's not very nice" -Lucas

More harsh rains overnight led to a beautiful morning and my five mile tempo run along the beach which was pleasantly distracting from the tempo (that and I was running for the ultimate reward, (no no not qualifying for Boston) a watermelon shake. Sometimes life is about instant, refreshing and delicious satisfaction in the from of a fruit slushy. 

After the shake last nights leftovers were just as amazing as I hoped they would be. The thai take away "containers" are only plastic bags and I wonder if this is better than plastic containers from an environmental standpoint. It would seem that it would be. 

Next up in an attempt at maximizing my massages I searched for a massage place that looked upstanding. I found one with the opening line: "No Happy Massages Here, Only Happy Customers."  I paid three dollars more for this guarantee. The massage today was what I imagine being assaulted by an angry foam roller would be like. Holy moly it hurt. They should advertise pink lips and rosy cheeks (from biting your lip and enduring pain) as part of their massage benefit. In the end I felt amazing (perhaps the post massage tea was spiked with muscle relaxer). I am choosing not to reflect on the actual hour of the massage. 

My island hopping tour was cancelled today because of rough water, but since it was my last full day (& against my better judgement) at the beach I asked Bea (who is married to a man named A) to see if she could find one that was not cancelled. She did! Hooray??? So off I went to swim and snorkel and island hop into the sunset. 

The first tour was probably correct. Rough water was a bit of an understatement. It was closer to the movie set they recreate for you at universal studios when you are dressed in a full on rubber suit and galoshes trying in vain to steer the fake boat out of the storm. Picture two unfortunate Chinese women throwing up over opposite sides of the small longboat while getting hit in the face with waves and our poor thai guide struggling to get life jackets on them while Igor, Lucas and I watched wide-eyed. I should note that we made it safely to all of our destinations. The first island we swam and walked and played on the beach (Igor got stung by a medusa, he is Basque).

Then the next 3 we snorkeled (the first snorkeling stop is where I got stung. Just on the leg and it didn't hurt nearly as bad as the massage).

Kah, our in charge guy let me ride on top of the boat from island to island because again I was the only one swimming without a life jacket. The water was still rough but we're going slow so I was ok on the top (I wanted to dispel any visions of me hanging on for dear life while attempting to snap pictures with my IPhone).

The 5th island we hung out and watched the sunset against the limestone peaks. 

On the beach there is still a ton of debris from the Tsunami of 2004 that hit this area (which killed thousands). Ao Nang wasn't as badly hit as some places but there are constant reminders of the tsunami in evacuation signs and large pieces of debris. Our sunset beach was no exception. 

After the sunset we had a BBQ and fire show from out boat guides. I had heard the fire show was dangerous for both the performers and the onlookers and this turned out to be somewhat true. The moral of the story is don't stand too close or bring some type of burn treatment. 

Then on to swimming with the bioluminescent phytoplankton. They took the boat to a cove and then turned out all of the lights. It was a blue black dark because the moon wasn't out. He first dumped the water onto the floor of the boat so we could all see. Then told us we could swim but we had to stay close to the boat. Oddly the first two in the water were two women who had earlier admitted they could not swim (both Chinese) and the first one bobbed quite quickly away from the boat while our guide screamed "Lady! Lady! Close to the boat! Medusa! (jelly fish!) !" To no avail. 

The bobbing turned into panic and not quite screaming (more of a painful  loud exclamation). She was pulled into the boat and the jelly fish appeared to have wrapped around her leg and hand. In the 20 min it took us to return to the dock I doubt she could no longer bend her leg. They doctored her with water, lemon, and vinegar (no one attempted the Friends creates urban legend of peeing on her). 

Lucas summed it up as he had done most of the day. "That is not very nice." This time he was spot on. 

Below is the Mayo Clinics two cents on home remedies for jelly fish stings 

The best treatment for you may depend on the type of jellyfish that stung you. But most stings can be treated with these simple remedies:

• Remove stingers. Remove any pieces of jellyfish tentacle in your skin by rinsing the wound with seawater. You can also try gently scraping off the stingers with the edge of an ID card or a credit card. Avoid getting sand on the wound. And don't rinse with fresh water or rub the area with a towel, as these actions may activate more stingers.
• Rinse with vinegar or apply a baking soda paste. Rinse the affected area with vinegar for about 30 seconds. Or apply a paste of baking soda and seawater. Each method may deactivate the stingers of some types of jellyfish.
• Take a hot shower or apply ice packs. Hot water — as hot as you can tolerate but not above 113 F (45 C) — and ice packs may help ease pain.
• Take a pain reliever and apply lotions. Apply calamine lotion or lidocaine to help relieve itching and discomfort.

Remedies to avoid

These remedies are unhelpful or unproved:

• Human urine
• Meat tenderizer
• Solvents, such as formalin, ethanol and gasoline
• Pressure bandages