The Green Blue Ball

My journey started in a Pub in Dorset,where one evening I heard an older couple discussing their plans to visit Thailand for a family wedding.. 'I'm thinking of travelling there too' I said...we sipped whiskey& listened to the mans big belly laugh as we put the world to rights.As I left, the lady handed me a small scrap of paper, smiled & said 'Find us'. Weeks later with my route planned, my beloved backpack (toots) , head crammed with lonely planet facts & two thai words, but no bookings & very limited funds, I found myself on a flight from London to Bangkok, armed also with a small scrap of paper marked 'ROD & JUDE,TIPA,CRABBIE' . They were due to arrive at that... address in approx. seven weeks. GOAL. I knew if I could find Rod & Jude in seven weeks time i was home dry. It had been two months in Thailand, pure madness on the Khao San road, crystal blue waters of koh tao, Parties under a full moon & sweet scented street food markets on Koh phangan, Phi Phi's rickety dust huts & powder white sand & Maya Bay with endless stars. Blood.Sweat.Tears .Greetings & Farewells. I had finally made my way from Phuket to Krabi, i ran from the boat dock to find what had become one of my favourite sights over the past weeks, a small determined thai woman with strong,warm eyes sweating over a griddle on the street side paying all her attention to the ingredients in front of her&sweating as she frantically scraped back and forth on the hob. Do not be fooled by the humble food cart , these women (& men) are master chefs. I wolfed down my Pad thai & Somehow after living on broken mattresses in huts for the past two months, I managed to hitch a ride with Gamon(which aptly means 'from the heart'), a friendly young thai chap in a CAR! Oh sweet air con, first cool air in weeks.I explained & showed Gamon the piece of paper & by some miracle, 5 hours later we pulled up at the Tipa resort. The midday sun blazing down & as i exited the vehicle Gamon reminded me to always lead 'from the heart' as he thought i had a good one, i thought the same of him. The resort was too beautiful for the few baht i had left so i swiftly booked into a hostel next door & feeling like a pauper in a kingdom slumped up to the reception & wearily handed over the scrap of paper i had been desperately clinging to for the past two months, the hotel room phone rang... a women's voice... 'Hello, ..' & a familiar big belly laugh. A tear rolled down my cheek. I was home dry.