The dramatic clouds shifted and folded over one another as we sat on the deck of the ferry from Railay to Ko Phi Phi island. Even with the threat of rain on the horizon Chris and I held our ground because if Thailand has taught us one thing it’s that it doensn’t kill you to be wet. In fact it’s  a strange day if I haven’t jumped in the ocean for diving, snorkeling or a game of frisbee with Chris.
Our ferry started to make it’s way to the docks. Â As it did so I saw ahead of us Ko Phi Phi Ley, the island from “The Beach”. Dark silky water cradled it as clouds tried to suffocate it from above.
That night we slept on the beach with a woven mat, foam pillow and thin sleeping bag. Â The bucket probably helped with how comfortable it all felt when Chris and I found a spot on the sand where the tied wouldn’t get us.
Before I knew what was happening, Chris was yelling at me and I was running down the beach with the woven mat flopping behind me like a cape as I held it over my head for protection. The sleeping bag and pillow were stuck under one armpit and my hand oddly grasped my purse.
“The umbrellas! The umbrellas!” I yelled to Chris as we ran.
“What? What are you talking about? We don’t have umbrellas,” he hollered back as he bounced along the sand.
Apparently when it started raining on me while I was sleeping I started dreaming about umbrellas, and when I was half awake running down the beach I was convinced they were real and that we had left them behind. Oh goodness.
To say the least our sleep was quite uncomfortable. Nearly every part of me was wet, mosquitoes were having a feast and the humidity made the sleeping bag stick to my skin. Chris and I joined the rest of our group under the sheltered sleeping area which was made of tarps over pieces of ply wood. Besides the red bull, coke, Sangsom hangover, I was glad to wake up and enjoy looking at the beauty of the beach over a cup of Nescafe.
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