April 1st 2002

Woke up at 9ish to torrential rain which continued till 11am. Ventured out to try to find a "taxi." These are not taxis as we know them. You can't book one, they just appear on the horizon and if they happen to be going in your direction then they will take you. They are the only public transport as such, although lorries, etc. may stop if they feel like it, and will charge you the same fare. We found one going to White Sands and went to Ban Nura {authentic Italian cafe!?} for pizza and chicken kebabs with hot potato salad.

Strolled around the stalls looking for a gecko sarong for me, I'd seen one from the bike the other day and decided to buy it. Walked a fair way out of White Sands before a taxi came along and dropped us back near KB. Tried to find the massage lady, Dao says she will send her over if she sees her. Went back to S1, a cat is sitting by our chalet. She stalks in as if she owns the place and inspects it thoroughly, including the shower. She seems hungry so we feed her some Pringles, all we have food wise. She eats 2 but isn't keen, so leaves. Andrew's shoulder hurts, I think he must have damaged it holding the bike up - poor love.

There is torrential rain again, followed by a terrific storm, the loudest cracks of thunder I have ever heard. Sheet lightening lit up the whole sky. By 8pm we decided that it just wasn't going to stop, so we walked along the beach for dinner. The rain is warm here and it was bright enough to see. One of the 5 or 6 resident dogs here has adopted Andrew. She came running over to him shaking, obviously hating the storm, she stayed under our table till we left. We ate our meal and drank our beer continuing watching the storm, the K B does unfailingly good food and is on the beach but has a roof.

Back at S1 we find 100's of sand flies, come in from the rain. We spend time swatting them, the mozzie repellent plug in seems to be killing them too, our bed with the sparkling white sheets has become a fly cemetery. Yuk!