I have truly found paradise and I am not quite sure when I'll get myself unstuck. Wait, let me back up.

I spent a very fun two days in Bangkok. Met a lot of cool people, had a number of yummy drinks and late nights, discovered that Bangkok has the best shopping of any city I've ever been to (Jatochak Market (sp?)), got pampered from head-to-toe, had yet another failed attempt to go dancing (went out at 1:30 rearing to go only to find that the dance clubs close at 2 AM), got ripped off by a guy selling eighths of pine needles, ate more pad thai and Thai banana pancakes with chocolate and condensed milk (so, so good).

Met an incredibly complex Ugandan named Taabo who promotes a club on Khao San but whose real talent is creating Swahili hip hop. With him I met Jan, a Swedish-American dude who embodies what I believe most foreigners think of as a typical guy from the states, whatever that means.

Friday night, the oppresive heat finally got to me and in an uncharacteristically bold move, I decided to get my hair braided. 3 hours and 400 baht ($10) later, 4 members of a Thai family had put 70 little braids on my head and a smile on my face. Yesterday I decided they were kind of annoying and took them out on the ferry over to where I am now...

Ko Chang is absolutely paradise in the most postcard picture-perfect way. I came here with Oliver and Ty, two South African guys I met on Saturday night on Khao San Road. They're very cool blokes (pls. exz random Britishisms, haven't talked to an American since Jan) and when they mentioned at 1 AM over a drink during the England/Turkey soccer game that they were catching a 7:30 AM bus to Ko Chang, I told them I wanted to go.

< aside > There is currently a giant black flying insect on the floor next to me in this internet cafe/dive shop. He flew in, scared the crap out of me, I screamed, and now he has been on his back for about five minutes swiveling himself and waving his legs haplessly in a vain attempt to correct his unfortunate position. < / aside >

We arrived at Koh Chang (Elephant Island) on a car ferry and while we could see there is quite a bit of new development going on, Ko Chang is still one of the least visited islands (by foreigners at least... most tourists here are Thais) and now during the off-season especially, it is a dream come true. There's not even a complete perimeter road yet and the vibe is distinctively chill.

We checked into our little beach bungalow and dashed as soon as possible into the water. It's warm, almost too warm, and wonderful to float in. We were swimming on our west-facing beach at sunset on a cloudy day, and as the sun broke through just before it set, the white bungalow buildings turned orange. We stared in awe at the scene in front of us- the water, the sand, the orange sunlit bungalows with colorful hammocks hanging, the rainforest-covered mountains behind- and just as it couldn't get any better, a giant perfect rainbow formed, arching over the entire scene and framing it it like a painting.

After a very good dinner and several overpriced fruity drinks at Jah Bar, Ty, Oliver and I went for a midnight swim to watch an electrical storm that seemed to be everywhere but where we were. We heard the distant thunder and saw lightning jump from cloudtop to cloudtop in every direction and floated with the rain on our faces.

Today the guys went motorbiking while I putzed around the beach, got another massage, hung in my hammock, read, explored and absorbed the beauty of this place. Tomorrow, I plan to go hiking to some waterfalls and an elephant ride, and Thursday is an all day snorkle island hop around the little islands close by. But we'll see what really happens...