Fire Dancing

My first night in a shared room with Michella is done and it was awful; not because of Michella but the heat! It is so much hotter in this room than my old one so trying to sleep was a mission last night. I cannot wait for Saturday night when I go back to air conditioning, I never quite realised how essential it is as the fan just doesn’t do much.

Me and Georgia were due to go Muay Thai this morning, but our muscles are complaining so we decided we would have a rest day so as not to cause ourselves anymore discomfort. I was pleased though as this also enabled me to have a lie in and try to sleep a bit more. We left the resort about 10am to make our way to the Koh Tao leisure park which had crazy golf, a few bars and apparently an A/C cinema. We played 1 game of crazy golf which lasted nearly 2 hours for 18 holes simply as the course was difficult and our evident lack of practice. On 1 hole I got it in after 45 and Georgia after 41 hits! The total par for the course was 72 but I got 144 and Georgia got 148 in

total; all I can say is I am glad we the only ones on the course so we did not embarrass ourselves! The walk to the golf took around half hour from the hotel and in the heat, just had us absolutely drenched in sweat by the time we got there, so after we eventually finished the game, we went and sat in the bar with the fans and played Jenga before our walk back. The first round went on for some time, but I cannot say the same for the second round.

The walk back seemed more bearable as we stopped off halfway at a vegan café to grab some lunch, so I just had some sweet potato fries and a caramel Frappuccino; the fries were incredible and just filling enough. The café was decorated nicely with large windows, rustic looking wooden tables and benches with plants by the windows and on the tables – it had a warm feel to it. We did debate going to sit by the pool, but in the end decided that our beds sounded like a better idea at this current time as we were now aching even more from the walk. Around 6pm we met back up and I went and got a leg and foot massage in the hope that it would loosen me up enough so I can get back to Muay Thai tomorrow. The massage only cost me £7 yet lasted an hour and came with a green tea and banana afterwards, so I found it really good value for money. The massage alone was so worth it as I could feel my legs loosen under her touch but the bonus of sitting in an air con room was worth the £7 alone. After the massage, we set off to find some dinner; we walked up the beach path to a small café which done many vegan options as well as the most incredible cheese & bacon burger meal that I have tasted since London. The burger was thick and pink, with a lovely crispy brioche bun.

Not ready to return to the room for another early night we decided we would go sit on the beach with a wine spritzer which cost about £1 from the supermarket each and watch the fire show. The 1 spritzer turned into 5 and the hours started ticking by as we sat there mesmerised by these men dancing, both individually and in sync with fire batons, holding them in their mouths, twirling it over their stomach as they limbo all the way till their head touches the ground. I would say that I guess their core must be strong, but I did not have to guess as I could see for myself just how strong their core was. The show finished and one of the performers came over to me and apparently had taken a liking to me, I found this very flattering, especially out of all the girls watching the show - he looked crushed when I told him I was engaged though. I made my way back shortly after this to rest my weary head praying that the room would be cooler now that it was later, unfortunately it was not…