So that was that for Vietnam. To be honest, I'm kinda glad to be rid of the place even though it was really tempting to stay while I was there. I guess getting attached anywhere would do that to you.

I've come to about the halfway point of my trip (it's been since November 16!), and about a week ago I decided to get the hell out of Southeast Asia. I think I've just about had enough, and it's time to swich gears before India. But before switching gears, I have to put in the clutch and take some time to readjust. And, since I'm new at riding stickshifts, I'm gonna ride with my foot on the clutch for as long as I can. Two weeks, actually.

Basically, I've accumulated a laundry list of things to do before I leave this part of the continent. It's kinda like an international scavenger list, and so far has been making traveling a lot more interesting. For one, I left my iPod with this girl I was sharing a room with (no, not "sharing a room with") in Dalat, just before staying on the Vietnamese farm. Then she hurried up the coast of Vietnam while I was passing out fliers in Nha Trang. I managed to take the (fucking) 36 hour bus ride (!) straight to Hanoi before she left the country and take my iPOD with her, so after almost a month I'm now reunited with my one true companion out here, Mac.

So I flew back to Bangkok after relearning the hard way that I'll always be late for any flight anywhere in the world (I came to the airport 40 minutes before the flight, where they threatened to not let me on and then let me on but then realized I had to talk to the immmigration police for 20 minutes because I was late on my Visa and then checked my bags for me while I was talking to the police so I had a few minutes to spare before they closed the plane doors. I think they let me through security with my swiss army knife just to get rid of me). I digress. In Bangkok I had to pick up a Packsafe from a hostel (this chickenwire that wraps around my backpack) that I left with my friend in Pai 2.5 months ago. I also had to fix my digital camera, which is now broken in 2 different ways (the LCD's broken and I've got sand in the zoom lens mechanism), and it took visiting two Cannon Service Centers before someone could tell me it would cost $150 but might be free if the warranty covers it and I ship it home to the States. I'm shipping it home just in case and waiting to buy a cheap knockoff digicam in India, which kinda pisses me off since now I'm in some of the most beautiful scenery I'll ever see and I don't have my camera. Hooray for being "in the moment."

Now I'm on Ko PADI (formerly Ko Tao before all these dive operators moved in), taking the 4-day Open Water Scuba certification lesson 'cause this is where I've been told is the best (and cheapest) place to take it. One more thing to check off my list. After this I head to Ko Pangan where I can check off two more things on my list, go to the "New Moon Party" (which is supposed to be cooler and smaller than the massive Full Moon party) and, more importantly, meet this guy who owes me $75 that I lent him around the same time I lost my packsafe.

Basically I'm doing my housekeeping before setting out again. I'll head to Bangkok, buy new clothes and supplies, and take the next flight to Calcutta... provided I don't get stuck anywhere in paradise. For some reason I'd much rather prefer standing on a train packed chest to elbow to face to knee to back with sweaty Indians in the boiling heat for 10 hours across the most polluted parts of the world. I'm trying to figure out why as well.