Happy New Year!

Did you know that it is the year 2553?
Yeah, I didn't know either until we got to Thailand. We landed in the beautiful, clean, and efficient city of Bangkok (despite what the media says!) on April 9th and just a few days later the New Year's celebrations commenced. The Thais celebrate the New Year, and the date, based on the birth of Buddha rather than Christ- hence the year 2553!
As you may have heard, there was a lot of trouble in Bangkok during the New Year's "festivities". Luckily, Matt and I got out of the city just in time in order to head to the south where all the famous Thai beaches are located. We left the city on the eve of the protests and trouble- good timing! To be honest, it wasn't very well-publicized at the beach island we went to first, and I actually didn't know much about any of the trouble until I received a lot of emails from family and friends asking if we were OK!
To make a long story short, we are OK. It looks like the Thai government has made some peace with the protesters and also decided to extend the three-day New Year's holiday to five days. Maybe we should try protesting around Christmas in the U.S., eh?
So, the first beach we stayed at is called Railey Beach, in the southern most part of Thailand. We spent four awesome nights there, mostly in the water and trying to stay cool. There were two main beaches, each with soaring cliffs and emerald green waters. The sunsets on (of all names) Sunset Beach were the most beautiful I have ever seen. After four nights, we decided it was time to find a new paradise that also provided good opportunities for snorkeling and diving.
We are now at Koh Tao, on the end of the island that has only about three or four hotels. It is very remote- Matt and I are staying in a bungalow overlooking the beach for a grand total of $14/night. It is absolute paradise here! We went snorkeling today and only had to swim about 15 feet before seeing extremely healthy coral and tons of tropical fish. This is some of the best snorkeling I have ever done!
Sorry to be so brief...but the one drawback to being here is the internet. It is really pricey, and so I have to limit my time. (really, it is OK not being a slave to the internet, believe me!)
But I wanted to write a quick update and maybe a few highlights so far...here's a few parting images:
1) Lazing around on the hammock provided on the deck of our cheap and beautiful bungalow
2) Enjoying the pool at our previous hotel on Railey- complete with a humongous cliff in the background and rock climbers to gaze upon.
3) Watching Matt eat spicy Thai food for lunch: I have never seen the man sweat so much! I mean, his ANKLES were sweating!
4) Being attacked by Thais all three days of New Year's- the tradition is to spray people with water guns and put white paint on their faces! One night, I was on the beach after Matt had gone in and a little boy came up and assaulted me with his super-soaker. I decided to take matters into my own hands and jumped up to grab the water gun from him. He pointed at my water bottle and said, "There's water!' and then he took off. I chased after him and a great water fight ensued!
5) The high-speed fancy boat over to Koh Tao, complete with Thai music videos for entertainment!
6) The food. YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (and did I mention Matt's sweat?) :)
I probably won't be updating the blog again until we get back to Bangkok in a little over a week. So, enjoy for now and talk to you soon!