It's not everyday...

... that you are walking down the beach and see a baby elephant walking toward you. But that is exactly what happened. Seriously, a baby ELEPHANT. With a trunk, big ol' footprints and everything. But after a few seconds of staring at it in awe, this “oh my god” wonder was quickly dispelled when I saw the man walking next to the elephant with some treats he wanted to sell me so I could feed it. Poor elephant. Where did it come from? Where are its parents? Where does someone even get a baby elephant, and then convince it to walk the beach with you to get some money from the tourists?

Am I in the twilight zone?

And don’t even get me started on the stray dogs. Seriously, can’t something be done about it? Anything? I guess people feed them, so they become quasi-pet-like, but they are everywhere. Everywhere. One stole my water bottle the other day, after first ripping apart my garbage, and then it tried to steal my bag and sarong. "Oh you mean that big dog, brownish, who likes to steal all the tourists' shoes?" Yes, that one. "Oh he's just playing." Um, yeah, but those teeth could still bite me. Sonofa…

So yes, while all of you are shoveling snow, turning up the heaters, and preparing for Christmas, I am getting my belongings stolen by a stray dog whilst supposedly enjoying Thai beachy paradise. Have I mentioned that my fancy-schmancy (NOT) guesthouse has intermittent water problems (which is leaving me quite salty and sandy at the moment), and questionable toilet-flushing? Oh, and a raging karaoke bar around the corner (and good god these people cannot sing!) Note to self, next time, do a bit more research before deciding where to stay.

But hey, what can I expect for $6 per night?

I am just being melodramatic. It is fiiiiiiiiine, fine, really. Fine. I wanted to write and read and walk and relax and sit on the beach, so that is what I am doing. All this other stuff just makes it more ... interesting.