The way we roll, island style

We went to the busy side of the island yesterday. Although there are a lot more food options (we had pizza at a Mexican place called El Gringo; the place featured a dessert called "trio delight," which consisted of a scoop of one type of ice cream), the trip made us realize we had made the right choice staying on the quiet side of the island. The beach is better and there are a lot fewer people.

We did have fun in town, though. We went to a place featuring "island style" bowling.
The floor was made of cheap laminate wood which had warped in the heat, and the pins were hand set every time by a guy waiting on the end of the lane. It definitely wasn't first-class bowling, but it was fun.

During the lazy days, we've been passing some of the time playing cards.
But the other night, our deck was destroyed when they got left in a puddle of condensation from a beer bottle while we ate. So in town I went in quest of a new deck. Gambling is illegal in Thailand, and card playing isn't very popular. I searched about six mini-marts for cards; prices ranged from $6 to $9 a deck! Finally at the seventh place I found a deck for $3. It constantly amazes me how some things over here can be so much more expensive than back home. (Except for things like cheese; I understand why that's expensive, even though the prices make me sad.)

We have a couple more days on the island, and then I head south to Malaysia. A friend who is already there says alcohol is really expensive (it's a Muslim country), so I'll probably bring a couple of bottles of Thai whiskey across the border with me.

To get to where I'm going, I have a seven-hour boat ride to the mainland, then a nine-hour night train to the border. Then I cross the border and take two buses to the pier, then I get back on a boat to head to Pulau Perhentian Kecil. But then I get to stay in place for several weeks before heading off to a different island on a different continent.