Bed Bugs

We know we’re not long for Railay (too expensive, too crowded, too too) so we pack in the morning with a tricky climb up slippery red rocks to an absolutely gorgeous lookout point that reminds you why the place got popular to begin with. Then a scramble down to the hidden beach Johnny found the night before, only to discover that half of the other tourists on Railay had also discovered it. Still, we had a really nice swim in beautiful, clear turquoise water lapping both sand and cliff, and then hustled back to our resort in time to check out. Lunch on the nice beach, then a boat across to Ao Nang, our first mainland stop in Thailand. The town is really just a take off spot for various activities – island hopping, shopping, tons of massage parlors – but we decide to stay a couple nights to sneak in an 8-island tour. It was worth it – Rachel got to snorkel for the first time and absolutely loved it, we hiked around the island on which the film “The Beach” was shot, really beautiful spot, had a nice lunch on Koh Phi Phi (or Koh Poo Poo, if you don’t like crowds) and in general soaked in a lot of sun, sand, and pristinely blue water. The day was just about perfect…

Until Rachel discovered she’d been eaten alive by bed bugs the night before.

That’s right, bed bugs. Nasty, horrible, disgusting little bloodsuckers made breakfast, lunch and dinner out of her. Why did it take us a day of island hopping to discover this sad truth? Because bed bug bites take time to appear, sometimes as long as 9 hours, so as we hopped islands, Rachel sported more and more itchy red welts – and in all kinds of interesting locations that mosquitoes, at least when one is wearing clothes, can’t attack. By the time we got back to our hotel, Rachel was a bit of a disaster, and it was time to do some online research into the appearance and nature of bed bug bites, since neither of us had any previous experience. Yup – google confirmed our suspicions, and we had to move hotels. The good news is we upgraded significantly while downgraded our price – Johnny bargained us into a gorgeous room with a semi-outdoor, dark wooden tub that should be upwards of 2900 Baht for a mere 800 Baht – or about $22. Mini bar, TV, DVD player, outdoor tub, ac, big bathroom with a wall separating the shower (if you’ve been to Asia, you know how rare this is), complimentary flip flops and umbrellas, lovely décor – if you have to be miserably covered in itchy red welts, well that’s the kind of place to do it. The bath turned out to be a godsend, as hot water is a very relieving treatment for the itch of bedbug bites, so Rachel actually got some sleep after a good long soak. And… a viewing of “The Beach” on DVD, in honor of our 8-island tour.