I think my body is finally caught up to Thailand time, because my internal alarm woke me up at 9am and there was no going back to sleep!

I spent the morning planning my next move. I booked one more night here in Kata, I’m actually really enjoying this lowkey hostel called Sleepy Station. I’ve met a nice guy, Adrian, from San Diego, California and we’re planning on hitting the beach and surfing together 🤙

I also booked my ferry to Koh Phi Phi Island and will need to figure out how to get across the city to catch that in the early afternoon! I haven’t booked my hostel yet… none are really jumping out as “the one” unfortunately, but I’ll find one!

I then headed over to 7-11 to get some sunscreen… yes mom, I didn’t put any on and I got burnt, but I wore some today. I also got some broad beans to snack on while I waited for my new favorite (and cheap) restaurant in Kata to open up! It’s called 45 Thai Time and it’s right next to my hostel and where I had dinner last night!

The women who runs the restaurant recognized me from the night before and was excited to have me back which was very lovely!

I got one of my favorite Thai dishes for breakfast, Thai Basil Chicken with rice and a fried egg! This was only 70 Baht and VERY filling! I’m very very happy I found this restaurant! The women running the restaurant asked me how long I was staying for and when I told her I was leaving tomorrow she was sad 😔 but I told her I’d be back to see her a few more times before I left!

I then wandered over to get my laundry from the mango stand down the road! And it looked nice and clean! I love how they package the clothes after they wash them.

As I was heading back out to enjoy the beach, I ran into my new buddy Adrian and he was busy working on something and was changing hostels so he said he’d meet me at the beach!

I had some blisters from the hike yesterday so today was a fashionable day of socks and sandales 🤪

I ended up lying in a similar spot as to the day before for a number of hours! It was so lovely just hanging by the ocean, enjoying the cloudy day, and listening to the waves crashing down!

After a while I finally got the drive to go get a surf lesson! It ended up being 1000 Baht for 1 hour, but it was totally worth it! It’s been years since I last had the opportunity to surf and I picked it back up fairly quickly! The waves reminded me of when I first learned in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. But I relearned how to stand up successfully and how to balance so I’ll be all set to go alone at the next beach!

The lesson was an hour of getting pushed around by the waves. Unfortunately low tide hit about 10 min into our hour session. And then a giant storm blew threw too but we kept pushing ahead! My instructor didn’t speak much English but we had a fun time and I learned a good amount!

I felt very accomplished and was so jazzed that I got to finally surf! It’s always been a goal of mine to live somewhere where I can surf daily and I can’t wait to take advantage of having access to it over the next 2 weeks!

I ended up sitting by the ocean for another hour before finally deciding to leave. But before we move on, I have a unfortunate fun fact about Kata beach (and I think Phuket beaches in general). There was an oil spill very recently and there’s splotches of oil on the sand that are really nasty on clothes and the skin. So just be aware if you’re around the beaches here anytime soon 😪

I could see another storm starting to roll in so I made my way back to my hostel… but not soon enough as it started torrentially down pouring and thunder storming! So I took shelter under a little stores awning.

Eventually I made it back to my hostel and got all cleaned up! I think I’m the only one in my dorm for the night which will be a nice and peaceful way to finish out in Kata! I think I’ll try to find a more social one in phi phi, but I’ve enjoyed a bit of solitude!

I then made my way back to my favorite restaurant and got a pineapple smoothie and Pad See Ew with Chicken!

I didn’t have much else to do so I decided to go wander around the city. It ended up being a lovely walk, I’m not sure how long or far I walked but it was for a while!

I saw it was getting close to sunset so I hurried over to the beach to catch what I could of it!

I got on top of what looked like an old lifeguard chair and while sitting there I could see the next storm rolling in. I thought I’d be fine there because it was covered but this was a pretty intense storm! So I ducked under an overhang.

After the storm had passed almost everyone left the beach, I ended up wandering back to the beach to see how the storm affected the sunset and it ended up being VERY pretty.

I wasn’t really ready to leave the beach, but I was over just standing and looking. So I decided to walk down the path to the other end of the beach and then wrap back around through the city!

I started to get a little hungry. Luckily nearby the end of the path there was a 7-11! So I of course got myself a cheese toasty.

As I was finishing up my toasty I stumbled onto the Kata night market… which Apple Maps said was closed, but it was in full swing!

There was a ton of food vendors and lots of clothing vendors too! I ended up getting a shirt and then wandering back to one of the food vendors that looked the most intriguing! I got mixed seafood in egg cakes. It was alright, I mainly wanted to try the whacky seafood since I was so close to the sea!

This actually filled me up more than I thought it would, so I started my walk back to my hostel! There were a ton of people out wandering the streets which made for a fun walk home!

I was very exhausted from the past couple days of physical activity. So I called it an early night!

Kata has definitely grown on me! I’m such a big fan of the beach so that really helps. But I also learned more about the 2004 tsunami from Lola and how Phuket and a few other towns really turned to tourism to help get their footing again! I wasn’t really happy to be in a more westernized touristy place but seeing how it’s helping to rebuild their city, it makes me feel a bit better about spending a tad more!

Tomorrow I’m off to Phi Phi, my first of many islands!

– Elie