On my way in, I noticed a fork in the road, and I took the more-traveled path (not wanting to get lost on the way to my hotel), but I remembered it. When I saw a sign for the same bar on the east side of the peninsula, I decided I'd try to find the short cut.
So, on my way back from the beach yesterday, slightly tipsy from drinking a couple of beers while waiting for the rain to stop and definitely well on my way to sunburned from my morning on the sand, I veered off to the path less taken.
I kept my eyes open for signs to YaYa Bar. Along the way, I came across a cave (Diamond Cave it turns out) and saw a monkey playing in the trees. I played back with him, trying to get a photo while he scampered around. I eventually did, and I kept walking.
A few minutes later, I came to another fork. This one telling me I could go left for Ton Sai Beach. Ton Sai Beach is not on the (crappy, useless) map given to me by my hotel. I have no idea where it is. I sorta remembered seeing it in the Book, but the Book is big, so I had left it in my room. I followed the path for awhile, going deeper into the jungle. It made me think of the Blair Witch Project and how if it's impossible to get lost in Maryland (or it should be), there was no way I was more than five minutes from a hotel or resort or bar. Just then, I noticed that the path was narrow and uneven, so I should be careful in my flippy-floppies. I was careful for two steps, and then I wasn't. Down I went.
I scraped up my knee but good. It hurt, and now I really wanted to find my way back. I pressed my sarong onto my bloody knee to staunch a little of the blood (it was red and angry-looking, but it didn't look like I'd actually broken too much skin). Then I turned around.
On my way back, I noticed YaYa Bar. I went towards it, but ended up dead-ending in a "cabana hotel". I went around in a circle (inadvertently, of course) and ended back at the bar.
I finally asked a man how to get to Railay East, and he said down the hill to the right. That made no sense to my sense of direction (and I do think he meant left), but I saw no option but to go back the way I'd come. So I did, adding the insult of not finding my way to my injury.
By now, my knee was really hurting, and I was having nightmares about how much cleaning it would hurt. From my mountaineering first aid, I knew the only way to clean a scrape like mine was scrubbing it with soap and water. I also knew that that would hurt like a bitch. More than it was hurting now.
I also knew that I needed a good book to read because the ones I had were a little too dry and scholarly. I also needed water, bandages, and beer wouldn't be a bad idea, either. Not that alcohol was a great idea, but it might help dull the pain and give me something to do while doing nothing in my room. And this was all going to have to happen quickly, because my knee was throbbing and I still had a 10-minute walk to my hotel.
I was fairly certain I could keep from crying on the walk back, pain or no. And then I stopped to grab a book, and I wasn't so sure anymore. To make matters worse, half the books were in German (oh, those German tourists!) and the rest appeared to be crappy romance novels priced way too high.
I turned to leave in anger and frustration when I saw a Stephen King book. I have never been so happy to see a fellow Mainer. I snatched it up, and practically ran through the mini-mart, grabbing a beer, a bottle of water, and a pack of Ritz cheeze sandwiches. There were no bandages. I could walk the wrong way to the pharmacy, or I could just continue on to my hotel.
Continue on I did. I did break down in tears upon reaching my room, and even allowed myself a bellow of pain as I tried to scrub my wound. As I thought, there were only two small gashes. Most of the nasty was more blood blister than torn skin.
For all I know, there is still some dirt jammed all up in there because I know I didn't scrub it hard enough and I don't have an irrigation syringe with me. I figured the blood thinning properties of alcohol would help it bleed a little more and rinse the nasty away. It certainly wasn't bleeding enough for me to worry about blood loss.
For a make-shift Band-Aid, I used a Chinese tissue (which is more like a napkin) held on with a piece of duct tape. I'm sure I'll laugh about that one of these days.
This morning, after breakfast, I walked down to the pharmacy. The nice lady gently cleaned around it with some alcohol, rubbed it down with some iodine-looking stuff, and put a waterproof bandage on it.
It still hurts which probably means I won't be able to go climbing because it is severely limiting my knee's flexibility, and while you shouldn't ever climb with your knees, chances are I would hit the rock with it at some point and that would really hurt. But, it doesn't appear to be bleeding, it's not swollen, and it doesn't look infected. It's probably just going to keep smarting for awhile.
Oh well. I took the long cut. I got to my hotel eventually.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Railay Peninsula
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