Too much has happened in the last 24 hours to try to capture it here now. I'm on Koh Phangan, a glorious island surrounded by white sand beaches. I've got my own little hut 10m from the beach and the ocean water is at least 85 degrees. It poured all night last night and the thunder and pounding of the rain on the thatch roof of my hut woke me up now and then, but the breeze was amazing and I slept like a baby inside my mosquito net and thin layer of deet repellent. Unfortunately, it rained all morning and is still overcast, which ruined my SCUBA diving plans for my birthday, but the coolness of the morning was a nice reprieve from the heat and humidity that has dogged me since arriving in Thailand. But it's coming back and I can feel the humidity on my fingertips as I type.

I must tell a bit about the characters I hung out with last night. I made three Israeli friends during the day and we went to a bar last night, suspended from the rock high above the jungle floor, where we listened to Bob Marley, drank sangria, and lazed about on divans. Beside us were three HILARIOUS characters from the working class suburb of London called Brixston. These guys had a thick cockney accent. They were all EXACTLY like Ali G. I am not kidding. One guy in particular, a used car salesman named Ian, is the model of Ali G. His white mother got knocked up by her Jamaican boyfriend of 2 weeks and then never saw the father again. Ian had not taken any of the shots needed to travel here, had no travel insurance, bragged about all the sex he was having with Thai bargirls without "connies" and carried a quarter ounce of pot with him in this very anti-drug country. His pronunciation of the English language was exactly like Ali G's and his knowledge of the world was quite close to nil. He asked my Israeli friends at one point: "So, wha' is it wit dat Israeli problem? Israel is a paht uv Palestine, init?" He went to great lengths to show how he is not "racialist" in the very same sentences in which he would say the most racist things imaginable. I loved it. All three of these cads were the genuine article, the real deal. Very likable, charming, stupid, honest and direct. Bunch of hooligans. When I asked them if they liked Ali G, they all said no, they don't find him funny. The whole thing was too perfect.