Category: Koh Chang

This was one of our goals. The second one is coming up.

We need to go even higher.

Here we go. This is the best pool further up. It is a long way to the origin of the fall. Notice the PVC pipes to supply water to those below.

See Gee testing out the water. It is COOL!

A lower but nice pool for relaxing.

Brave Gee, willing to follow Fon to the top.

Fon always wants to go to the top.

Is he alive? Definitely a slower heart rate.

Lunch after the waterfall venture.

It has been 11 days since the health officials and hospital staff came by to ask us to quarantine in our rooms for 14 days and wait for three Covid tests. But my exposure to Covid would have been Wednesday 2 weeks ago when the sick people came to clean my room. After that I never went near anyone in the hotel or touched anything except what was in my room.  So today is the 14th day since potential exposure to the virus.

The health officials and hospital staff haven’t returned to do another test or to give us any instructions so tomorrow I will feel free to leave the room. Of course the plan will need to change if people come by today and request I stay until Friday evening which I’m willing to do if requested.

A customer at this hotel from Hungary, an interesting fellow to chat with, told me the unidentified two people walking around telling people what to do are the parents of the owner and they said everybody can leave their rooms if they have no symptoms.  This is contrary to what the health officials have said so I have decided to stay until tomorrow which is not the 14th day since the health officials came here and told us to stay for two weeks but it is the 14th day since I was exposed to the virus from the room cleaning by an infected person. 

So Wednesday is my day of freedom.

I don’t really feel too much hardship through this ordeal. All the food I wanted my friends were bringing to me. I have all my own entertainment and I can cook whatever seems to be tasty and healthy in the room. I’ve heard some very discouraging stories about quarantine after arriving in Thailand from another country. I didn’t really mind too much staying in the room since I was able to get a few important things done anyway. But quarantining after flying in to another country and living on hotel food for 2 weeks would not be anywhere as nice as what i experienced. 

So let’s chalk it up to another episode. It was a potentially troublesome one and I am a little disappointed the hotel owner has not apologized for the inconvenience especially since they were cleaning our rooms after they knew one of them was sick. But i learned long ago not to expect people to take responsibility in these kinds of situations. 

The hired help at the hotel, who were gone for a few months, showed up yesterday and today they want to clean the room. But if this is a real quarantine they shouldn’t be doing that, taking a chance on their own and other’s health. 

I called the owner and she suggested it was ok to go out and around if we don’t feel sick and tested negative. So…..WHO’s ON FIRST? I think I will at least wait until tomorrow to see if the hospital contacts us. 

No change from the other days. Gee brings morning ice coffee which I drink after the fresh coffee I make here. My healthy soup seems to be, well, healthy and supportive. 

Pelay brought some tonic water so I can have rum and tonic in the late evenings. 

Today is the day I am to wait for the phone call. As I mentioned in quarantine day 4, no phone call will indicate my test is negative. A phone call precedes transport to the hospital. I will show you some photos of my provisions here that keep me in elegant satisfaction. But one thing I don’t have are some of the basic ingredients for my healthy soup. 

So today, while I am mostly living on hors d’oeuvres and snacks I am finishing up Ragnarok and working my way on season four of Outlander and season eight of Perry Mason.  One good recommendable thing about watching the old Perry Mason shows is that there are so many names and so many faces and the story becomes so convoluted it is very good mental exercise trying to keep track of everyone and everything going on. But it doesn’t help to be drinking during the episodes.  

A friend indicated that the 11 AM test they gave me on day 4, if the results were positive, would result in a phone call by at least noon time. No phone call came. In fact I am now writing this at midnight so have pulled out in Asahi beer to support my relief at not getting the phone call. 

So hopefully my test was negative and I can look forward to (hatefully) the next test and the next nine days. But if I ever have a positive test I will wind up in lockdown for a two week period.

I have been reluctant to create this blog since this was a fairly sensitive day. The hospital staff came to administer the COVID-19 test. The results were to show up in 24 hours. We would be informed in one of two ways, no phone call means a negative result. A phone call means a positive result and to get ready to be taken to the hospital for quarantine and further examination, blood test and chest x-ray.  Everyone of course hates Covid tests but I will say it’s difficult to dislike or make any complaints against the hospital staff. They are doing the best job they can an extremely difficult circumstances. So far they have been very good and helpful. And I have a lot of respect for the difficult work they are doing.

I made my last healthy soup (photograph above) so will need to arrange more ingredients but I am a little reluctant to do that in case they come to take me away. I wouldn’t want those ingredients to go bad. 

Gee brought the usual daily ice coffee, and also garlic, onion and ginger so I could add turmeric, olive oil, Kimchi  and TONKOTSU soup mix (pork bone soup) special healthy soup.  Another friend brought water and other provisions which I asked people to leave in my blue basket on my motorcycle downstairs so they would not have to come into the hotel back area.  And the Korean restaurant brought 2 kg of kimchi.  Instead of putting the kimchi in the blue box on the motorcycle the person hung it on the blue motorcycle. No problem just funny. 

There was a lady cleaning up the fallen leaves in his garden area and she had a problem understanding she needs to keep a good distance away from all of us. When I went down to pick up my food I asked her to please give me some distance to pass by her and she insisted that would not happen so I went back to my room and waited for her to move on to another area.  When the health officer came by to get a copy of my passport page and inform me of the test the next day at 10 AM that same cleaning lady kept interrupting her and trying to explain to me what she was saying. The health officer was very understandable and she was so irritated at the cleaning lady she turned around and asked her to please stop commenting. So that was my excitement for the day.

There is no way anyone could be looking forward to a Covid test. I am absolutely no exception. The one down the throat it’s just unbelievably irritating. When I paid to have a test done a few months ago just to check my health, following the test I apologize for making such horrible noises. 

OK back to Ragnarok, Outlander and Perry Mason season 8.