Where in the World is Garry?

Paradise Lost - Koh Samui, Thailand, January 2006

Man seen walking with cardboard box...

I am a light sleeper, in the auditory not the luminary sense. Unfortunately in the latter I am a dark sleeper. Imagine my chagrin when I realize that my hut's only window was poorly protected by only half a thin and flimsy curtain, the only window being situated at the head of the bed, the head of the bed facing East, the window's aspect a light which illuminates the path at night. What was even more confounding was the fact that the curtain rod for the only window was situated halfway down the window's length.

I called a meeting of my best people to assess the situation. After much debate we concluded unanimously (after a particularly compelling power point presentation from the Dibden Purlieu office - well done Duncan and his team), was good old fashioned card board.

One would think that the acquisition of a used cardboard box would be a simple matter. Not so in Thailand where everything is used once and then continuously as it enjoys several reincarnations until it eventually falls apart. Even then it falls apart in such a way which is useful.

My search started close to home and gradually fanned out in ever increasing circles. First stop was of course Charlie's hut where I was told emphatically that the solution was not a cardboard box (sorry Dibden Purlieu office), but a 'full length' flimsy curtain. Out of politeness I acquiesced and returned later that day from a saunter on the beach to find the aforementioned curtain rod brutally relocated to the mantle and a piece of cloth, in its final incarnation as such, masquerading as a curtain. Strike One.

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View from my hut