This place is phenomenal.
I've been here for 3 days and there are so many good stories to tell that I don't know where to start--and if I told them all I may as well write a book!
One of the funniest things that happened is our bungy jumping yesterday afternoon. It's a 50 meter jump over a lake, and they can calibrate it so that your head dips in at the furthest stretch of the jump.
I went first and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, then went down and watched Kyle get ready for his jump. He was quite nervous and didn't look comfortable at all in the cage at the top of the crane.
Conquering his fears, he jumped forward, arms outstretched, like a real pro. Then panic gripped him. We heard this thundering "FUUUUUUUUUU---" as Kyle flailed his arms and legs wildly, his face contorted in an
expression of sheer terror.
When he got to the lake, instead of just his head going in, he went in all the way to his legs, like a giant human popsicle. Then the rope ripped him out of the water and back into the sky with--as he would tell us later--about 2 gallons of water stuffed up his nose!
It was quite a sight, and a very memorable event. I think we're going to go again before the end of the trip, and I want to try jumping backwards off the platform.
On Monday we went jet skiing, which was a total blast. I especially liked going close to shore, facing out towards the sea, and then accelerating as quickly as possible into oncoming waves. The jet ski would fly up into the air and I'm sure I'll pay for each of the landings with a trip to the chiropractor, but it was great fun!
After that I went parasailing, which was interesting. Basically, you have a parachute on and are roped to the back of a boat. The boat shoots off, thereby propelling you up into the air. Sounds good in theory, but there are certain disadvantages.
First of all, the parachute harness is extremely uncomfortable, especially around the crotch area. I could barely walk, let alone run forward into the water.
When the boat first took off and the rope pulled me forward, though, I ignored the testicular discomfort and sprinted forward with much enthusiasm. After all, the idea of being dragged face first through the sand and water until we were fast enough to fly was not appealing!
This worked out OK for the first few seconds, then for some reason I started losing the few feet of altitude I'd picked up. The way I was hooked up, the lowest point on my body was--you guessed it--my already uncomfortable reproductive system.
In a classic example of Murphy's law at work I went down just as a wave came up, and I got a thoroughly lifelike castration experience before--cursing like a madman--flying up to safer altitudes.
The ride in the air was interesting visually, albeit somewhat
overshadowed by the discomfort of the harness, which was cutting off circulation to my legs. Thankfully, it wasn't too long, and before I knew it I was coming back down to earth.
The landing was everything I'd hoped my takeoff wouldn't be. There was nothing gentle or graceful about it. Basically, I plummeted towards the beach like a rock, going forward at a speed that I felt was absolutely insane. I slammed hard into the sand (my heels are still bruised) and did my best to sprint forward to keep up with the rope. This didn't work for very long, and it only took a split second for me to fall to the ground and get dragged along the beach until everything stopped.
Well, I've got plenty more stories to tell (like some very interesting Thai massage experiences), but it's getting close to lunchtime and my arm is starting to look rather tasty!
Cheers,
Gabriel
