Thai Trail 5 - Maldimeter

We finally find a yardstick for this strange new world: the Maldives. Once that's done, it all makes sense.

The sea? As warm as the Maldives, but not as blue.

The air? Hotter, more humid.

Fruit? Amazing in both places, but the same cannot be said about fish...

Cityscape? Geez, Bangkok is a century ahead of anything in the Maldives.

And in the swimming pool downstairs (as blue as the sea there, but cooler) we find Noa and Zoe, our hosts' twin daughters: exactly the size Kira was in the Maldives, just as blond, just as cute and brave and clever. Moona, entranced, dives in to play. Like he always did in the Maldives.

He's a clown stumbling and falling in the water. He's a sea horse. He's a monster. He roars and splashes. He becomes a diving board for them and then a human rubber dinghie. He sinks and then bursts out spluttering and staggering about, a drama queen in yellow surf shorts. The girls squeal and swim like baby otters around him. They want to play all night. When Moona finally manages to tear himself away, they hop around him shouting: 'Bye-bye Silly Man', and his smile lights up the hemisphere, long after dusk.



Later, when Kira falls asleep on the sofa, Moona picks her up and folds her in his arms. She looks tiny, aglow with sunshine, and her tata carries her to bed. Just like in the Maldives.