Central and Southern Thailand
After an extremely stressful flight during which I was unsuccessfully drugged and had to get drunk before I could calm down, we landed in Thailand.
Most people advised us to get the heck out of Bangkok our first day so that’s what we did. Our first destination was Koh Tao, an island in the Gulf. We took a night bus to Chumpon, and an eaaarly morning speed boat the rest of the way. We ended up staying on this really awesome beautiful laid-back non-party beach where our co-teacher Steve used to live and work. It wasn’t overcrowded, and the visitors were mostly German, Swedish and English. (I think we met 4 or 5 Americans on our entire trip) The beach is home to 9 or 10 resorts that certify scuba divers and a few that don’t. We loved it there, but eventually grew a little bored with the lack of things to do and decided to head to the Adaman side of the peninsula of Thailand.
To get back to the mainland, we took a night “sleeper” boat. It was wooden, about 300 years old, and slow. But kinda charming. It had a totally open cabin, even down to the gigantic engine (loud). There were probably over 100 people on it, all trying to sleep on tiny mattresses of unspeakable filth. I can’t believe I didn’t see anyone getting sick, as the first few hours were a little choppy. After midnight the sea was like the smoothest road you’ve ever been on. We could see phosphorescence in the water near the bow, stars in the sky, and we passed many many fishing boats out with no running lights whatsoever. Freaking dangerous, man! Coming into Surat Thani was kinda neat, seeing the tankers and cargo ships, and being greeted with fireworks at 5.30 in the morning. (Just like home!!)
We stopped first for a few days in a huge national park called Khao Sok, where we had an unpleasant run-in with some marauding monkeys (hiss hoot scratch!), and took an inflatable canoe down the Kaho Sok River, which was, regrettably, extremely dirty. We saw some snakes sleeping in the trees, some Dutch guys trying to knock out the snakes, some great bat-filled caves, and attended a triple-tarzan wedding in the jungle, complete with elephants, a feast, and leopard-print outfits for the happy couples (white dudes + thai chicks. surprised? neither were we). The limestone rock formations in Khao Sok were totally stunning, but we didn’t really get out much. Nothing there was accessible without a paid guide+paid transportation. I’m so sorry for that. On the bright side, we met some great people there and had the pleasure of enjoying their company for a day.
Next we took a bus/boat to Ko Phi Phi, which is where all the tourists go after their direct flight into Phuket. We sort of knew what we were getting ourselves into, but not really. The island itself was really beautiful, but the town was a big meat-market party scene. Ick. And super expensive for our budget (which was small). We took a snorkeling tour around Phi Phi Don (the big island) and Phi Phi Ley, the smaller one, known for being the site of filming for The Beach. The best part about the tour was riding in the long tail boat, which was exhilarating. Much of the coral in the area has been destroyed by the tour-group speed boats or fishing boats which drop their anchors anywhere. This was a problem we saw everywhere we went in Thailand. The local boats were good about hooking up buoys that were already anchored in safe locations, but I’m sure the coral will be gone soon. On Phi Phi I enjoyed the best coconut shake I was destined to drink while in Thailand, and we also had the pleasure of meeting an amazing Swiss woman and her adopted Pakistani son. Spending an evening with them and hearing their stories was really an experience. I won’t forget them soon.
After the spectacle that was Phi Phi, we headed north to a placed called Railey. The beaches were not very nice, but we were really just looking for a place to unwind again, spend less, and have more space to ourselves. I had some idea that because Railey is known for rock climbing mostly, there would be a different kind of crowd there, but I was wrong. There was less of a crowd, but the nicest beach there was packed, and we didn’t stay for more than 10 or 15 minutes. (I had also burned the shit out of my back on Phi Phi.) The highlights in Railey were the delicious Indian food cooked up by our bungalow-owner, the Muay Thai match put on at a local bar (mostly staged, of course, but still entertaining), and the Diamond Cave, which was really amazing.
After Railey we contemplated spending part of our last 4 days in Chiang Mai, which we heard from everybody was a must-see. But considering the day-and-a-half train ride from where we were, we didn’t think we’d have enough time there to enjoy it. Instead, we resolved to leave behind the beach life and get some culture in Bangkok.
Despite what everyone says about the city, we totally loved it. The food was great, the temples were outstanding, the taxis were pretty cheap, the tuk tuks were super fun, watching the early morning stragglers on Koh San Road was interesting (an arrest! a beligerant Englishman! a beat-up Ladyboy! a dude who lost his cousin!) and the weekend/night markets were the best we’ve seen in Asia (Both Chatuchak and Lumpini made Shilin look like a garage sale.) We rode the river boats (super efficient public transportation), saw the world’s largest reclining Buddha (very large indeed) and watched Avatar 3D at the Siam World IMAX and agreed it was by far the best format to see it in : ) . There were spicy cockroaches and scorpions to sample on the street, a jazz festival in the park, and plenty of opportunities to get completely ripped off (I’ll remember you next time, countless thieving tuk tuk drivers). Bangkok is fantastic.
The only downside was when someone who shall go unnamed left my camera and nearly all our photos from the trip in a taxi. We tried our hardest to get it back, but we weren’t given much help, despite the fact that we knew the taxi company and the driver’s name.
Our final adventure was when we were bumped off our flight home because of overbooking (End of Chinese New Year!). We weren’t upset at all, KLM was great. They put us up at the Radisson in Bangkok, we had free meals, and free shuttles to night markets. It was great.
After arriving in all the crowded spots in the South, and before we got back to Bangkok, we kept thinking how much we’d like to turn around and go back to Koh Tao. I hope when I get the chance to go back, it’s as crowd-free and beautiful as it is now.
There is so much more to write, but it will have to wait.
Take care, and thank you everyone for you patience as we get back into the swing of things with the blog.
-b
Ps. please send positive thoughts to the people suffering in Haiti and Chile. I’m so grateful Ryan and Molly are safe.
