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Hello! After a long absence, we are back! It has taken us a while
to get phone access, but we are now in Thailand. Some of you may
have gotten used to our almost daily entries in Hong Kong. Well,
in addition to phone access, the lack of a regular workspace and
constantly moving around has made these entries a bit more difficult.
We are still keeping a pretty thorough journal, however, getting
it probably won't be updated quite as much. So when it is updated,
each addition should be fairly long. Bear with us.
Also, these entries are a departure from a "daily" routine.
We have taken the narrative and expounded into a free-flowing miasma
of feeling, thoughts, sights and sounds, not necessarily in that
order. Most of it has some kind of timeline, but not always.
(Traci) Our first few days were spent in a hotel in Bangkok. I
was going to try to meet with a few human rights workers referred
to me by AHRC, but had no luck in that department. We spent two
lazy days in our nice hotel being slugs. It was very hot outside,
and we had seen Bangkok very thoroughly a few years ago. We enjoyed
just relaxing awhile. I am sure to some this will seem crazy. To
be in Bangkok and just stay in our hotel room. But we have been
very busy and we are finding we need to allow ourselves lazy days
to recharge our batteries. So we rented a VCR and watched some movies.
As we were watching "Mickey Blue Eyes" we noticed the
color was similar to a movie made in the 70's. We wrote it off as
the old TV but soon we began hearing people laugh and assumed it
was the room next door. Soon we noticed they happen to laughing
during the funny parts of the movie we were watching. We looked
at each other very confused and soon realized that the movie we
were watching was pirated and someone videotaped the movie in the
theatre. This was confirmed by the shadow of a person standing up
on the screen. We just chuckled and looked at the jacket cover to
the movie - also a replica! We flipped through our movies to discover
that other movies were also pirated. We remembered going to a few
movies in Hong Kong and seeing strong warnings against video recording
movies and the hefty fines that would be imposed on violators. We
enjoyed the pirated movie as it added to the feeling of being in
a theatre - complete with the contagious laugh of person apparently
sitting near the camera.
On Wednesday we bought train tickets that went from Bangkok to
Surat Thani in the south of Thailand. The island we were planning
to inhabit for a week or so is off the coast of Surat Thani. We
had bought combination tickets, which allowed us to take the night
train (with beds and everything!), a shuttle bus to the ocean ferry
pier and a boat for a 3 hour ride to Ko Samui (an island to the
East of Thailand). After we arrived in Ko Samui, there was another
45-minute ferry ride to Ko Pha-Ngan, the island we would be staying
on.
During the night train, we met "Chico" who happens to
be a bartender at a bar on Ko Samui who poured us some whisky and
soda water as we were sitting on the train. The Thai people are
very friendly. As we talked to Chico, we were joined by Brad, an
Australian nurse on an extended trip, along with a couple Igor and
Carmen, who live in England, but are Spanish. The six of us drank
whisky, shared some cashew chicken, Tom Yam Kung (sweet and sour
prawn soup) and salad. We talked and laughed for hours. We all were
around the same age, but it took us a while to figure out Chico's
age as the Thai calendar id different. Their years start at the
beginning of the Buddhist Era which is equivalent to our 543 BC.
So in Thailand right now it is BE 2544 rather than our AD 2001.
Later, everyone went to sleep in his or her sleepers, which were
very comfortable and nice. We had a bad experience on a night train
in Europe a few years ago and I swore I would not ever take a night
train again unless we had some type of sleeper. If you know me at
all, I am a very finicky sleeper. I do not sleep well without some
semblance of a bed, some privacy, the knowledge that our stuff is
safe, and a little quiet. Well, to my surprise I slept great. I
slept in a top berth and Tony was below. We locked our bags right
next to us and our valuables stayed with us in our compartment that
had curtains, a comfortable mattress, clean sheets and a big puffy
pillow. The train rocked us like babies into a pretty nice sleep.
We next got on the crowded bus headed for the ferry pier. Tony
and a few others stood on the bus during the 30-minute ride to the
ferry. Tony met a few women from Minnesota. What a small world!
One of them graduated from Moundsview High School.
The boat ride to Ko Samui was absolutely gorgeous. The water glistened
a million shades of blue. In the distance we could make out lush
green islands. If we couldn't see the islands, we would have known
we were close because of the presence of coconuts floating all over
the sea. Ahead there was water that appeared almost fluorescent
blue and dark skies belied a storm ahead. Imagine every shade of
blue and green blended into water, sky, and land. Truly breathtaking!
We said good bye to our new friends in Ko Samui and hope to catch
up with them next week or so. We had tickets to a different island;
we were told is much quieter. We arrived to the gorgeous, lush island
of Ko Phangan where we threw our luggage onto the top of a truck
and piled into the back with 7 other visitors getting a ride to
their bungalows. They were from Britain and Australia. There is
pretty much 2 main roads on this island which is about 305 sq. miles
and has a population of about 10,000 people. We got to our bungalow
and our place had 2 comfortable hammocks overlooking the beach and
ocean. We borrowed some snorkeling stuff and explored the absolutely
clear, warm water. There were Thai fishing boats off in the distance
and except for a few other bungalow guests, no people in site. Our
room was simple with a bed, bathroom and that is it. Not even a
chair to sit in. This, all at the price of US $4.47 per night. Many
pay less to share a bathroom and not be right next to the beach.
These places do, however expect you to patronize their restaurant
which is where they make their money. Let me clarify "restaurant"
in this context. It consists of an open-air roof over about 9 tables
overlooking the beach where the owners live. They make whatever
you order in their kitchen and bring it out. Our lunch and dinner
combined came to US $6.00, which consisted of drinks, rice dishes
with fresh seafood, Thai curries, and vegetable dishes. A very good
price!
I hesitate to even share this, but I know this will bring great
joy to a few of my in-laws… YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!! Most of
you can just skip this part… really!
The bathrooms often have squat toilets, which consist of a water-filled
hole in the floor, and footpads on each side of the hole. Most of
the places we have stayed have had non-flush toilet with a spigot
to fill a bucket with water. When you finish your duty, you use
a scooper to get water from the big bucket of water and pour this
into the toilet to "flush" down the remains. The bathrooms
here also have a sprayer hose (similar to ones attached to many
kitchen sinks) and no toilet paper. Not everyone throughout the
world uses toilet paper. Many people use their bare hand (left)
and the sprayer (or water from the bucket) to wipe their behinds
and therefore, using your left hand to shake hands, hand people
things, and other things is considered rude (Tony is left-handed.
Hmmm) Tony and I pride ourselves on being open to trying new things.
However, I must say this is one custom we cannot bring ourselves
to try. We make sure we have an ample supply of toilet paper and
make sure it is always with us.
During dinner one night, we met an older English couple who said
they were doing an extended trip now since they didn't do it when
they were younger. We think they were recently retired and talked
about buying a burger place in Spain when they return to Europe.
They were very interesting people and shared with us the scoop about
how to get around, where to go for cheaper food and drinks, told
us about Ko Samui, etc. The man told us of getting up the day before
and noticing the women out digging in the sand with coconut shells.
They were digging for clams and for worms, which they used later
to fish with. He also said he did some net fishing with the local
Thai people on our beach. It consisted of casting out a net and
chasing the fish into it. They gave us the scoop on where to eat,
what to do, and where to get the cheapest "Chang" beer.
This is the local "Budweiser" along with a beer called
"Singha."
We had discussed searching out the next day for a place that we
could get trained in scuba diving. From what we read it sounded
like this was the island to get our PADI Open Water Diver licenses.
This would allow us to go scuba diving anywhere in the world (in
similar environments) without having to go through any more training.
We found a great school, "Buddha View."
The "PADI" Days
These four days of class were intense, fun, frustrating and in
the end, very rewarding. As soon as we had found Buddha View, the
drill sergeant, oops, I mean Diving Instructor Dave (originally
from Belgium) had us watching the videos that one must view in order
to understand the basics of scuba diving. We didn't necessarily
plan on starting the course right away because we had plenty of
time, but instead, we were ¼ of the way done soon after we
had begun searching out a school. We went through a couple hours
of classroom instruction and took our first three quizzes. We passed!
This was the first day, and wasn't all that difficult. The following
three days were pretty intense.
The typical day consisted of us eating breakfast, getting in the
back of a truck (provided by Buddha View diving school), arriving
at the school, getting our dive gear together, and going in the
water. The first of these three days we did all the basic scuba
stuff in a swimming pool. The last two days we actually did dives
in the ocean.
The truck ride into Thang Sala (the main town on the island) was
always an interesting experience. The little Toyota 4x4 would pick
us up at around 8:20 a.m. and we would jump in the back. Usually
the driver would take strange and unusual ways to get to Thang Sala.
Most of the time he would have someone else with him and would drive
to the person's house to drop him or her off on the way to the school
(or on our way back to the bungalows). Like I said, these drives
were always interesting. There are two main (paved) roads on the
island and we barely ever took them. Most of the time we would drive
on dirt tracks. Luckily, the suspension on the truck was decent.
The dirt roads were pitted with potholes everywhere. Since it is
the rainy season (even though it had hardly rained), the roads can
get pretty rough. You really had to hold on or else you would bounce
right out of the truck. I often had my hands protecting my head
because there was always coconut trees overhead and I was afraid
a nut would fall on me. We saw a coconut fall out of a tree and
land ten feet behind the truck, thus my fears. Drives to and from
the school, which could have easily taken ten minutes, usually took
close to a half-hour. That was fine with us though, we got to see
the countryside thoroughly. There were a couple times we broke away
from the coconut groves and drove through marshy lowlands where
there were water buffalo eating grasses. Always there were traditional
Thai houses (on stilts) along the sides of the dirt tracks. Sometimes
the people waved to us. Usually they smiled. There was one time
the truck had to stop because there were big palm leaves that got
caught under the undercarriage. Traci said the drives reminded her
of when she was in Jamaica. The laid back atmosphere, taxi drivers
making side stops and crappy roads I guess. Overall, the drives
in the Buddha View truck were great sightseeing trips in and amongst
themselves. We also picked up other Buddha View students a couple
of times. We met Shona from Scotland. She is a veterinarian who
is helping out at the only Veterinary clinic on the island, and
also a diver. We picked up Natasha, who is Yugoslavian and lives
in Germany. She is working on getting her Rescue Diver licensure.
About the dives: We completed our pool training, and the very next
day we were to make ocean dives! Traci and I in addition to Shona
and one other Australian student got on the dive boat at the Thang
Sala pier and rode about 45 minutes to a small island called Ko
Tan Nok. This island has coral reefs very close to shore. We also
found out that if we were to have any problems in the water to make
sure we went to the boat, and not the island. The reason for this
is that there are people who live on the island who collect bird
nests for soup and other things. These nests bring in a great deal
of money. If you step foot on the island, you will consequently
be shot immediately by a number of people carrying M-16s. Needless
to say, we didn't go on the island. Before we got to do our first
dive, we had to show our instructor that we could swim around the
dive boat three times, and then float for ten minutes. Man that
boat seemed big. For Traci, the swim was no problem, but I am not
a distance swimmer. If you were talking say 25 feet, I could beat
just about anyone, but going around that boat three times was my
own personal hell. Of course at the time I forgot that he said we
could take as much time as we needed, so I proceeded to wear myself
out in the first lap. About four hours later, I made it...barely.
Well, it felt like four hours anyway. The floating was no problem.
At that point, about all I could to was float.
Traci and I were both a little nervous about our first dive, but
it went well. We got in the water and used the boat's anchor line
as a guide downward. The visibility wasn't great, but once we got
about 40 feet underwater, we could see coral reefs. It is truly
an amazing. We were told that the visibility was extremely bad,
but it still felt like we were in a National Geographic special.
We saw a few little colorful fish, some sea anemones, urchins, and
great barrel sponges. We felt like we had been underwater for ten
minutes, but we had actually been under for like 40. After taking
an hour out of the water for a snack and to let excess nitrogen
leave our bodies, we took the second dive. It was pretty similar
to the first. We thought if the next days dives were anything like
this day's we would be pretty happy with our dive experience.
The last day of our PADI dive class was both the most intense,
and fun. We were told we would be going to Sail Rock. Since the
trip was two hours by boat, we couldn't take Buddha View's dive
boat, it being too small. We instead went on the Phangan Diver's
boat along with Divemasters and students from two other dive schools.
Sail Rock is supposed to be the best dive site around the area.
It is actually supposed to be one of the top sites in the world.
We were told that the divemasters had seasick pills if we needed
them, but no one told us we had to take the pills BEFORE we felt
sick. There were about five people out of the twenty on board that
felt sick by the time we made it to Sail Rock. I was one of them.
When all of us were asking for seasick pills, they wouldn't give
them to us because they said it was too late if we already felt
sick. Jerks. The waves were crashing into the boat. It rocked mercilessly.
We saw one dive boat ahead of us turn and go back to Ko Pha-Ngan.
That should have been a warning to us, but we kept going. We did
make it, albeit the boat never sat still in the water. When we got
our equipment on and jumped in the water, the waves crashed over
us. It was pretty bad. Our instructor Dave told us I would feel
better once we went under, and he was right. The beauty under water
floored Traci and me. At the last dive site, you could only see
a few feet, maybe 6 or 7 feet away. Here, you could see about 60
feet. We were told that this wasn't great visibility either, but
it was good enough for us. The colors of the fish were amazing.
There were a lot of fish here, unlike the other place we dove. Again,
like watching an underwater TV show, we saw all sorts of corals,
sealife, and suddenly, a whale shark! Whale sharks are the largest
fish in the ocean. We were turning the corner of the reef, and in
front of us was this massive shark (we had been told that there
are no man-eating sharks in Thailand, it's too warm). You could
tell that it wasn't a meat eater anyway, because it didn't have
any fangs. It had a wide mouth that never really opened. It just
sucks in plankton and spits out water. This whale shark was about
12 feet long. Traci and I were in awe. We were told later that it
was a baby, that whale sharks get to be four to five times the size
of this one. As it slowly swam around the island, we all just floated
around watching it. We noticed there was a rope around its tail.
Dave told us that either it got caught in a net or someone tried
to catch it. Already, the rope was so tight that it had begun digging
into the shark's fin. Shona, the seasick vet, told us that if the
rope wasn't removed at some point, the shark would die. Considering
how big these fish get, that was understandable. The rope would
just keep eating into the tail until the bloodflow stopped. Without
a tailfin, a fish can't swim. By the time we all overcame our amazement
over the sighting of a whale shark, I looked at my depth gauge and
realized we were about 24 meters underwater (80 feet). As Open Water
Divers, we are only allowed to go to 18 meters (60 feet). That is
a big difference when it comes to pressure and nitrogen buildup.
Our instructor wasn't concerned. He said it was ok. On these two
dives at Sail Rock, we also saw Angelfish, Barracuda, and Buddha
View's emblem, a Triggerfish. While we were doing our underwater
skills for the class, there were little blue and yellow fish trying
to bite at the scabs on my legs. Hey, it's just like the sunfish
back home! The one other special feature of this dive was a hole
in the underwater reef called "Chimney Rock." Traci, Dave
and I swam to the bottom entrance and one by one, we inflated our
vests a bit and swam up this tunnel to the opening above. It was
kind of eerie, like going in a cave, but we could see the upper
entrance, and soon we were through. When we surfaced, the waves
were horrible. To me, it was like the movie, "The Perfect Storm."
I am sure it was not nearly that bad, but try swimming in that!
Luckily, the boat wasn't too far, but Traci and I were still totally
pooped when we got back. I took a seasick pill for the ride back,
and it worked great. We hope to dive a couple more times before
our trip is over. It is like nothing we have ever done. There really
is a whole other world below the surface of the water.
We changed bungalows due to the special rate we got at a nicer
place by using Buddha View Diving School. We moved and have been
staying at Haad Son Bungalows on the northwest shore of the island.
This is one of the most beautiful places we have ever been with
the neatest accommodations. Our bamboo thatched hut sits on stilts
about 15-20 feet from the ocean in high tide and about 30-40 feet
during low tide. It is very simple with a large bed complete with
mosquito netting, 2 large windows that open to the air, a bathroom
with shower and sink and a fan which we only used a few times. The
ocean breezes keep us fairly cool at night. There is a small deck
with 2 hammocks which we have spent much time in watching the tides
roll in, the sunsets, and reading. There is an old Thai fishing
boat in the shallow part of the private beach. The water is very
warm and usually crystal clear. There are sandy areas where the
sand is soft as flour.
The restaurant is up the hill. We hike upward to reach the shelter
which is decorated with bamboo, natural wood, bamboo tables and
chairs and large timber frame beams throughout. It has, similar
to most restaurants here, what is affectionately called a "chill-out
area." This means it has small wood tables in an area with
brightly colored floor mats and tons of pillows. People lay down
here on the floor here and eat their meals while sitting or lying
on the floor. There are pillows in the shapes of triangles to prop
you up and it is very comfortable. The restaurant gives a higher
view over the ocean over the coconut trees. There is also a deck.
It is a no-frills deal, which we both like. When you arrive for
meals, you go get the book for your room and write your order down
and they bill you at the end of your stay, which is nice. You just
leave when you are ready and do not need to fumble around for money,
track down someone to bring the bill, etc. The food is great and
we have had many dishes of Pad Thai, Nasi Goreng, and my favorite,
a fruit pancake. Another Thai specialty is fruit shakes. We have
had many of these as well.
After spending a week in this paradise, we figured it was time
to move on. We reluctantly left for Ko Samui on the afternoon ferry.
The ferry was loaded to the gills with people and luggage. It had
passengers below deck, along the sides of the boat, and on the top
of the boat. We were situated on the starboard side. As the boat
rocked severely in the mild winds, we began to worry we were going
to capsize. Others near us felt the same; in fact I think the whole
boat would hold their breath during these severe rocks. We had an
elaborate plan of what to do if the boat capsized. Tony would grab
the life saving float device attached to the boat, while I would
grab the small bag with our passports, money, credit cards, and
other important documents. We would both dive outward and swim Northwest
about 40 feet, meet up and swim to the nearest island. We have found
that in most situations one of us worries enough for both of us.
The fact that we were both worried at the same time, warranted a
well-thought out emergency evacuation procedure. As it turned out,
we arrived safely, and I pondered how much I take our transportation
safety systems for granted. How often to you get on a ferry at home
and take the time to actually locate the life preservers because
you think you may actually need them. I am sure we were safe, but
in the U.S. there is a phrase "maximum capacity" which
we all have fudged on at times. But that phrase has new meaning
for us and we intend to start a fan club that raises awareness and
advocates for the enforcement of "maximum capacity" recommendations
around the world.
We were somewhat disappointed in Ko Samui as we were not yet ready
for the barrage of 7-11's, tourist packages being hawked, and hordes
of people. We stayed a few days at the "Chill Out Lamai"
on Lamai beach where we basically read, sunbathed, walked along
the beach, and other stressful activities. We had dinner at one
of the many restaurants that show movies. It is similar to sports
bars except with movies rather than sports. We saw that the new
movie with John Cusack, Serendipity was showing at 8:00. We chuckled
once again at the pirated movie that had shadows of people carrying
popcorn and drinks as the opening credits were rolling. We also
tried to find our friend Chico at the bar he worked at in order
to track down our friends from the train. The workers at the bar
had no idea who that was. We explained we met him on a train from
Bangkok last week, but no luck finding him. The next morning while
we were eating breakfast at The Sunrise Restaurant, run by a hyperactive
Australian woman named Penny, we ran into Brad, our other friend
from the train, who ate with us. He informed us Carmen and Igor
were not overly thrilled with the overrun Samui and left after a
few days. He also told us that Chico does work there and is known
by his Thai name and he has not seen him around lately. While on
Samui, we lounged at the beach, walked around, and looked for the
main tourist attraction of the island called "Grandfather Rock"
- a phallic shaped rock jetting out of the ocean. I am sure people
flock from all over the world to Samui to see this feat of nature,
and we did not want to have our passports revoked for not visiting
this glorious rock. We took our map and walked to where it was supposed
to be and saw nothing. We walked farther, no signs, not phallic
rocks, nothing! We gave up, pointed to a rock that was shaped like
a rectangle, decided erroneously that was the rock, although we
both knew better, and walked back. We figured trying to communicate
in Thai what we were looking for would either a) be a futile effort
given our Thai b) be a waste of our valuable sun bathing time or
c)land us in prison.
We have to share the transport experience to our next tropical
island paradise. It began in Ko Samui with us purchasing tickets
at a travel office for a 3-hour trip, which included a bus ride
to a car ferry that took us across to mainland Thailand and Krabi.
We would stay here overnight and then go to another island called
Ko Lanta. So visualize us going from an island of the east of Florida
to an island on the west side of Florida. 5:30 a.m. on a Monday
morning after a restless night of sleep with both of us worrying
because our alarm clock has broken, we get up, walk to the main
road and hop in the back of a pick-up for our taxi ride to the pier.
We get dropped off and know we are supposed to get on a bus. We
ask around and realize it is not yet here, so we grab some breakfast
and wait. We see our bus, and Tony immediately and efficiently loads
our luggage underneath into its belly and we wait to board until
it is time to leave. This turned out to be a mistake because when
we got to the bus it was jammed. We were once again victims to the
non-adherence of "maximum capacity." The seats and aisles
of the bus were full, and soon we found ourselves pushed into the
bottom belly of the bus with another couple from Australia and all
the luggage of the passengers above. It was dark, claustrophobic,
and absolutely hilarious. At this point we have no idea how long
we must stay here… 5 minutes?… 3 hours? We could not stop
laughing at the fact we were sitting below the bus like dogs with
the luggage. The other couple did find it as amusing as we did.
We rode for only about 20 minutes before being told to exit "quickly,
quickly" were given a ticket and boarded the ferry on foot.
We watched the bus get on the ferry, so we figured we were safe
for the time being.
The ferry ride was gorgeous and we sat in the sun. A while longer,
we arrive somewhere and had no idea if we were to get off or stay
on. It seemed everyone was getting off so we did the same. We found
the same bus that brought us to the ferry and walked quickly to
avoid having to sit in the belly of the bus. It seems everyone else
had the same idea. We were the last people on the bus, but fortunately
for us they had already jammed the underbelly with human cargo.
There was one seat, that Tony graciously (or grudgingly) gave to
Traci, and he would altruistically and heroically stand during the
bus ride, which would be uncomfortable as he had to crouch due to
his height and the low ceilings on the bus. At this point we have
no idea how long the bus ride will be…5 minutes?…3 hours?
The humor of this all was beginning to wane (in Tony's mind), and
Traci however found it still amusing. After a while, Tony sat on
the narrow stairs of the bus. About an hour or so passed and the
bus stopped in the middle of a busy congested street in Surat Thani.
A ticket collector yelled "Krabi, Krabi" to board another
bus for the last leg of our trip. We vaulted off the bus, dodged
the busy traffic, divided our forces and were determined to both
sit in a seat. We used to naively think that if you bought a ticket
it meant you were guaranteed a seat. We have learned from our experiences
that Thailand transportation is dog-eat-dog. Traci dashed to the
other bus and saved 2 seats while Tony gathered the luggage from
the bus and transferred it to the new bus. Of course, our luggage
at the beginning of this adventure was the first on the bus and
now would be the last off. Tony patiently waited in the traffic
for it to be unloaded while Traci waited on the other bus guarding
our seats with her life.
We had a nice bus ride to Krabi, splurged on a hotel with cable,
flush toilets, and AC, and went our for a nice meal in the evening
laughing about our adventure that day. We ran into some other people
we met a week ago who told us they loved Ko Lanta and they took
a van to this island rather than the ferry that everyone else does.
They said that since there were car ferries that traversed the little
crossings to Ko Lanta and the van would bring you right to your
bungalows, this was the way to go. They said this was quicker and
we would save money on transportation once on the island. We took
their advice and bought the van tickets and slept well knowing our
transportation fortunes were about to change. With our new "dog-eat-dog"
attitude, we knew we were about to buck the system. Our insight
would get us to Ko Lanta before those fools on the stupid ferry.
The ferry is supposed to take 2 hours, and the van is supposed to
take 1.5 hours. We present to you a timeline.
10:30 Ferry leaves dock. Tony and Traci laughing at the misfortune
of the naiveté of the 200 passengers crammed on the ferry.
10:31 Panic ensues as we can't find where our van leaves from.
10:32 Ask worker from Phi Phi Family Transportation (our ticket
company) where the van is. He said right in front of the docks at
11:30.
10:37 Tony reviews tickets with 11:00 departure time. Asks another
worker from Phi Phi Family Transportation where the van is. She
makes Tony cross the street to their office and fills out new ticket
form. Tony is assured that van will be here at 11:00. She makes
Tony and Traci bring their luggage to other side of street.
10:38 Traci brings luggage across street. Tony and Traci receive
orange stickers on their shirts. We can only assume this is to indicate
that we are on the 11:00 van. Much like kindergartners with their
bus number written on a sticker attached to their clothing, Tony
and Traci pensively wait.
10:50 Tony and Traci see a Phi Phi Family Transportation bus depart.
Assuring themselves that they are riding a van, not a bus, wait
patiently.
11:00 Van arrives on other side of street.
11:01 Driver stuffs our bags in back. We board the jammed eight-passenger
van. It is all locals.
11:05 Van departs. Traci begins giggling nervously, realizing we
are the only ones wearing orange stickers.
11:10 Traci and Tony, with air conditioning blowing through hair,
smile and discuss the efficiency of vans versus ferries.
11:15 Van stops at store. Old lady in front passenger seat exits.
Tony and Traci assume she is being dropped off. Van waits.
11:25 Old lady has finished her shopping. She has some nice new
thread and material. Traci and Tony exchange confused smiles.
11:26 Van departs. Tony calculates that we will still beat the ferry.
11:30 Van stops at gas station. Unfortunately, we didn't realize
the van would need to fill up AFTER passengers on board. Tony and
Traci still smiling, ever so confident the fools on the ferry will
still lag behind.
11:40 Van departs. Back on the trail! We get on main highway. Tony
and Traci glad to get going.
11:45 Van turns left onto dirt track. Tony looks at map. This is
not the way to Ko Lanta.
11:46 Van stops at warehouse. Driver opens passenger door. Tony
is motioned out. Traci is motioned to stay, but lift up feet. Driver
reaches under seat and pulls out large beautiful tile. We are apparently
purchasing tile.
11:55 Driver returns with two boxes of tiles matching sample. Puts
them under feet of old lady in front passenger seat.
11:56 Van departs tile shop. Traci giggling uncontrollably. She
is afraid she is offending everyone, but everyone seems nonplussed.
11:57 Traci still laughing, thinking of how her father, the king
of bucking the system, would respond in this situation.
11:58 Van back on main highway. Finally!
12:10 Van turns left into Krabi International Airport.
12:11 Van stops in parking lot. Driver leaves for 15 minutes.
12:26 Driver is back with a baby stroller that he straps to roof
of van.
12:30 Ferry arrives in Ko Lanta. Tony and Traci concede the ferry
may have been quicker, but the ferry will not bring the passengers
right to their bungalow upon arrival like our van will. HA!
12:31 Van departs. We are on main highway again.
12:40 Van Driver puts in cassette tape for our listening enjoyment.
The first song is a familiar song from the 80's by a female with
the chorus "Don't Rush Me." Giggling once again ensues.
1:27 Traci discusses with Tony the possibility of removing orange
stickers. Tony says they better wait until they get to Ko Lanta.
2:15 Van arrives on Ko Lanta. Brings us to tourist office. We request
to be brought to Lanta Summer House, but the driver does not speak
English and we are told he will not bring us there. Our friends
that told us the van brought you to your bungalow were wrong.
Transportation in Thailand is dog-eat-dog.
A nice Thai gentleman from the Sayang Beach Bungalows approached
us and asked us if we had a place to stay. We told him we were going
to look at the Lanta Summer House Bungalows, but he persisted in
telling us about his place. We decided we would look at his place,
but he also offered to bring us to the Summer House so we could
determine where we wanted to stay. Obviously he had a vested interest,
but he was pretty nice. As it turned out, the rooms at the Summer
House were very expensive ($15 a night! In Thailand, that is outrageous.).
We ended up going to the Sayang Bungalows and did not regret it.
Our bamboo bungalow is very spacious, has an armoire, and a pretty
comfortable bed. The beach here is amazing, and the water is crystal
clear. The restaurant here is unbelievable. The resort is run by
some Muslim Thais, who cook Indian food as well as the Thai standards.
We spent 7 nights here and read, relax, and strategized our next
transportation excursion to Ko Phi Phi and Phuket.
PART 2
The next part of our adventures in Thailand began when we decided
to avoid the dreaded minibus route and took the ferry to Ko Phi
Phi Island. The name sounds funny, but if you have ever seen the
movie with Leonardo DiCaprio called "The Beach," you have
probably seen the Phi Phi Islands. We went to Phi Phi Don Island,
which has accommodation. The island where the film was shot is called
Phi Phi Ley, and is a protected National Marine Park. These were
by far the most beautiful islands we have seen in Thailand. With
vast limestone rocks jutting out of the sea (called 'Karst Formations'),
the dramatic picture this made and crystal clear waters with amazing
coral reefs vaulted the Phi Phi Islands to the top of the list.
We only stayed in Ko Phi Phi for two days because Traci had to fly
out to Sri Lanka (more later).
The first day we were in Phi Phi, we pretty much laid on the beach
for much of the afternoon. As the sun retreated toward the horizon,
we hiked a path to the top of the dumbbell shaped island. It was
definitely a chore getting to the top, making our way through the
jungle and many a pineapple patch, but the hike was worth it. The
view from the top of Phi Phi Don was breathtaking. We could see
over the whole island. We tried to take a picture, and it is on
our website, however the picture doesn't do it justice. The sun
had just begun to set and the sky was aglow with orange and turquoise
pastels. With the knowledge that the sun would set very soon, we
decided to make our way back down the jungle path so that we didn't
kill ourselves in the dark. This night we stayed in a guesthouse
that we believe is rated at a negative 10 star hotel. We have stayed
in some fairly simple accommodation on this trip, but this room
took the cake. I won't go into too much detail, but we were up half
the night worrying that someone would break in. Since Traci was
leaving in two days, we decided to stay at a nice place the next
day.
We went on a snorkeling trip (thanks Bernell and Jamie!) all day
our second day in Phi Phi. The boat took us to various stops around
Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Ley. The first stop was in a cove called
the Blue Lagoon. I don't think this is the same Blue Lagoon as the
Brooke Shields movie. The water was an almost unearthly glowing
blue-green. We just toured the lagoon and left again. We were going
to stop at a cave called the "Viking Caves," but it was
too windy and the waves were rocking us incessantly, thus preventing
us from docking to the caves. Inside the Viking Caves, Thai people
collect swallow nests, a very lucrative business. They make soup
and women's beauty products from the nests. Also, the caves at one
time in history were notorious for PIRATES. Now, the only pirates
are the Thailand Tourism Authority. The boat continued on until
we reached the fabled "Beach" where the movie "The
Beach" takes place. It is a nice little white sand beach. It
was very pretty, but there were a glut of dive, snorkeling, and
many other boats (including ours) that made it a virtual parking
lot. We were supposed to double up on sea kayaks, and Traci and
I, being the canoe experts that we are, promptly dumped ours. We
were the ONLY ones who dumped our kayak. We got the hang of it soon,
however. We kayaked to "The Beach" and brought snorkeling
equipment with us. We snorkeled for about an hour around the bay
and saw Parrotfish gnawing on rocks (you could even hear them munching)
and some angelfish, but the water wasn't very deep here.
After an hour or so, we left "The Beach" and made straight
away to Monkey Beach. We went snorkeling here as well. This was
the best snorkeling ever. Right when we jumped off the boat, we
could see massive coral formations that dropped off into the deep.
Traci and I swam far away from our boat following a school of Parrotfish.
The water was really clear. Tony chased some silver fish that look
like Gar (does anyone know what Gar look like?). There were many
colorful fish, including Clownfish, Angelfish, and Barracuda. We
saw Sea Urchins, Anemones, Giant Clams and many different coral.
We don't remember how long we were in the water here, but it wasn't
enough time. On our way back to the dock on Phi Phi Don, we stopped
about 200 meters away from a little beach and saw monkeys cavorting
around their little kingdom. What a great snorkeling and sightseeing
cruise!
We stayed at a place called the Phi Phi Hotel this night. It was
very nice, and a welcome change. We had cable TV and hot water,
clean sheets and towels. This was going to be the last night we
would see each other in almost two weeks, so we wanted to stay somewhere
nice. It was. We slept well.
As soon as the next morning came, we were on the ferry to Phuket.
Traci was flying out of Phuket in the afternoon, so we took an early
ferry to make sure we would get to the airport in time. This ferry
ride was great. The sun was shining and the breeze was cool. We
laid back on the deck and the hour and a half ride was over before
long. We found Tony a small guesthouse in the city of Patong Beach
(Phuket) and soon after brought Traci to the airport. It was a very
sad goodbye.
Tony's Bachelor Days
My days in Patong were lonely, but interesting. After I dropped
Traci off at the airport I went back to my guesthouse. I sat in
my room for a while and read, but was kind of restless, so I decided
to check out the city at night. I almost regretted that I did. Patong
Beach is not the quietest place in the world, nor is it the most
innocent place. As I walked down the streets, music blared out of
many discotheques, bars, nightclubs, etc. There were literally hundreds
of European men with Thai women all over the place. It is a very
sad sight. Phuket is known for its "sex" tourism. I find
that rather appalling, and did not want to be in Patong anymore
once I realized what that nightlife was like. My guesthouse was
off the beaten path, so all the craziness was not around where I
stayed though. I did find a really cool pub called "Scruffy
Murphy's" where it was just people my age swigging down an
ale or two, watching a singer named Lee "Shamrock" sing
popular songs of the 60's, 70's, 80s, 90s and traditional Irish
bar songs. I sat and watched him for a while and he was very funny
and a very good singer. Not quite as good as Cooper Finseth from
the band Blue Spot Lobotomy, but very good.
Shortly after, I bought a couple beers from a minimart and called
it a night. Went home and read for awhile. I had to get up the next
day and make a visa run to Malaysia.
When you are travelling in Thailand, you only have 30 days to enjoy
your stay, then you have to leave. The only way to stay longer is
to get an extension, which doesn't always work and is rather expensive
and only good for 15 days. The alternative is to go to Malaysia
(if you are in the south of Thailand) and come back into Thailand
for another 30 days. It is usually a pretty quick and inexpensive
proposition. Well, when I am working on my own, things don't always
work out that way. I bought a plane ticket to a city called Hat
Yai, only one hour from the Malaysian border. My plane left Phuket
at 1:00 PM, so I figured I could get there by 1:30, get on a bus
to Malaysia by 2:00, get my visa and back to Hat Yai by 4:30 or
so, and on an eight hour bus back to Phuket. I am an optimist.
I did get to Hat Yai by 1:30. I took an airport taxi (the dreaded
minibus) and asked them to bring me to the bus station. They did
not respond to my inquiry until after they dropped everyone else
off. Finally, they told me they did not go to the bus station. They
drove me around for about 45 minutes, until they dropped me off
by a group of MINIBUSES! Luckily, the minibus was going to the Malaysia
border. Little did I know that there was some underhanded dealing
going on here, because no sooner was I on the minibus to the Malaysian
border that we went directly to the bus station! It seems the van
driver had to drop off some receipts. I know that there are regular
city buses that go to the same place, but I was on a minibus, so
I couldn't complain too much, even though they charged me twice
as much as a regular city bus, which is only $1 as opposed to $.50.
Perception of cost changes when you are travelling. Within an hour
we were at the border. When the minibus left me stranded, I had
no idea what I needed to do next. Luckily, all the border guards
were very nice and helped me with the process very quickly. I just
had to get my exit visa stamped in Thailand, walked across the border
into Malaysia, got an entry and then an exit visa there, then walked
back into Thailand for my new 30 day visa. With all my monkeying
around before that it was already 4:30 though. I met a Turkish guy
at the Thailand border who was just ahead of me in getting his new
visa. He told me he would hold the bus back to Hat Yai for me. I
thought that was very kind. After I got my visa, I looked for him
and couldn't find him anywhere. Now I was in the middle of nowhere
without a way back to Hat Yai. I walked around for about 20 minutes
trying to inquire on a way back. Finally, some Thai guy saw my forlorn
disposition and asked me if I was going to Hat Yai. I was very happy
when he told me I could catch the regular city bus (finally!) back
to Hat Yai, and I waited for that. When the bus rolled over the
hill, I just about doubled over in laughter. I don't know how many
of you saw the "Muppet Movie," but it was just like when
Kermit and Fozzie see The Electric Mayhem's bus for the first time.
Over the hill came this bus from the 1960's, red with a silver streak
down the side, yellow hubs, and rock and roll blasting out the windows!
The only thing it lacked was Doctor Teeth behind the wheel saying
"Oh Yeah!" I could even make out the driver rocking to
the rhythm back and forth. It was hilarious.
I was back in Hat Yai by 6:00. I hoped there was still a bus going
back to Phuket that evening. I went to a travel agency, and of course
there was no bus until the next morning (a MINIBUS!!! Well, half
the way anyway, it was supposed to switch to a large VIP bus halfway
through). Well, I was defeated by my own optimistic plan, so I stayed
at the Cathay GuestHouse in Hat Yai. Who should I run into, but
the Turkish guy (his name is Ahm) who was supposed to hold the bus
for me at the border! He apologized profusely and bought me a beer
for my troubles. He said he looked for me, but the bus wouldn't
wait. Oh well. He introduced me to his German friend, Sasha, and
we all went out to eat, played some pool, almost beat up a South
African guy that looked like Austin Powers (email me on this one
if you want the details), and drank far too much beer. We got back
to the guesthouse at 3:30 in the morning. This didn't work too well
with the eight-hour bus ride the next day. Speaking of that bus
ride, we were supposed to switch to a LARGE, AIR CONDITIONED VIP
BUS halfway through the trip, but of course this too was a Trojan
horse. We rode in a MINIBUS all the way to Phuket. My Turkish friend
came with me. Back in Phuket, I went to bed rather early. The next
day I lay on the beach all day. Big mistake. I didn't drink any
water, and of course I was dehydrated from the night before. By
the time the day was over, I was very sick. I thought I had malaria.
I shivered all night in the 80 + degree weather. I had all my blankets
on. My head became stuffed up and I barely slept. The next day I
had booked a snorkeling trip. My Turkish friend Ahm came along.
I got to see some Moray Eels and a Puffer Fish, but overall, I was
pretty sick and didn't enjoy myself very much. That night, I wanted
to go to bed early, but my Turkish friend coaxed me to go out for
a couple beers. Another somewhat big mistake. You see what happens
when Traci isn't around? I make dumb mistakes. It took me well over
a week to get over my sickness (which ended up being a cold and
maybe strep throat), when it should have passed much quicker. I
knew I needed to get out of Phuket quickly, so the next morning
I took a taxi to the airport and tried to buy a ticket within the
hour to Bangkok. I had to meet Traci in Chiang Mai on the 8th of
December, and it was already the 4th. My brilliant plan had me flying
to Bangkok, getting an overnight train there to Chiang Mai, and
setting up shop by the 5th. It didn't quite work out that way. It
was fun, but not what I expected.
I got a ticket right away to Bangkok no problem. The ticket was
cheap and I was too sick to travel in a MINIBUS (notice the use
of caps, I really don't like the minibuses). The flight only took
an hour, and I was in Bangkok by 2:00 PM. I walked to the train
station and tried to book an overnight train to Chiang Mai (in the
North). They were all booked. Oops. Instead, I thought I would buy
a ticket to Ayyuthaya, which would only take an hour. Ayyuthaya
is an ancient city that has ruins of temples from the beginning
of Siam. I figured I could book a room overnight there, see the
ruins the next day, and then take a night train to Chiang Mai the
next day. On the train I met a guy from England named "Case."
He was winging his way around the area, and he decided to follow
me in Ayyuthaya. When we got to the train station in Ayyuthaya,
the only tickets they had for a train to Chiang Mai was a Day Train,
which left at 8:30 am the next morning. No night train for the next
few days. Little did I know there was a National Holiday coming
up that precluded any possible Night Train berths. So, I bought
the Day Train ticket, resigning myself that I would have to spend
13 hours of my day in a moving vehicle. I was still pretty sick.
On the way to the guesthouse I hoped to stay at, I met a girl from
Germany named Mandy (she pronounced it "Mendee"). She
had reservations at the guesthouse next to mine, so we decided to
find them together. Case was also with me. When we got there, they
only had one room available, so Case and I decided to stay together.
He was a middle-aged guy, so I figured he was ok. He seemed nice
enough. We ate dinner with Mandy and a Canadian woman named Jennifer.
Then a Dutch guy named Michael joined us. We had a couple beers
and laughed at each other's accents. By the time things were rolling,
the restaurant kicked us out. They suggested we go down to a little
bar down the street, the Moon Café. So Mandy Jennifer Michael,
Case, and me began to go down to the bar. Case asked me for the
key to our room so he could get something from his bag. I gave it
to him, and none of us saw him for the rest of the night. The rest
of us hung out at the bar and swapped lies, drank a beer or two,
and swapped some more lies. When it was time to go back, I wondered
where Case was. Mandy and me pounded on my door for the next part
of a half-hour. No answer. Where was Case? Finally someone from
the guesthouse got fed up and let me in with a staff key. Case wasn't
there. Luckily my bags were all still there and locked. The key
was sitting on my bed. There was no trace of Case. His bag was gone.
We all shook our heads and I got ready to go to bed. As soon as
I turned off the light, there was a knocking at my door. It was
Case. He was kind of staggering around, most likely a bit tipsy.
I asked him what was going on and he told me he got a room at a
place across the street. He then took a shower. It was very weird.
After he asked me to give him the key and I wouldn't give it to
him, he left. I saw him turn around and look at my place three times
on the way back to his other place. Like I said, it was weird.
Early the next morning, I took the train to Chiang Mai.
By this time, I had stayed out too much, traveled too much in too
short a time, and drank too much too many times. I wasn't doing
well. I got to Chiang Mai and went to bed right away. The next day
I discovered that I was very lonely, albeit Traci would be back
in three days, and I decided I needed to treat myself to some familiar
things. I had tea and a bagel with cream cheese at this great little
bakeshop (The Bake 'n Bite), and went to the movies (Harry Potter).
I heard Christmas music everywhere and saw Christmas trees in some
places. My day was rather limited, as my being sick didn't allow
me to get up until almost 2:00, and I was back home at 7:30, but
I rather enjoyed Chiang Mai. It felt European, or at least had enough
familiar things that I could grab onto something. The next day I
did pretty much the same thing. The only difference was that I saw
Monsters, Inc. this day instead. Pretty productive, I know. I was
glad Traci would be back the next day, I couldn't handle much more
of this "freedom."
Traci got back from Sri Lanka and I was the happiest person around.
Unfortunately, it didn't last too long, because when we got back
to the room, I collapsed from exhaustion. Weird though, from within
two days of Traci being back I was almost completely healthy again.
Hmmm.
Next Update:
Traci's Adventures in Sri Lanka (November 29 - December 8)
(Traci's Addendum: I am trying to write
about this and my time at the Asian Human Rights Commission and
my election monitoring in Sri Lanka. I am slow. Sorry. Stay Tuned.We
will make it a seperate page)
Chiang Mai - The End of Our Thailand Adventure
Tony met Traci at the airport in Chiang Mai. Traci was exhausted
and Tony was sick, so we only spent a few days in Chiang Mai before
leaving for Bali. We enjoyed the walking around Chiang Mai. We found
a delightful little bakery/coffee shop called "Bake and Bite."
It was just like the little boutique coffee shops back home. At
this point it was near Christmas time and we were missing our friends
and families a lot, so anything familiar was welcome.
While in Chiang Mai, we took a day-long cooking course with Thai
Kitchen Cookery Center. We each took a different one so we could
sample a few dishes the other person made and also learn to make
more dishes. The day started with a trip to the local market where
we learned about the fresh ingredients used in Thai food, how to
select good vegetables, learned about the 3 types of curry pastes...
green, red, and yellow, learned about and samples coconut sugar,
fruits, and many other important things. During the classes, we
made 12 different dishes... beef salad, green chicken curry, chicken
with basil leaves, papaya salad, pad thai, tom yam, grilled fish
salad, chicken with ginger, masaman curry fried rice with chicken
and chilies in fish sauce, sticky rice with ripe mango, and fried
bananas in coconut toffee served with ice cream. We started early
and cooked all day eating our creations as they were finished. Needless
to say, we rolled ourselves back to our guest house when we were
finished. The instructors were very good and were anxious to have
us understand the art of Thai cooking. Many of the ingredients will
not be available outside of Thailand or SE Asia so they gave us
good substitutes that should be available.
Shortly thereafter, we left the nice international city of Chiang
Mai for our next adventure: BALI
Thailand Highlights
Ko Phang An - reading in Hammocks, beautiful beaches, quiet
SCUBA diving - breathing underwater
Diving at sail rock and seeing a whale shark
Ko Phi Phi and its gorgeous carsk formations, beaches,
Snorkelling in Ko Phi Phi - exotic colorful fish
Chaing Mai cooking classes
Riding motorbike on scenic ocean road
Lush greenery and tropical flowers
Sunsets
Restaurants serving good food and showing movies
Inexpensive prices
Chang Beer
Thai green curry with rice
Tony got to watch a Vikings game in Ko Lanta
Great food!!!
Scenic ferry rides to many islands
Beautiful people with big smiles and rich culture
Taking off shoes upon entering stores, restaurants, guest houses,
temples, etc.
Bungalows made of local materials
"Bake and Bite" coffee shop and bakery in Chiang Mai
Good Indian curries at Ko Lanta
Thailand Lowlights
Tony being sick
Local transportation woes
Being in different countries for over a week
Phuket
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