we made it back to Phi Phi alive (not to mention desperate for a shower), and caught the ferry to Phuket just in time. the hour and a half ride was so bumpy and wild that they brought around barf bags to all the passengers - I was too tired to care about the rough water, and too relieved that I was safely below deck and in a large boat that could handle the big waves. Our destination was the Katathani resort, one of the nicest hotels in Phuket. We arrived looking (and I'm sure smelling) absolutely disgusting. I think the hotel employees were quite alarmed by how disheveled their new guests were. I suppose we shouldn't have planned our dirtiest night of our trip right before our stay in the nicest hotel we could find - or maybe it was exactly the right thing to do... we each enjoyed about a 30 minute shower right when we arrived, and then another one later that night, trying to get clean after our camping trip.
once we woke from an A.C. induced nap we decided to explore Phuket... we walked past the half a dozen huge pools that were a part of our resort, and onto the beach. We decided to go along the rocks rather than walk the road into town, because not only did it allow us a constant view of the ocean and neighboring islands, but we were able to pass through some of the incredible resorts build along the beach cliffs. We eventually reached an impassible stretch of rock, so rather than backtrack (how inefficient), we decided to follow stairs up and hopefully find the main road that way. the first path was a dead end due to a massive barking dog blocking our way. we thought it best to leave him alone. the next set of stairs led to a fence/gate that enclosed what we thought was a resort. Kor opened the gate, the three of us let ourselves in. as we climbed up toward the "resort" we started to have second thoughts about our assumption... "i think this is a house" Lo said. Kor was pretty convinced it was a resort... I was on the fence, alternating back and fourth between house and resort with each second. we had paused to debate the matter in hushed voices, and soon noticed a gray-haired man wearing the biggest gold watch I have ever seen, sitting on a lawn chair facing away from us. that should have been a solid clue that not only was it a house, but it was his house, and we should turn around and kindly see ourselves out. instead, we literally tip-toed up the few stairs only feet behind where he lay (thank goodness he was apparently hard of hearing, because he didn't detect the flip flop of our sandals as we snuck behind him). we transitioned into a speed walk across his lawn as we all took in the kitchen (definitely not that of a resort), the pool room/library, and finally, the specialized bikes in the driveway - not exactly hotel property. we weren't speaking at this point, for fear of getting caught trespassing. we quietly opened the gate enclosing the back yard, praying there was no watchdog in the driveway, and without a word, all simultaneously broke into sprints up the steep driveway, past the two SUVs parked by the garage, then let ourselves nonchalantly out the front gate to the main street. only then did we bust into laughter as we all said in unison "definitely a house"!! Needless to say, we opted to take the road back that evening.
The nearby beach town, totally a Thailand version of Santa Cruz, was really fun and we enjoyed walking around, and eating Rotii and dinner at an amazing Italian restaurant (oddly enough)... Thai food 7 days a week is finally getting to us. Back at the hotel that night we decided to test out each of the resort's pools. the property was basically deserted as we made our way to pool #1... we jumped in, swam across, then headed out to the ocean before hitting up the rest of the pools. Thoroughly salty after our swim, we walked up the beach to the next pool when Kor felt his shorts' pocket and said "the key!!"... I'm not sure why, but Kor had decided to keep the hotel key in his pocket (not a zipper pocket), while we went on our pool escapades. Not even 10 minutes in the key way missing. grrreat. we were already on Katathani's blacklist after showing up looking homeless and smelling like fish, just what we needed, another strike on our record. we decided to retrace our steps - nothing. With no other options we went back to get our towels so that we could go to the main office and explain that we had lost the key and needed a new one. Fortunately, there, sitting on our towels was our hotel key, despite the fact that Kor had insisted he had not left the key with the towels. We "Koooorrrr!!!"-ed him, which we find ourselves doing frequently on this trip, and then resumed our pool hopping until we were exhausted and ready for a good night's sleep in our cool room on a soft bed - paradise.
Just another day on vacay in Thailand (with Kor as our guide).
Saturday, May 9, 2009
castaways and ghosts
During our stay in Ko Phi Phi we saw signs everywhere advertising a camping trip to "The Beach" - Maya Bay where the movie with Leonardo Dicaprio was filmed... the photos of the bay were amazing, and the description of the overnight trip sounded too good to pass up: tents, meals, a night on the island. We forked over the 1700 (about $40 US dollars) and signed up. Apparently we were the only travelers in Ko Phi Phi who thought the camping trip worth doing, because we showed up at 3pm the day of the trip and were told we were the only ones who had signed up. a little disappointed we wouldn't get to make friends, we agreed to go for a private night on the island... fortunately two young french girls ended up arriving just in time to come along, and the five of us set out with 4 tour guides for the island.
After some serious issues with miscommunication (Kor has a lot of trouble understanding the Southern accent/dialect), we finally made it onto a small, beat up boat, with our packs (they had insisted we keep our packs at their "office", Lo and I weren't about to leave our passports behind and had no smaller pack to bring our stuff, so we brought everything... this turned out to be a mistake, which the French girls made too, because we couldn't actually bring our packs to the island, I'll explain later). The boat we took to the island was brightly painted but in desperate need of a touch-up, and duck tape was used a little too frequently to make us feel comfortable. It did however, have a set of decent speakers tied to the front of the cabin, and one of the french girls hooked up her ipod so we could rock out to American pop music as we drove out to the island... The other french girl chain smoked the entire time we were on the trip.
our first stop was one of the inlets on the island for some incredible snorkeling. we also passed this wild cave where we were informed by Nemo (one of the guides with an accent so thick I didn't know what he was saying half the time), that these birds build huge nests up to 5m long in the cave and thousands of them live in the nests. furthermore, the nests are used as a delicacy food, it is called something like bird nest drink with rock sugar and it is kind of sweet and very expensive - we almost bought some today but opted against it since we think we understood that it is made from the birds' saliva. there was also something about butternut squash in the story Nemo told, i think, but i didn't really catch that part. Like his name, Nemo himself was a pretty funny guy, he was either smoking a cigarette, joint, taking a hit off a bong, or drinking some type of alcohol the entire time we were on our excursion, but I have to give him some credit because i came out of the water after snorkeling with a weird speckled sting on my spine (it was painful and itchy all at once, and really irritating me as I sat at the front of the boat watching the island go by while we searched for the break in the cliffs where we could enter to the Bay), and he put tiger balm ointment on it and rescued me from the pain/itch... i was so thankful, i couldn't even be mad about him sneaking up on me and grabbing my leg while snorkeling - I'm sure he does it to every traveler, and for him, it never gets old - (i screamed so loud, i was convinced for a second that i was getting eaten by a shark).
To get to the beach it was slightly complicated/mildly dangerous. apparently, because it was high tide the boat couldn't make it into the bay (that doesn't make sense to me either but I'm sure that was the excuse they gave), so we had to take a little dingy, two people at a time, to this steep wooden ladder slippery with algae and salt water. the driver had to time it between huge crashing waves so that we could scurry out of the bobbing dingy near the sharp rocks and onto the ladder to quickly climb the 20 or so feet to the crack in the rock where we could pass to the sand (whew! you get all that? chaos just like the experience :). between the three of us we brought only a small dry bag full of the essentials: bug repellent, tooth brush, and clean underwear... we had basically been living in our swimsuits since arriving in the south, and this adventure was no different. Our packs (passports and all) were left in the boat... Kor got some serious hell from me and Lo for getting us stuck in this situation. how he wasn't able to understand that it was impossible to bring our packs to the beach with us, I don't know, either way, it was pretty reckless of us to leave everything on a small boat floating unsupervised beside an island in the middle of the ocean, but we had no choice and in the end it turned out alright - we were very lucky.
Once we made it safely onto dry land, we hiked a short distance to "The Beach"... it is called Maya Bay and if you see the movie you will be seeing a very accurate depiction of what the beach looks like (watch the movie!! you'll see where we slept!!). we arrived just in time to watch the sun set between the steep cliffs on either side of the opening to Maya bay (in the movie they add a rock in to block the small opening and make it seem more isolated). it was gorgeous! we enjoyed the huge waves and body surfed a little, then Kor and I decided to swim over to a beach nearby and this random guy from England, Greg, joined us. Apparently he had been on a tour boat and had jumped ship when they were heading back because he wanted to stay for the sunset... a castaway!! he had nothing with him, no plan, no way to get off the island, and no idea what he was going to eat or where he was going to sleep. naturally, our group adopted him (after he worked out payment with our guides), and turns out he knows how to play hearts, so we welcomed him with open arms into our group (we shot the moon 4 different times that night, Lo, three times IN A ROW, and me the time after that... we decided it was the island - I don't think Greg will every play hearts with Americans again).
Dinner was delish! food always tastes better outside. Rice and veggies, and then later toast and fish for a midnight snack. After dinner they brought us each buckets of some type of alcohol - i think it was maybe a coke and rum mixture, with some original redbull added - did you know redbull was created in Thailand and it has amphetamines in it? im thinking not anymore, but the drink was shady regardless, and we all enjoyed it anyway :) they literally served it in colorful buckets with handles and straws, the taste really wasn't half bad. we drank while we all played card games, the guides included, though they didn't really speak English, they were able to get the gist of games like Egyptian Rat Screw and Presidents and Assholes, both of which we played as drinking games like the good ole college days ;) I was attacked by a huge brown biting ant during one of the games... seriously, the stupid little aunt chomped into my leg near my hip and the pain was excruciating!! i frantically whipped it away at least 4 times before it finally let go. jaws of death that little sucker had, and my leg soon had a growing welt paired with sharp pain that not even tiger balm could fix. The next couple of days I had a red irritated spot on my leg about the size of a golf ball, accompanied by serious muscle pain deep to where the bite had been. this ant meant business. it was painful to walk up and down stairs for the next two days. damn.
our chain smoker french girl friend brought us down the to beach after cards to look at the glowing sea plankton. i was under the impression that they would glow in the water when agitated, but despite looking for them with Nemo early that evening, we hadn't found any biofluorescence in the water. Chain-smoking french girl figured it out, she scrutinized the waves as they washed up on the beach, until stooping to pick up something we couldn't really see. when we got close we realized that her finger was glowing blue. a small circular creature that was glowing bright in the darkness of the beach, so far from lights/civilization. cool!! and kor was pretty convinced that when he peed in the water a while earlier, the ocean had glowed where it was disturbed. before bed we walked out onto the single dock to lay on our backs and watch the sky illuminate with flashes of lightning. it is amazing to be so comfortable running around in a swimsuit at midnight on an island in the middle of the ocean. and it's a good thing it was so warm, the trip was advertised as providing tents, turns out all we got was stinky (seriously very terribly horribly stinky) sleeping bags.. thin sleeping bags and these random decorative pillows that looked unfit for the goodwill sale rack. we slept on mats under the overhanging cliff just up the beach, which was an incredible location, but it was a windy night and by the time morning came around we were all coated in sand and I think it's going to take me a few more showers before I actually feel clean. I made sure to dig myself a divot (if you ever sleep the night on sand, don't just lay down, dig yourself a little spot in the sand and it will cradle you comfortably all night!! - Lo didn't get this memo), and overall I slept pretty well - though I did wake up once to Kor trying to tell me about how he had seen a ghost, at which point I told him he was freaking me out and to go back to bed and tell me in the morning (I got the full story over breakfast about his ghost, I'm pretty convinced Greg, who he was sleeping next to, was the ghost, but whatever, Kor is convinced the island has powers, like on LOST... I will say, we have one photo on Kor's camera where I'm pretty sure we're all sleeping on the beach in the middle of the night, and I maybe think the ghost took it, if I believed in ghosts that is).
After breakfast (toast that tasted like gasoline, with butter from a costco-sized tub that looked about a year old, and instant coffee power mix), we hopped into one of the long boats and left early. the tour is supposed to head back in the late morning, but we needed to return to the mainland by 8:30a.m. to catch the ferry to Phuket, so we had to go back across the oceans with our packs (they had spent the night unattended on the bigger boat and survived - luckily no pirates off of Ko Phi Phi, Thailand), in the small boat that got tossed around violently on the huge waves. when we left the bay the waves were so big the bow of the boat was changing altitude by at least 15 feet with each wave, it was wayyy more wild than riding the bull on a rafting trip or anything like that. Lo and I were holding on with both hands giving each other the "holy shit!" look and I was seriously wondering not if we were going to tip, but exactly when (sorry ma, i know this blog is probably a little wild for your tastes but in the end I'm so glad we went on the trip, it was such a great adventure!!). when we made it out away from the island the waves finally settled down a little, at which point our driver (cigarette in mouth as always), decided to abandon his driving to do some work on the boat - in order to steer another one of the guides stood up on the front of the boat and leaned side to side to keep the boat going in a straight line. that was an experience... no hands!! I wouldn't go so far as to say we were thrilled about the alternative driving technique.
After some serious issues with miscommunication (Kor has a lot of trouble understanding the Southern accent/dialect), we finally made it onto a small, beat up boat, with our packs (they had insisted we keep our packs at their "office", Lo and I weren't about to leave our passports behind and had no smaller pack to bring our stuff, so we brought everything... this turned out to be a mistake, which the French girls made too, because we couldn't actually bring our packs to the island, I'll explain later). The boat we took to the island was brightly painted but in desperate need of a touch-up, and duck tape was used a little too frequently to make us feel comfortable. It did however, have a set of decent speakers tied to the front of the cabin, and one of the french girls hooked up her ipod so we could rock out to American pop music as we drove out to the island... The other french girl chain smoked the entire time we were on the trip.
our first stop was one of the inlets on the island for some incredible snorkeling. we also passed this wild cave where we were informed by Nemo (one of the guides with an accent so thick I didn't know what he was saying half the time), that these birds build huge nests up to 5m long in the cave and thousands of them live in the nests. furthermore, the nests are used as a delicacy food, it is called something like bird nest drink with rock sugar and it is kind of sweet and very expensive - we almost bought some today but opted against it since we think we understood that it is made from the birds' saliva. there was also something about butternut squash in the story Nemo told, i think, but i didn't really catch that part. Like his name, Nemo himself was a pretty funny guy, he was either smoking a cigarette, joint, taking a hit off a bong, or drinking some type of alcohol the entire time we were on our excursion, but I have to give him some credit because i came out of the water after snorkeling with a weird speckled sting on my spine (it was painful and itchy all at once, and really irritating me as I sat at the front of the boat watching the island go by while we searched for the break in the cliffs where we could enter to the Bay), and he put tiger balm ointment on it and rescued me from the pain/itch... i was so thankful, i couldn't even be mad about him sneaking up on me and grabbing my leg while snorkeling - I'm sure he does it to every traveler, and for him, it never gets old - (i screamed so loud, i was convinced for a second that i was getting eaten by a shark).
To get to the beach it was slightly complicated/mildly dangerous. apparently, because it was high tide the boat couldn't make it into the bay (that doesn't make sense to me either but I'm sure that was the excuse they gave), so we had to take a little dingy, two people at a time, to this steep wooden ladder slippery with algae and salt water. the driver had to time it between huge crashing waves so that we could scurry out of the bobbing dingy near the sharp rocks and onto the ladder to quickly climb the 20 or so feet to the crack in the rock where we could pass to the sand (whew! you get all that? chaos just like the experience :). between the three of us we brought only a small dry bag full of the essentials: bug repellent, tooth brush, and clean underwear... we had basically been living in our swimsuits since arriving in the south, and this adventure was no different. Our packs (passports and all) were left in the boat... Kor got some serious hell from me and Lo for getting us stuck in this situation. how he wasn't able to understand that it was impossible to bring our packs to the beach with us, I don't know, either way, it was pretty reckless of us to leave everything on a small boat floating unsupervised beside an island in the middle of the ocean, but we had no choice and in the end it turned out alright - we were very lucky.
Once we made it safely onto dry land, we hiked a short distance to "The Beach"... it is called Maya Bay and if you see the movie you will be seeing a very accurate depiction of what the beach looks like (watch the movie!! you'll see where we slept!!). we arrived just in time to watch the sun set between the steep cliffs on either side of the opening to Maya bay (in the movie they add a rock in to block the small opening and make it seem more isolated). it was gorgeous! we enjoyed the huge waves and body surfed a little, then Kor and I decided to swim over to a beach nearby and this random guy from England, Greg, joined us. Apparently he had been on a tour boat and had jumped ship when they were heading back because he wanted to stay for the sunset... a castaway!! he had nothing with him, no plan, no way to get off the island, and no idea what he was going to eat or where he was going to sleep. naturally, our group adopted him (after he worked out payment with our guides), and turns out he knows how to play hearts, so we welcomed him with open arms into our group (we shot the moon 4 different times that night, Lo, three times IN A ROW, and me the time after that... we decided it was the island - I don't think Greg will every play hearts with Americans again).
Dinner was delish! food always tastes better outside. Rice and veggies, and then later toast and fish for a midnight snack. After dinner they brought us each buckets of some type of alcohol - i think it was maybe a coke and rum mixture, with some original redbull added - did you know redbull was created in Thailand and it has amphetamines in it? im thinking not anymore, but the drink was shady regardless, and we all enjoyed it anyway :) they literally served it in colorful buckets with handles and straws, the taste really wasn't half bad. we drank while we all played card games, the guides included, though they didn't really speak English, they were able to get the gist of games like Egyptian Rat Screw and Presidents and Assholes, both of which we played as drinking games like the good ole college days ;) I was attacked by a huge brown biting ant during one of the games... seriously, the stupid little aunt chomped into my leg near my hip and the pain was excruciating!! i frantically whipped it away at least 4 times before it finally let go. jaws of death that little sucker had, and my leg soon had a growing welt paired with sharp pain that not even tiger balm could fix. The next couple of days I had a red irritated spot on my leg about the size of a golf ball, accompanied by serious muscle pain deep to where the bite had been. this ant meant business. it was painful to walk up and down stairs for the next two days. damn.
our chain smoker french girl friend brought us down the to beach after cards to look at the glowing sea plankton. i was under the impression that they would glow in the water when agitated, but despite looking for them with Nemo early that evening, we hadn't found any biofluorescence in the water. Chain-smoking french girl figured it out, she scrutinized the waves as they washed up on the beach, until stooping to pick up something we couldn't really see. when we got close we realized that her finger was glowing blue. a small circular creature that was glowing bright in the darkness of the beach, so far from lights/civilization. cool!! and kor was pretty convinced that when he peed in the water a while earlier, the ocean had glowed where it was disturbed. before bed we walked out onto the single dock to lay on our backs and watch the sky illuminate with flashes of lightning. it is amazing to be so comfortable running around in a swimsuit at midnight on an island in the middle of the ocean. and it's a good thing it was so warm, the trip was advertised as providing tents, turns out all we got was stinky (seriously very terribly horribly stinky) sleeping bags.. thin sleeping bags and these random decorative pillows that looked unfit for the goodwill sale rack. we slept on mats under the overhanging cliff just up the beach, which was an incredible location, but it was a windy night and by the time morning came around we were all coated in sand and I think it's going to take me a few more showers before I actually feel clean. I made sure to dig myself a divot (if you ever sleep the night on sand, don't just lay down, dig yourself a little spot in the sand and it will cradle you comfortably all night!! - Lo didn't get this memo), and overall I slept pretty well - though I did wake up once to Kor trying to tell me about how he had seen a ghost, at which point I told him he was freaking me out and to go back to bed and tell me in the morning (I got the full story over breakfast about his ghost, I'm pretty convinced Greg, who he was sleeping next to, was the ghost, but whatever, Kor is convinced the island has powers, like on LOST... I will say, we have one photo on Kor's camera where I'm pretty sure we're all sleeping on the beach in the middle of the night, and I maybe think the ghost took it, if I believed in ghosts that is).
After breakfast (toast that tasted like gasoline, with butter from a costco-sized tub that looked about a year old, and instant coffee power mix), we hopped into one of the long boats and left early. the tour is supposed to head back in the late morning, but we needed to return to the mainland by 8:30a.m. to catch the ferry to Phuket, so we had to go back across the oceans with our packs (they had spent the night unattended on the bigger boat and survived - luckily no pirates off of Ko Phi Phi, Thailand), in the small boat that got tossed around violently on the huge waves. when we left the bay the waves were so big the bow of the boat was changing altitude by at least 15 feet with each wave, it was wayyy more wild than riding the bull on a rafting trip or anything like that. Lo and I were holding on with both hands giving each other the "holy shit!" look and I was seriously wondering not if we were going to tip, but exactly when (sorry ma, i know this blog is probably a little wild for your tastes but in the end I'm so glad we went on the trip, it was such a great adventure!!). when we made it out away from the island the waves finally settled down a little, at which point our driver (cigarette in mouth as always), decided to abandon his driving to do some work on the boat - in order to steer another one of the guides stood up on the front of the boat and leaned side to side to keep the boat going in a straight line. that was an experience... no hands!! I wouldn't go so far as to say we were thrilled about the alternative driving technique.
level 2 fun? mayyybe level 3
Yesterday was an exciting day... we were still on Phi Phi and determined to find our way to monkey beach. we rented a kayak and set out, slathered in sunscreen, rotten bananas in hand, and a general idea of where we needed to paddle to get to the beach. Our tryak (that is a kayak for three :) reached the beach no problem, and we were happy to see there was hardly anyone there! we spotted the monkeys immediately (or more accurately, they spotted us), and we headed over to feed them. turns out our idea of feeding the monkeys, and their idea of being fed, was very different. as we got close to them to start handing out bananas (in the very calm and fair manner we believed necessary for every monkey to get their share of bananas), one of the large males charged aggressively and in a split second all hell broke loose! monkeys were coming at us and we were screaming and kor was getting grabbed by little monkey hands and in an effort to take the attention off of ourselves we sacrificed the entire bag of bananas (totally panicked, I chucked it across the beach, guilty as charged - but in my defense it did distract the monkeys long enough for us to escape without contracting rabies)...
we retreated into the ocean, the only place we were able to find refuge from the angry, teeth-flaunting grins of the monkeys. only then could we laugh nervously about what had just happened. we decided it was maybe level three fun, it was going to take a while before we could really look back at our experience at monkey beach and say it was fun/funny (you'd think with a Thai speaker we would have had some warning, but no, the vicious monkeys were a completely unpleasant surprise)...
Once more tourists started to arrive, we decided that the best form of entertainment was to watch the unsuspecting visitors try to befriend the aggressive monkeys, and when one of the little guys snuck up and snatched a tourist's can of pop (and proceeded to sip from it with both hands like a human), we couldn't stop laughing. the snorkeling at monkey beach was amazing, and we felt safe in the water, so that occupied the rest of our time there. when a big tourist boat arrived we asked if we could come on board to jump off of the second story roof, which we did several times while the life-jacket clad passengers looked on a little shocked that we were taking over their boat for our shenanigans.
After a couple of hours we decided to leave monkey hell (yes, we renamed the beach). A short paddle back to the main beach (we were going with the waves and wind this time), and we went in search of our meeting place for the next adventure we had planned... a camping trip to Maya Bay, located on an island off of Ko Phi Phi (the location where they filmed the movie The Beach). This was going to be one of our most ultimate travel experiences yet.
we retreated into the ocean, the only place we were able to find refuge from the angry, teeth-flaunting grins of the monkeys. only then could we laugh nervously about what had just happened. we decided it was maybe level three fun, it was going to take a while before we could really look back at our experience at monkey beach and say it was fun/funny (you'd think with a Thai speaker we would have had some warning, but no, the vicious monkeys were a completely unpleasant surprise)...
Once more tourists started to arrive, we decided that the best form of entertainment was to watch the unsuspecting visitors try to befriend the aggressive monkeys, and when one of the little guys snuck up and snatched a tourist's can of pop (and proceeded to sip from it with both hands like a human), we couldn't stop laughing. the snorkeling at monkey beach was amazing, and we felt safe in the water, so that occupied the rest of our time there. when a big tourist boat arrived we asked if we could come on board to jump off of the second story roof, which we did several times while the life-jacket clad passengers looked on a little shocked that we were taking over their boat for our shenanigans.
After a couple of hours we decided to leave monkey hell (yes, we renamed the beach). A short paddle back to the main beach (we were going with the waves and wind this time), and we went in search of our meeting place for the next adventure we had planned... a camping trip to Maya Bay, located on an island off of Ko Phi Phi (the location where they filmed the movie The Beach). This was going to be one of our most ultimate travel experiences yet.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
the happiest day of my life
Woke up early and took a two hour ferry ride to Ko Phi Phi. We made some friends from NY and SF while waiting for the ferry. I cannot get over how many tourists are here (as compared to Cebu especially), not to mention it is the low season - they do discounts on everything! it's sweet! - and all of the issues in Thailand that discouraged travelers, it is surprising how many travelers are here despite all of that. Ko Phi Phi is more developed than Krabi/Railay (which was set in the jungle and very isolated... i really like that about Railay). We decided to stay at one of the bungalows on the less crowded beach a quick boat ride (or 45 minute walk) away from the main dock. It was afternoon by this point and we were determined to hike to the viewpoints that provide an incredible panorama of the area, including Phuket in the distance, and the island where they filmed the movie "The Beach". We first had to walk back to Phi Phi, then we began the ascent to the viewpoints. 344 stairs later (that is just the actual stair count, it doesn't factor in the steep sidewalk meandering to our destination), we had a view of both bays and the neighboring islands, so gorgeous!!
This is when I explain how fun comes in levels: Lo, Kor and I discussed ahead of time that we wanted our trip to be mostly level 1 fun (maybe some level 2). Level 1 fun means that you are having a good time in the moment, aka sitting on a beach sipping on a mango smoothie. Level 2 means that in the moment your experience is not necessarily fun, but immediately after you realize that it is totally amazingly fun (ex: cliff jumping). Level 3 fun is a little bit more difficult to appreciate and sometimes takes hours or days before you realize you enjoyed the experience (i.e. our time on monkey beach and our camping experience - see my next blog). Level 4 fun is like studying for the MCAT... you hate it at the time, you hate it when you take the test, you hate it after, you hate your score, but then you get into med school and you realize that taking the MCAT wasn't so bad after all. Get it? So climbing to the viewpoints, level 2 fun, as our "rough guide" and "lonely planet" (Lo's bible), predicted it would be. Walking up there you are sweating and on the verge of collapsing, you get to the top and you forget all the pain.
Viewpoints 2 and 3 were even more breathtaking and we made our descent feeling happy that we had endured the climb (level 2 fun all the way). Exhausted, we stopped at an internet cafe in Phi Phi to catch up on email. I wasn't really expecting anything new in my gmail, so I was hesitant to use the expensive internet, but since Kor and Lo both were, I caved and got on. I was sifting through some random emails, not really paying attention, until I had already clicked on an email from OHSU, and realized maybe I should start paying attention... I noticed that the email said something about application in the subject line, i saw that there was an attachment, I opened the attachment, the computer wouldn't let me, i tried again, i managed to get it open, English thank goodness (things on the computers here randomly show up in Thai - confusing!). I start reading the attachment... I see the words "congratulations" "acceptance" "OHSU School of Medicine"... I start to freak out. Lo thought Dakota had died when I said in a desperate voice "read this!!" (dont worry, dakota is still alive). In seconds her and Kor had scanned the letter, I was already on my feet screaming, they both consumed me in a huge hug, and then I was crying. The crying was weird because I have never actually been so happy before that it made me cry, but I was crying, and laughing, and the other people in the internet cafe were looking very concerned, and the lady running the internet cafe was bringing me tissue and asking Kor if I was ok, and I wished I knew how to say "never better!!" in Thai, because I was just accepted to Oregon Health and Science University and that was the happiest day of my entire life!!
We wandered around Ko Phi Phi as I tried to calm down, but I wasn't doing a very good job and sobs of joy would sneak out here and there and I couldn't stop shaking - yes, people were staring. We had a huge celebration dinner at a fancy restaurant that night and I called home to share the great news (my mom had the same sobbing response I did :) Then we watched the most extreme presentation of fire juggling I have ever seen. These guys twirled flaming batons so fast I could hardly believe it - wait for the video. And I swear, there were 6 year old boys that would come on stage and do an impressive job with the fiery batons. They would chuck them high into the air and somehow manage to catch them, without burning themselves, before they hit the ground. There were also fire balls attached to a string that one person would catapult across the beach and another would actually catch it, in the complete dark, I don't know how...
then for the finale, two of the guys got up on chairs with a piece of think fabric between them. At first I thought they were just twisting up a fishing net and the show was over, then they took the "net" and dunked it in the gasoline and I started to think the show might not be over after all. They each stood on a chair, the thick fabric hanging down between them, dripping with gasoline, and a third guy came up with a torch and did the obvious thing - he lit the rope on fire. The flames quickly spread up the gasoline-saturated material, right to the hands of the men holding each end. They started to spin the flaming rope like it was a jump rope - I mean, what would you do with a long, flaming piece of fabric, I think using it as a jump rope is really the only logical thing you can do with it. And the first to jump (i.e. be sacrificed), was the 6 year old fire juggler that should be playing gameboy. We should've known he'd be a pro... He hopped effortlessly into the twirling rope and jumped precisely each time the flames came around and grazed the ground below his feet. The video is funny because they start to speed up the jump rope and I say something like "oh my goodness, they're going faster!", and then I start to squeal with each jump for fear that the little boy will get burned. Next a white dude from the audience steps up to the burning rope (in the video you hear me say "I hope this is some random drunk dude who doesn't actually know how to jump rope") and then the guy makes a go at it. he immediately jumps too soon and gets taken down by the scorching rope when it hits his ankles and knocks him onto the ground, at which point he sort of rolls over the flames, gets up, realizes he is not on fire, and... get this... prepares to try it again!! the second time he does a little better, but a few jumps in and sure enough, the rope hits him in the ankles again - 2nd degree burn plus 2nd degree burn equals 4th degree burn right? after that he was done, thank goodness, though he might be wearing pants for the rest of his life. I mean really, the whole thing was just a wild end to the best day of my life. I went to sleep smiling and the next morning, seriously considered that the whole thing might have been a dream (if you'd seen the flaming jump rope you would have questioned the same thing). Fortunately I have Lo and Kor here to remind that it is real!! I was accepted!! Opening that email from OHSU: the epitome of LEVEL 1 FUN!!
This is when I explain how fun comes in levels: Lo, Kor and I discussed ahead of time that we wanted our trip to be mostly level 1 fun (maybe some level 2). Level 1 fun means that you are having a good time in the moment, aka sitting on a beach sipping on a mango smoothie. Level 2 means that in the moment your experience is not necessarily fun, but immediately after you realize that it is totally amazingly fun (ex: cliff jumping). Level 3 fun is a little bit more difficult to appreciate and sometimes takes hours or days before you realize you enjoyed the experience (i.e. our time on monkey beach and our camping experience - see my next blog). Level 4 fun is like studying for the MCAT... you hate it at the time, you hate it when you take the test, you hate it after, you hate your score, but then you get into med school and you realize that taking the MCAT wasn't so bad after all. Get it? So climbing to the viewpoints, level 2 fun, as our "rough guide" and "lonely planet" (Lo's bible), predicted it would be. Walking up there you are sweating and on the verge of collapsing, you get to the top and you forget all the pain.
Viewpoints 2 and 3 were even more breathtaking and we made our descent feeling happy that we had endured the climb (level 2 fun all the way). Exhausted, we stopped at an internet cafe in Phi Phi to catch up on email. I wasn't really expecting anything new in my gmail, so I was hesitant to use the expensive internet, but since Kor and Lo both were, I caved and got on. I was sifting through some random emails, not really paying attention, until I had already clicked on an email from OHSU, and realized maybe I should start paying attention... I noticed that the email said something about application in the subject line, i saw that there was an attachment, I opened the attachment, the computer wouldn't let me, i tried again, i managed to get it open, English thank goodness (things on the computers here randomly show up in Thai - confusing!). I start reading the attachment... I see the words "congratulations" "acceptance" "OHSU School of Medicine"... I start to freak out. Lo thought Dakota had died when I said in a desperate voice "read this!!" (dont worry, dakota is still alive). In seconds her and Kor had scanned the letter, I was already on my feet screaming, they both consumed me in a huge hug, and then I was crying. The crying was weird because I have never actually been so happy before that it made me cry, but I was crying, and laughing, and the other people in the internet cafe were looking very concerned, and the lady running the internet cafe was bringing me tissue and asking Kor if I was ok, and I wished I knew how to say "never better!!" in Thai, because I was just accepted to Oregon Health and Science University and that was the happiest day of my entire life!!
We wandered around Ko Phi Phi as I tried to calm down, but I wasn't doing a very good job and sobs of joy would sneak out here and there and I couldn't stop shaking - yes, people were staring. We had a huge celebration dinner at a fancy restaurant that night and I called home to share the great news (my mom had the same sobbing response I did :) Then we watched the most extreme presentation of fire juggling I have ever seen. These guys twirled flaming batons so fast I could hardly believe it - wait for the video. And I swear, there were 6 year old boys that would come on stage and do an impressive job with the fiery batons. They would chuck them high into the air and somehow manage to catch them, without burning themselves, before they hit the ground. There were also fire balls attached to a string that one person would catapult across the beach and another would actually catch it, in the complete dark, I don't know how...
then for the finale, two of the guys got up on chairs with a piece of think fabric between them. At first I thought they were just twisting up a fishing net and the show was over, then they took the "net" and dunked it in the gasoline and I started to think the show might not be over after all. They each stood on a chair, the thick fabric hanging down between them, dripping with gasoline, and a third guy came up with a torch and did the obvious thing - he lit the rope on fire. The flames quickly spread up the gasoline-saturated material, right to the hands of the men holding each end. They started to spin the flaming rope like it was a jump rope - I mean, what would you do with a long, flaming piece of fabric, I think using it as a jump rope is really the only logical thing you can do with it. And the first to jump (i.e. be sacrificed), was the 6 year old fire juggler that should be playing gameboy. We should've known he'd be a pro... He hopped effortlessly into the twirling rope and jumped precisely each time the flames came around and grazed the ground below his feet. The video is funny because they start to speed up the jump rope and I say something like "oh my goodness, they're going faster!", and then I start to squeal with each jump for fear that the little boy will get burned. Next a white dude from the audience steps up to the burning rope (in the video you hear me say "I hope this is some random drunk dude who doesn't actually know how to jump rope") and then the guy makes a go at it. he immediately jumps too soon and gets taken down by the scorching rope when it hits his ankles and knocks him onto the ground, at which point he sort of rolls over the flames, gets up, realizes he is not on fire, and... get this... prepares to try it again!! the second time he does a little better, but a few jumps in and sure enough, the rope hits him in the ankles again - 2nd degree burn plus 2nd degree burn equals 4th degree burn right? after that he was done, thank goodness, though he might be wearing pants for the rest of his life. I mean really, the whole thing was just a wild end to the best day of my life. I went to sleep smiling and the next morning, seriously considered that the whole thing might have been a dream (if you'd seen the flaming jump rope you would have questioned the same thing). Fortunately I have Lo and Kor here to remind that it is real!! I was accepted!! Opening that email from OHSU: the epitome of LEVEL 1 FUN!!
is it normal to be shaking?
As you can see, I am behind on my blogging, but I am doing my best to catch up!! So we're still in Railay on April 30th and we wake up early to head over to the hippie beach where everyone is meeting for the rock climbing excursion. This time we took the route out and around the rock because the tide was out so far. Lo and I made it to the other side in perfect condition, Kor shows up a few minutes behind us bleeding from like 5 places on his body. he's got blood running down his elbow and his hand is all cut up... what's new? ;) we get to the tree-house-type structure they call their office, and small world, one of Kor's college friends is there!! yeah, weird, I know. we're checking in and being told about where to get our climbing shoes when I hear Kor say "Dave?!" and this guy looks up confused for a second then realizes it is Koranin who he knows!... totally random, in the jungle, in the middle of nowhere Thailand, they had by chance signed up to go on the same rock climbing tour on the same day with the same group - wild! so Kor and Dave got to hang out for the day (something they had been trying to arrange when they were both living in SF but it never managed to work out), and Lo and I got to make instant new friends. Andy was Dave's friend/travel companion and then Jake was there and so was Emil (but not his brother because he was feeling sick - travelers beware, there are many ways to get sick in Thailand, and even more if you're staying in Tongsai), and then there was one more couple... just the right number of people to fit comfortably in the long boat - we would know, we've been crammed into a longboat with about 30 other people, that is definitely more than capacity.
We took the boat out to the first rock climbing location - a huge overhanging cliff where a few people were already climbing. It was intense at first because you have to climb a rope ladder to get on the rock, your hands and shoes are slippery from salt water, and the climbing is not easy - pretty much inherent in climbing outside of a gym. I worked my way along the rock, paying careful attention to the good hand holds designated by the chalk smeared on the rock from previous climbers. I would look for the whitest spots I could find and sure enough, there would always be a great hand hold for me to stabilize myself with. Lo and I struggled, being such inexperienced climbers with little strength and a small reach, so we would climb as high as we could manage then jump off into the ocean below. It was a blast!! And Dave gave us some helpful instruction that made climbing so much easier and enjoyable, and allowed us to climb higher and tire less quickly... it was great to have a coach along for the trip :)
Feeling shaky and thoroughly exhausted after a morning of climbing, we headed to a secret beach nearby to enjoy the snorkeling and get some lunch. The food was incredible but seriously the spiciest thing I have ever eaten (so I automatically loved it :), I think, had I eaten that lunch near an open flame, my breath literally would have caught on fire. We bouldered a little on the beach, and were awed by the ability of our tiny Thai guide to climb up anything. I swear he is spider man, his hands and feet just stick to the rock, I bet he could climb up a marble wall. It was jaw dropping to watch him scale the cliffs around the beach... his hand holds were maybe big enough for a single finger or toe, and as he moved swiftly up the wall (which was angled so that he hung almost below the rock where he held on), he would shift his entire body from side to side, laying almost horizontal at times in order to free up a hand or foot to move to the next hold. It was an incredible display of skill, especially considering I tried to merely hang on the same wall and couldn't manage... terrib! and terribly awesome that he spider-monkeyed his way up any and every rock we encountered.
After everyone was full and somewhat digested we headed to the next climbing spot. Lo and I pretty much sat this one out and enjoyed the show (we were with some impressively experienced climbers)... it wasn't that the climbing at this spot was particularly challenging, it was that the first part, going up the ladder and getting securely on the rock, was difficult, and we were tired from the morning of climbing. Once past the first part, the climbing was fairly easy, which posed a problem because the guys could climb so high and with such ease that they would get up to 20 meters high having hardly broken a sweat and then they were left with only one option - jump. The guides were no help in keeping our fellow travelers at a safe height, they kept encouraging our group members to "climb more higher",and with their knowledgeable instruction (the guides had all the good hand and foot holds memorized), Dave quickly found himself sitting 60 plus feet above the water, on a small ledge, trying to work up the courage to jump. After he survived the fall/jump/suicide attempt, Emil decided to give it a go, then Andy, then Jake, and then, much to our horror, Kor.
Once sitting on the tiny ledge kor yells down "is it normal to be shaking?!!" (I have this on video, don't worry), and we all try to encourage him. For a moment there I was convinced we were going to have to bring in a helicopter or something to get him down, but he finally got the courage (or lost the common sense) and jumped!! Such a long fall, with each jump I was shocked by the air time, but kor survived - it was a little alarming that when each of the guys jumped our guide would paddle the kayak out to them once they hit the water, like he was expecting them to float to the surface face down or something and he wanted to be ready to rescue them... There was more climbing after this, more daring feats by the boys, and I was surprised when we were all heading back to the beach with only minor injuries. By the end of the day we were all inevitably abused: bug bites, sun burns, jelly fish stings (so many stinking jelly fish by the rocks, i'd be swimming and sporadically yelp in pain when I'd get stung, it made me wish I could walk on water) and scrapes from the rocks. fortunately that was the worst of it, and they made for great battle wounds!! (though Lo could do with a few less bug bites).
Having bonded with our fellow rock climbers we made a plan to meet up for dinner. 6 of us showed and explored the east side of the island looking for a great place to dine, which we found. then it was cards and beers until everyone was ready for bed. Just another day in paradise :)
We took the boat out to the first rock climbing location - a huge overhanging cliff where a few people were already climbing. It was intense at first because you have to climb a rope ladder to get on the rock, your hands and shoes are slippery from salt water, and the climbing is not easy - pretty much inherent in climbing outside of a gym. I worked my way along the rock, paying careful attention to the good hand holds designated by the chalk smeared on the rock from previous climbers. I would look for the whitest spots I could find and sure enough, there would always be a great hand hold for me to stabilize myself with. Lo and I struggled, being such inexperienced climbers with little strength and a small reach, so we would climb as high as we could manage then jump off into the ocean below. It was a blast!! And Dave gave us some helpful instruction that made climbing so much easier and enjoyable, and allowed us to climb higher and tire less quickly... it was great to have a coach along for the trip :)
Feeling shaky and thoroughly exhausted after a morning of climbing, we headed to a secret beach nearby to enjoy the snorkeling and get some lunch. The food was incredible but seriously the spiciest thing I have ever eaten (so I automatically loved it :), I think, had I eaten that lunch near an open flame, my breath literally would have caught on fire. We bouldered a little on the beach, and were awed by the ability of our tiny Thai guide to climb up anything. I swear he is spider man, his hands and feet just stick to the rock, I bet he could climb up a marble wall. It was jaw dropping to watch him scale the cliffs around the beach... his hand holds were maybe big enough for a single finger or toe, and as he moved swiftly up the wall (which was angled so that he hung almost below the rock where he held on), he would shift his entire body from side to side, laying almost horizontal at times in order to free up a hand or foot to move to the next hold. It was an incredible display of skill, especially considering I tried to merely hang on the same wall and couldn't manage... terrib! and terribly awesome that he spider-monkeyed his way up any and every rock we encountered.
After everyone was full and somewhat digested we headed to the next climbing spot. Lo and I pretty much sat this one out and enjoyed the show (we were with some impressively experienced climbers)... it wasn't that the climbing at this spot was particularly challenging, it was that the first part, going up the ladder and getting securely on the rock, was difficult, and we were tired from the morning of climbing. Once past the first part, the climbing was fairly easy, which posed a problem because the guys could climb so high and with such ease that they would get up to 20 meters high having hardly broken a sweat and then they were left with only one option - jump. The guides were no help in keeping our fellow travelers at a safe height, they kept encouraging our group members to "climb more higher",and with their knowledgeable instruction (the guides had all the good hand and foot holds memorized), Dave quickly found himself sitting 60 plus feet above the water, on a small ledge, trying to work up the courage to jump. After he survived the fall/jump/suicide attempt, Emil decided to give it a go, then Andy, then Jake, and then, much to our horror, Kor.
Once sitting on the tiny ledge kor yells down "is it normal to be shaking?!!" (I have this on video, don't worry), and we all try to encourage him. For a moment there I was convinced we were going to have to bring in a helicopter or something to get him down, but he finally got the courage (or lost the common sense) and jumped!! Such a long fall, with each jump I was shocked by the air time, but kor survived - it was a little alarming that when each of the guys jumped our guide would paddle the kayak out to them once they hit the water, like he was expecting them to float to the surface face down or something and he wanted to be ready to rescue them... There was more climbing after this, more daring feats by the boys, and I was surprised when we were all heading back to the beach with only minor injuries. By the end of the day we were all inevitably abused: bug bites, sun burns, jelly fish stings (so many stinking jelly fish by the rocks, i'd be swimming and sporadically yelp in pain when I'd get stung, it made me wish I could walk on water) and scrapes from the rocks. fortunately that was the worst of it, and they made for great battle wounds!! (though Lo could do with a few less bug bites).
Having bonded with our fellow rock climbers we made a plan to meet up for dinner. 6 of us showed and explored the east side of the island looking for a great place to dine, which we found. then it was cards and beers until everyone was ready for bed. Just another day in paradise :)
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
bkk to krabi - hippie beach!
from the airport we took a bus to the ocean and then a boat to railay (the only way to access the beaches of railay despite the area not actually being an island). the peninsula is breathtaking... steep cliffs jutting straight out of the ocean hundreds of feet high, most covered in trees and vines, surrounded by crystal clear blue-green water. i couldn't get enough of our surroundings. after an exhausting trek from the west to east side and back we finally settled on a place to stay; a cute little bungalow with an amazing pool, beach-front restaurant, and an impressive breakfast included :) we tried to rest on the beach a little, take in the sun, allow ourselves to get suckered into buying sundresses from old and wrinkled local women who drive hard bargains (one such women got me with a brown strapless dress I just couldn't say no to)... but that didn't last long. I've found the three of us aren't very good at sitting still, so after a short break we headed down the beach (not exciting enough), and decided to swim around the point to see what's on the other side (adequately adventuresome :)
the buoyancy of salt water never ceases to amaze me. swimming takes such little effort, and if you get the least bit tired or lazy you can, quite literally, lay back, put your hands behind your head, and rest. no effort to stay afloat, it is incredible!! we arrived on the far end of a long beach, where three guys happened to be hanging out in the water. they yelled "mermaids" as we came up on the beach, which gave us the okay to speak to them in English. turns out one of them, Jake, is from Iowa of all places, and has been traveling solo for a while. the other two were from Denmark and brothers. The three of them fit the mold of the isolated beach quite well... it seemed to be a hippie commune we had stumbled (swam?) upon and the more we explored, the more our first impression was reinforced. Bob Marley posters and music everywhere, and marijuana leaves decorated many of the buildings and souvenirs. We even found a sign offering "peace cake" which looked to be a cake version of weed brownies (we did not let kor try it, despite his interest). Everyone we spoke to was sporting tie-dye and dreads - and many were blatantly high - which made our side of the "rock" seem a bit stuffy (quite frankly, boring), compared to the laid-back atmosphere of the tongsai beach we had discovered.
Our new friends told us about a climbing adventure we should join them on the next day, and after getting more details about the trip we set off to find Wee Climbing so we could sign up. After scouring the buildings along the beach and seeing mostly bars, we ran into Emil again (one of the Danish boys) and he directed us down a long dirt road into the jungle where he said we would find the climbing place (he warned us that it would be "uncomfortable" to walk to road barefoot, which it was, particularly for Kor, who dragged behind us by about 30 feet the whole walk... he has trouble keeping up). We finally found the Wee Climbing sign and eagerly committed to what sounded like - and turned out to be - the perfect day. Our plan for our stay in Railay was to do some rock climbing, cliff jumping and kayaking... with the trip, we got to do all three! score!! and the tour said lunch was included :) can't pass up an offer that good. We swam back to our side of the island talking of LOST and how we had just visited "the others" (for all you LOST fans out there). We had been invited by some of the tongsai residents (they are more residents on that side of the beach than visitors), to return for a party that night, so we had dinner, then set out for hippie land again. Unfortunately, in the dark this proved more difficult than we expected...
Swimming there is fine in the daylight, but at night, with the tide out and no way to see, we decided to take the other route we had heard about. the only problem was that we couldn't find a way over the huge mountain that separated our beach and theirs. headlamps on (dad, you have no idea how useful my headlamp had been! thanks for getting it for me :) we searched every possibility, but all we found was steep rocky cliffs and some creepy caves that we opted against entering. feeling defeated, we started to walk back to our bungalow, until we spotted a light moving rapidly in our direction - two girls, somewhat tipsy, heading to the "other side". they didn't slow their pace but offered a friendly invitation for us to follow them because they've done the trek "loads of times" - what luck! first they tried the ocean route (you can walk over there at low tide), it was a no go. but they told us not to worry and led us straight to a discrete path we had overlooked. The trail went directly up these huge boulders, with no end or flattening out in sight - riiight... we followed obediently and in silence as they picked their way along, talking in an ambiguous accent the entire time about some hula girl who wears a nude swimsuit and gyrates her hips for an hour and if they could do that they would be cool too (no joke, this is basically word for word what their conversation was). despite how strange the whole sequence of events was, the 10 minute or so hike up and over the mountain went quickly and we soon found ourselves standing on the tongsai beach, a little shell-shocked, and thanking the girls as they hurried off to whatever party they were seeking. Lo and I escaped the hike unscathed as usual, Kor looked like an overworked racehorse... as usual (see references in later blogs, or ask me about when we all hiked half dome - it is when we came up with the "overworked racehorse" description).
We put our concerns about getting back to Railay aside and went in search of the party. a flame juggler distracted us long enough to enjoy a beer outside the Viking Bar, while we watched his performance and laughed about how we were pretty sure he was a drunk amateur who was going to set himself on fire - we weren't being rude, it's just that when he was practicing with the unlit strings he kept hitting his very flammable-looking pants. The party wasn't difficult to find, it was lit up in the middle of the jungle, a live band was playing surprisingly decent music, and there were drunk and high people everywhere enjoying the show. we decided it best to stay as sober as possible considering the trek back to our beach that we knew lay ahead, so we sat down and watched an extraordinarily high middle-aged man do the funniest stuff on stage in front of the band. he was so absurd that even the high/drunk people who were a part of this culture were rolling on the floor laughing and taking pictures as he tried to dance to the music, kick himself in the face, and bounce around on a tight-rope tied between two trees (used for improving balance). we were actually convinced he was going to catapult himself through the crowd as he bounced back and fourth, announcing with a heavy slur about a trip tomorrow that everyone should go on (at this point we were a little concerned that he was actually our guide for the rock climbing adventure, but fortunately we were mistaken). I have video of the whole thing, I'm not sure you can hear the music over my laughter, but you can definitely see crazy-high-man and it is hilarious!!
After all of that excitement we decided to call it a night. The hike back wasn't terrible, though we heard some creepy loud noises in the forest and I thought we were going to be eaten by a jungle beast. There was also a huge spider... never mind, I'm freaking my mom out too much. Anyway, point is we made it back safe and sound and somewhat enlightened to the different world that was hiding just beyond the small mountain West of Railay.
the buoyancy of salt water never ceases to amaze me. swimming takes such little effort, and if you get the least bit tired or lazy you can, quite literally, lay back, put your hands behind your head, and rest. no effort to stay afloat, it is incredible!! we arrived on the far end of a long beach, where three guys happened to be hanging out in the water. they yelled "mermaids" as we came up on the beach, which gave us the okay to speak to them in English. turns out one of them, Jake, is from Iowa of all places, and has been traveling solo for a while. the other two were from Denmark and brothers. The three of them fit the mold of the isolated beach quite well... it seemed to be a hippie commune we had stumbled (swam?) upon and the more we explored, the more our first impression was reinforced. Bob Marley posters and music everywhere, and marijuana leaves decorated many of the buildings and souvenirs. We even found a sign offering "peace cake" which looked to be a cake version of weed brownies (we did not let kor try it, despite his interest). Everyone we spoke to was sporting tie-dye and dreads - and many were blatantly high - which made our side of the "rock" seem a bit stuffy (quite frankly, boring), compared to the laid-back atmosphere of the tongsai beach we had discovered.
Our new friends told us about a climbing adventure we should join them on the next day, and after getting more details about the trip we set off to find Wee Climbing so we could sign up. After scouring the buildings along the beach and seeing mostly bars, we ran into Emil again (one of the Danish boys) and he directed us down a long dirt road into the jungle where he said we would find the climbing place (he warned us that it would be "uncomfortable" to walk to road barefoot, which it was, particularly for Kor, who dragged behind us by about 30 feet the whole walk... he has trouble keeping up). We finally found the Wee Climbing sign and eagerly committed to what sounded like - and turned out to be - the perfect day. Our plan for our stay in Railay was to do some rock climbing, cliff jumping and kayaking... with the trip, we got to do all three! score!! and the tour said lunch was included :) can't pass up an offer that good. We swam back to our side of the island talking of LOST and how we had just visited "the others" (for all you LOST fans out there). We had been invited by some of the tongsai residents (they are more residents on that side of the beach than visitors), to return for a party that night, so we had dinner, then set out for hippie land again. Unfortunately, in the dark this proved more difficult than we expected...
Swimming there is fine in the daylight, but at night, with the tide out and no way to see, we decided to take the other route we had heard about. the only problem was that we couldn't find a way over the huge mountain that separated our beach and theirs. headlamps on (dad, you have no idea how useful my headlamp had been! thanks for getting it for me :) we searched every possibility, but all we found was steep rocky cliffs and some creepy caves that we opted against entering. feeling defeated, we started to walk back to our bungalow, until we spotted a light moving rapidly in our direction - two girls, somewhat tipsy, heading to the "other side". they didn't slow their pace but offered a friendly invitation for us to follow them because they've done the trek "loads of times" - what luck! first they tried the ocean route (you can walk over there at low tide), it was a no go. but they told us not to worry and led us straight to a discrete path we had overlooked. The trail went directly up these huge boulders, with no end or flattening out in sight - riiight... we followed obediently and in silence as they picked their way along, talking in an ambiguous accent the entire time about some hula girl who wears a nude swimsuit and gyrates her hips for an hour and if they could do that they would be cool too (no joke, this is basically word for word what their conversation was). despite how strange the whole sequence of events was, the 10 minute or so hike up and over the mountain went quickly and we soon found ourselves standing on the tongsai beach, a little shell-shocked, and thanking the girls as they hurried off to whatever party they were seeking. Lo and I escaped the hike unscathed as usual, Kor looked like an overworked racehorse... as usual (see references in later blogs, or ask me about when we all hiked half dome - it is when we came up with the "overworked racehorse" description).
We put our concerns about getting back to Railay aside and went in search of the party. a flame juggler distracted us long enough to enjoy a beer outside the Viking Bar, while we watched his performance and laughed about how we were pretty sure he was a drunk amateur who was going to set himself on fire - we weren't being rude, it's just that when he was practicing with the unlit strings he kept hitting his very flammable-looking pants. The party wasn't difficult to find, it was lit up in the middle of the jungle, a live band was playing surprisingly decent music, and there were drunk and high people everywhere enjoying the show. we decided it best to stay as sober as possible considering the trek back to our beach that we knew lay ahead, so we sat down and watched an extraordinarily high middle-aged man do the funniest stuff on stage in front of the band. he was so absurd that even the high/drunk people who were a part of this culture were rolling on the floor laughing and taking pictures as he tried to dance to the music, kick himself in the face, and bounce around on a tight-rope tied between two trees (used for improving balance). we were actually convinced he was going to catapult himself through the crowd as he bounced back and fourth, announcing with a heavy slur about a trip tomorrow that everyone should go on (at this point we were a little concerned that he was actually our guide for the rock climbing adventure, but fortunately we were mistaken). I have video of the whole thing, I'm not sure you can hear the music over my laughter, but you can definitely see crazy-high-man and it is hilarious!!
After all of that excitement we decided to call it a night. The hike back wasn't terrible, though we heard some creepy loud noises in the forest and I thought we were going to be eaten by a jungle beast. There was also a huge spider... never mind, I'm freaking my mom out too much. Anyway, point is we made it back safe and sound and somewhat enlightened to the different world that was hiding just beyond the small mountain West of Railay.
muay thai kickboxing cont...
i think this is where i left off with the last blog... we've got two boxers in the ring, the first bell sounds and the ref gives the "go" signal - the fight begins. Each match starts off slow, the opponents dance to the rhythm of bells that ring through the building during the fight, and feel out the style of the other fighter. Rounds 1 and 2 are always a little slow, warming up, gauging skill, being careful to save enough energy for the end... Each fight is unique, and consequently, edge-of-your-seat captivating, especially in the final rounds. The boxers are quick, and deceivingly strong for their size - is it possible to have negative body fat? The loud slap of bare foot on skin echos through the audience and about half of the crowd goes wild in response. As the fight progresses the welts on thighs and abdomens darken from pink to purple and multiply with each round. In the later rounds the fighters close in, they interlock arms, and both try to pull their opponent close to prevent an attack while attempting to distance their own legs enough to pick up momentum for a side jab that scores a point (confusing? not when you're watching it). Eventually the ref will step in, pressing his body to both of the boxers' as a signal for them to stop pummeling each other for a moment while he grabs them simultaneously by the back of the neck and pulls them apart, forcing them to opposite ends of the right with firm pushes to their sternums. He gives the signals and red and blue are instantly mixing to purple again as the crowd roars in response.
The fights were all remarkably even, the fighters strikingly compatible in strength and skill, that we hardly ever correctly predicted the winner. At the beginning of each match we'd wait for the opponents to remove their robes, then we'd size them up during their warm up, and settle on our "bets" by the first bell. I tried to choose the bigger of the two, more muscle, longer reach, but a few kicks in and I'd always be questioning my decision. Betting is a big part of the matches. Behind us the stands were filled with men of all ages yelling and screaming with hands in the air, fingers indicating who their money was on and how much they were betting.
Despite the outward violence of the sport, in involves an incredible amount of skill and if you can appreciate that fact you will be instantly hooked. Also, I loved watching the fighters before and after the match when they would smile and act somewhat human :) during the fights you are convinced their stern, often grimacing faces and blank eyes are incapable of such a facial gesture as a smile... But when the fight is over they break into wide smiles, hug their opponents as if they weren't enemies just a moment before, and you know they wouldn't want to be doing anything other than muay thai boxing.
I have pages more I could write about the matches, I could replay each fight with detail you couldn't get from film footage, but I have other blogs to write and I'm far behind on my Thailand adventures, so I'm going to move on. Ask me if you'd like to hear more about muay thai boxing, I'd be happy to elaborate :)
The fights were all remarkably even, the fighters strikingly compatible in strength and skill, that we hardly ever correctly predicted the winner. At the beginning of each match we'd wait for the opponents to remove their robes, then we'd size them up during their warm up, and settle on our "bets" by the first bell. I tried to choose the bigger of the two, more muscle, longer reach, but a few kicks in and I'd always be questioning my decision. Betting is a big part of the matches. Behind us the stands were filled with men of all ages yelling and screaming with hands in the air, fingers indicating who their money was on and how much they were betting.
Despite the outward violence of the sport, in involves an incredible amount of skill and if you can appreciate that fact you will be instantly hooked. Also, I loved watching the fighters before and after the match when they would smile and act somewhat human :) during the fights you are convinced their stern, often grimacing faces and blank eyes are incapable of such a facial gesture as a smile... But when the fight is over they break into wide smiles, hug their opponents as if they weren't enemies just a moment before, and you know they wouldn't want to be doing anything other than muay thai boxing.
I have pages more I could write about the matches, I could replay each fight with detail you couldn't get from film footage, but I have other blogs to write and I'm far behind on my Thailand adventures, so I'm going to move on. Ask me if you'd like to hear more about muay thai boxing, I'd be happy to elaborate :)
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