The real Thai Delight

OK, so the sweating has ceased very little. But I am getting used to it in a weird “I’m dripping but so is everyone else” kinda way. Last we left you, Andy and I were headed down to the island of Koh Samui in the Gulf of Thailand.

We hopped on one of the VIP tourist buses that run throughout this country. Tourist companies line the streets in every city, selling their cheap trips to foreigners (Thais call us farang). We snagged a 14-hour overnight bus trip from Bangkok to Koh Samui for $9 each. The bus ride was the beginning of us letting go the normal routine of travel. Everything the travel agent told us was a bit skewed. The trip took 20 hours. The bus dropped us off in the middle of the road at 6 in the morning and we had to ride in the back of a small pickup truck for 40 minutes to get to a ferry. We didn’t share the ride with any chickens in the back, but it was as rustic and dirty as we have gotten so far in this trip.


(Me, with puffy eyes, trying to smile during our pick up truck taxi to the ferry.)

We arrived at our bungalows in Koh Samui and collapsed. Our bus and its passengers braved a driving rainstorm, a two-lane highway that should really only be a one-lane highway, shady rest area fried rice, and ice-cold air conditioning to make it to our destination.

We stayed at Shambala Bungalows on Big Buddha Beach and it was very peaceful. Most of the farang stay on Chaweng Beach, a built up portion of the island’s west coast that has every Western store imaginable. Familiar places such as Haagen Daaz, McDonalds, Adidas, and Basking Robbins littered the small beach community. We went there for the day to check it out and it was quite disgusting. Every person on the street selling the same shit; sunglasses, watches, sarangs, pirated DVDs. We even made up a little song called “Buy My Shit”. We have been singing a lot of songs on this trip and that one, we think, when the record comes out, will resonate with the masses.


(Andy enjoying her American breakfast at Shambala Bungalows. Isn't she cute?)

We spent five days on Koh Samui trying to rid our lungs of Bangkok. We slept late in our fan-cooled bungalow. We ate delicious curries and street food. We read our books and laid in the sun. We went swimming in the salty sea. One day, we took a long walk along our road to see the big buddha that adorns the northern most tip of our beach. Along the way we ran into a local fish and produce market. We walked through the stalls and were amazed at the vastness of their selection. About halfway through, we witnessed something that I am still trying to erase from my memory. Positioned right next to the skinned frogs and two stalls down from the eels, we saw rats sitting int heir own blood. Andy felt the need to take a picture. I kept walking and suprisingly goose bumps had emerged on my arms despite the 90-degree heat.


(Another reason Andy and I have decided to eat as vegetarians! OK, so I started to eat chicken every now and then, but for the most part, I am meat free. OK, and maybe a little pork here and there too. But you know what I mean. Andy, though, is holding true.)

We walked some more and made it to the immense buddha. We scurried up the steps and sauntered around it, admiring the beauty and size while lightly dinging the 22 bells surrounding the massive idol. As the sun set in the distance between the islands of Koh Samui and Koh Phang Ngan, the two of us breathed deeply and sunk deeper into the relaxation that has engulfed our spirits.


(One of the bells we rang.)

Our next stop was East Hat Railay Beach in the Krabi area. We were headed there to scope out some places to hunker down during New Yeasr Eve week. Our friends from the Bay Area, Rachel and Bryan, and the couple we met from The Pink Palace, Sam and Brad, are coming down there to hang with us and we were on a mission for the perfect place.

We couldn’t have snagged a better location. After adjusting to the fact that everyone jacks their prices up three fold during that week, we were able to find a nice place to reserve for us. It is on the Mangrove side of the three-beach area and we are on the least attractive side. Luckily, the other two beaches are less than a five-minute walk away. The Railay area is known as a rock-climbing mecca. There are huge kyst rock formations jutting out of the land and the sea, creating perfect conditions for the adventerous types.

Andy and I scored a brand new bungalow at a nice resort for super cheap and lived the good life for five nights. We had a pool and laundry service and a maid if we wanted it. Surely we could have found a bungalow up in the hills for far less the cost, but from the stories we heard from other travelers we talked too, some of those places could pass for a zoo. We heard one guy say he found a rat in his room, a spider the size of his hand and some octopus thing in his no flush water bucket.

One night we decided to get drunk. We went out for a yummy inexpensive dinner at Mom’s Place and were drinking Chang beer like it was the last Chang beer on earth. We began playing pool and well, we were terrible. It was fun but damn, was I rusty. And I think this might have been Andy’s third time ever playing. Needless to say, she was pretty bad. There was not a Paul Newman or Tom Cruise in the bunch.

During our pool extravanganza we met a couple from Montana who are traveling for a few months through Thailand and The Phillipines. We were on our way out to check out a Reggae band called The Ugly Bugs who were on tour from Chiang Mai. They were playing at the bar next to our pool table. We invited them to come with us when they were finished playing pool. After about ten minutes of listening to The Bugs covering Bob Marley, Patrick and Anna, sauntered over and had a seat with us.

They had been on Railay for about two weeks and were leaving the next day. We sat and talked about places to go in the area, things to do, things not to do, coming to Burningman next year, and the overcrowdedness of Thailand in general. The girls went off to another bar to check out the scene there and Patrick and I launched into an intense, yet alcohol fueled discussion of American politics. He was very informed and I listened intently to his ideas of a possible revolution away from our two-party system of fraternity brothers. The girls returned and we continued our fun times. We closed the place down and at 2:30 in the morning we all decided to head back to our homes. We hugged and said, “See you at Burningman next year!”


(I love this picture of me. Just thought I'd add it to the blog.)

The next day we went snorkleing and kayaking off the West side of the beach and we had an absolute blast! We found hidden caves and glorious families of fish swimming merrily through their coral homes. I’ve always been a bit freaked out by being able to see what’s in the ocean. They leave me alone and I leave them alone. It just works well for me that way. Andy, on the other hand, can’t get enough of snorkeling. We compromised efficiently and decided to go to another spot that was supposed to be chock full of life. Kayaking was strenous and fun and we made up chants to keep us in synch. During this second outing a storm appeared and we wound up hunkering down on another small sandy cove that was ours alone. We watched the crazy storm rain down on us and we played charades to pass the time. It was one of those moments when you knew a memory was evolving. “Hey remember that time when we played charades on that empty cove?” We were both feeling extremely present.


(As we walked along the beach in West Railay, we witnessed this amazing sunset.)

We went to bed early that night because it is time to switch up the trip’s vibe again. We are headed for Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand where we plan on doing a three day trek through the jungles, take a cooking class, do a silent meditation and get away from the oppressive night time heat. We woke up in the morning and this time, with the 20-hour bus ride from Bangkok to Koh Samui fresh in our minds, decided to fly up north. For a minimal amount thanks to the numerous budget airlines in Asia, we got up here in 10 hours. Normally, by bus the trip would take 40 hours. As I keep saying to Andy about the decision to fly, “It was a no brainer. Absolute no brainer.”