Thailand: beach bummin' it round 1!

I can certainly think of worse places to get over a break up than the gorgeous beaches of Thailand! I had never explored this region of Thailand, having only been to Bangkok and Chiang Mai for work so despite southeast Asia not on the original itinerary, I was nevertheless very excited! Ko Samui was meant to be the first stop but the weather had other ideas so Phuket it was. And although overcast some of the time, was glad I made the switch as unbeknownst to me at the time, Ko Samui and Ko Phan gan is in my future for the full moon party New Years Eve style with my most devilish friend, and this is a total compliment: Vickie!

Aside from the cute older, Japanese men sleeping on my flight, Sonja and Ryan were the first peeps I met flying to Phuket, a couple from the Gold Coast of Australia, we hit it off and made plans to meet up along Bangla road for drinks. But first, the touting had begun. On the bus ride from the airport into Phuket, the ever present tactic of making more money from the Western tourists (wow, I'm already jaded and I've just arrived, yikes), I mean, visit to a travel agency was made. Everyone had to get off the minibus and were questioned individually as to where we were staying. They played like they were baffled that I didn't have accommodations and didn't want to book something with them, I said I wanted to see a room before booking, fine, fine, but it's high season, I was warned, I might not find a room, fine, fine, I said, I'll take my chances. Round one of touting: I win! Found a nice, music cafe themed hostel in the center of touristy Patong beach. 

First day was spent along the beach and of course, eating and trying the local brew, Chang. I really need to make it a habit of checking the alcohol content on those things, a whopping 6.4 % and this on an empty stomach and being such a lightweight, not my most shining moment. Also should've taken a clue from the German guys (if anyone knows beer they should, right?, hindsight 20-20) of just how strong Chang was. Yeah, they both drank just 1 small can each, I was on my second by the time they introduced themselves. Oh, my poor head, I went back to the hostel with the idea of taking a disco nap and properly going out to Bangla road later but my body had other ideas: slept 14 hours!
  
Quickly realized I wasn't the biggest fan of Phuket as the beaches were crowded, very touristy at least Patong beach was but I liked my hostel, met some fun peeps and experienced Bangla Road, which has to be the epicenter of ladyboys. (Seriously there's a bar people are lined up outside taking pictures of them dancing, with signs that the real girls were upstairs! The debate was on on just how to tell if they were proper lady boys, of course, obvious if they were dancing but along the streets they were everywhere. Is it the height? Or maybe their defined jawline? Or perhaps the presence of the adam's apple? I thought the latter was the answer but apparently this can be surgically corrected so your guess is as good as mine.) Although aside from the ladyboys, the only real view I had of life outside of touristy Patong beach was the motorbike ride with the manager of my hostel, Anman, who took me to see a quieter beach, Kamala and this great restaurant overlooking the ocean. Ordered all sorts of yummy Thai dishes: spicy, mango salad, massaman curry, green curry, Thai tea, some green bean, spicy mystery dish. Why I travel emphasized yet again.

So branching out of Phuket was obvious as there were so many gorgeous beaches nearby: just a few were James Bond Island and Ko Phi Phi, I decided on the latter and took a scenic slow boat which stopped near Maya Bay to snorkel. Phi Phi has nice beaches but only spent an hour or so there, half of which was spent walking the touristy village and the other half sleeping on the beach. There seems to be a pattern of sleeping emerging here but really, what else do you do in the heat of the day? Met a cool couple from South Africa living in Dubai and chatted about acting non-American, they were amazed I was from there, another pattern that was emerging. Basically, my American friends, we have a crap reputation abroad as uptight, no fun, gun-touting conservative freaks. I intend to change this stereotype with every non-American I meet!

The last day in Phuket had absolutely no rhyme or reason to it, a true wandering day, what I do best if I allow it but have decided to apply some semblance of structure and purpose to this trip which had suddenly changed direction and now feels like the ultimate self-exploratory journey. The only other productive thing I did was to go for the famous Thai massage as I was limping quite a bit. Was nervous explaining to the guy to be very careful, all this is pertinent as I noticed a girl getting a fish massage, her feet were just being tickled by these fish, I guess cleaning away at any dead skin. Wasn't feeling very extroverted but happened to strike up a mini conversation with her, thought she was cool then I was off to my massage. Yay, my knee did feel tremendously better, great decision! And later that night at my hostel, take a wild guess as to who I struck up a conversation with and hit it off with immediately, a few minutes into our conversation we realized hey, it's the fish massage girl and I was the knee surgery girl! The only glitch was I was leaving the next day to go to Krabi, to the more chill, less touristy island of Ko Lanta.   

And so I am introduced to the Thai minibus experience. It all begins with a pick-up from your hostel, continues around the entire town in a seemingly random manner picking up numerous other passengers until voila! just when you think you're finally on your merry way and you get comfortable despite being packed in like sardines when they add yet another passenger to an already full bus, just where did they get that extra seat anyway? then they yell your destination and you switch buses, hoping your bag that's on top of the bus is still attached to the vehicle. Phew! Pretty similar to Central America and am still perplexed as to how the seeming disorganization somehow works. All of this transpired over 6 hours, 3 buses and 2 ferry rides and I wasn't entirely sure that I had a place to stay at the end of it meanwhile striking up a friendship with a French couple who decided to join me. Once onto Ko Lanta, I borrowed the cell phone of a local guy to call the Kantiang Bay resort where I thought maybe I had a place to stay as the previous hostel recommended this place, his friend worked there, yada, yada, yada, yes, we have a place for you and are coming to pick you up, yay, the Thai way of doing business works! They picked us up in a pickup truck with 12 others, our hair blowing in the wind, a favorite method of transport for short trips around islands, I have to say! The resort was just what I needed, the antithesis of Phuket, right on the beach, quiet enough but still had some nightlife and I stayed in a bungalow with mosquito netting! Sure, it was a bit crap, damaged from the horrible tsunami of 2004 but I thought charming at the time, even the detached bathroom seemed quaint but after two nights, I was ready for the room switch to air con and a view of the ocean. Days were spent along the beach and if not reading then taking the necessary dip in the ocean when it's too hot on the beach, you know the drill. Ahhh, the lazy, beach days with your biggest decision being what to order off the menu. I didn't even need to decide where to eat, the Why Not tiki bar with live music each night on the beach, yeah, no brainer. Jord, the friend from the first hostel I stayed at, happened to be the lead singer of the band which played great cover songs every night: Coldplay, Killers, Linkin Park, they even managed to keep the typical beach vibe cheese Bob Marley type of music to a minimum. Even played Pearl Jam and Nirvana, more memories of my Seattle roots, rock on! And the fire show preceding the music, not too shabby.  

The only times my little routine diverged was when I ventured out into the little town but really my motivation was solely to buy the yogurt drinks, my RX for health and of course, visit the street vendors selling coconut pancakes, delish! And the mangoes, the fresh fruit and the shakes, heavenly! Ok so I did cartwheel on the beach. And oh yeah, took a little walk on the beach along some rocky formations towards the ultra-cute little bungalow beach side resort-y thatched roof hut with hammocks restaurant the ultimate cliche as far as naming restaurants in southeast Asia: Same Same but different. This phrase every single Asian and tourist has uttered it is the ultimate joke, on t-shirts, it's everywhere. If an explanation is too difficult to go into, same same....but different. Anyway, the food was amazing, by far the best papaya salad and spring rolls I've had yet! And other than that, tried to ride on the diving pier which moved along with the waves but security would never let me, believe me, I kept trying. Yes, I basically stuck to my little sliver of paradise for 6 days, loving my beach time, hanging with my new friends and basically, loving life! Well, aside from the bugs, geckos, mantises and other disgusting creepy, crawly things that unfortunately go hand in hand with the tropics. I was reminded why I like Seattle so much and why I chose it after years of living in the south of the US and Guam, ewwww. But I'm facing my fear of them one little scream (albeit sometimes muffled) at a time! :-)

So this seems like a pertinent time to mention synchronicity. You know when you meet someone just when you need to at exactly the moment you need to? Well, this has been happening to me consistently since traveling on my own, I have many examples in each place I've visited which continues to reinforce me that I'm on the right path whatever that may be. So, remember how my knee was messed up? I was limping, was seriously worried I'd need to return home to take care of it, well the lovely French couple just so happened to be osteopaths! They worked on my knee and assured me it was ok and of course, gave me advice on how to take care of it. And have since offered to stay with them in France! The fun Aussie couple as well! And the offer is vice versa.....if or when, I ever stay in one place long enough! And meeting Jai, the vivacious girl from London at the fish spa? Well, she joined me in Ko Lanta and we've since met up in Cambodia and plan to in Bangkok as well. It amazes me that everyone loves that I'm traveling on my own and if they're older, they say they wished they had when they were my age. Yes, I'm definitely grateful for this time so bring it, I'm ready for some more adventure!!