Thailand, part two

12/28/04
Woke early to do a little island hopping by boat taxi. The first stop was a tiny patch of land with no accommodations, only a mom and pop café and aging dive shop. The sand was rather narrow so we opted to snorkel. Unfortunately, as soon as we got in the water everyone started to get stung. We couldn’t figure out what was going on and had to get right out. One of the Thais working on our boat said it was probably sea lice. We ate a quick fried rice lunch before heading to another beach. This one was a bit more built up. We had a beer at a seaside restaurant before grabbing some sand for a little r&r.

Then on to a beautiful stretch of land. The white sand of the beach bending in a crescent surrounded by blue water backed by green mountains. Beautiful. Even a couple friendly stray dogs.

There was an embankment of rocks which I scaled to wander a bit. It seemed like a settlement that time had forgotten. Over-grown, beached boats…

A building that appeared to be part of a hotel with things that indicated life although there was a layer of dust on everything and not a soul in sight. Tables with old empty dishes and machetes. A calendar on the messy desk that remained on July 2004. Debris and dirt littered everywhere. Really eerie. Headed back to had rin under a gorgeous pink and purple sunset. Stopped in Phangan Dive Shop to get fitted for the next day. The boat tour we’d taken also included dinner. We followed 2 men off the main street and into a shed that housed about 4 rickety tables. We all sat on the ground in the rear around a low long-top table on which they places bowl after bowl of curry. From our seats we could see tables and shelves outside that served as the kitchen. Stacks of dishes, vegetable peels and a couple of stray cats nosing around. Don’t think about it. The red tomato-based curry was sweet and the sauce was a bit thin, but the green coconut curry with chunks of pineapple, peppers and a few unknown veggies was great. The lights in the front of the shed were night-vision green, which cast an strange glow on everything.

Some of the crew headed back to our beach, but about 6 of us girls made our way to bar district. We started with a few chill beers on rugs spread by the water’s edge.

Soon we migrated to the cactus club, which would become a reoccurring theme. Most of the girls left to catch a boat taxi home, but showed up again about 30 minutes later saying the boats were anchored on the beach and they couldn’t find anyone to take them home. They had rented a bungalow where we all crashed for the night.

12/29/04
We woke at 7, on about 3.5 hours sleep, to go scuba diving. We had planned to meet the other group members on our beach and catch a ride to had rin, where we had been marooned. There are no phones at big blue so we were unable to call. Eventually they all showed up in boat taxis and, to their surprise, we were all chipper and waiting for them. We rode for a couple of hours on the dive boat into the southern tip of Koh Ang Thong marine park. I am certified to dive but haven’t actually done so since 1997 so I had paid a bit extra for a scuba refresher en route, which consisted of a worksheet and was a joke. As the dive master shoved a crate of scuba gear towards me and told me to hook up my tanks, I reminded him I couldn’t be trusted to do this on my own. He said he was busy and I’d have to wait to get help. He was less than patient and had a sense of humor that was non-existent. I had good nervous energy as I reacquainted myself with all the gadgets strapped to my body. I plunked into the water with Chad and 2 other Spanish men; we were the only certified divers on board. As we began to descend, I realized my mask wasn’t sealing. There was a brief moment of slight panic as I began clearing the water from my mask. I signaled to the others and had to ascend to regroup. I was a bit embarrassed and now intrepid. Take two. As the blue of the ocean closed in around us, becoming darker as we sunk, I centered myself by watching the beams of sunlight that danced as they were refracted under the water’s surface. Soon, I was comfortable only breathing through my mouth and began to enjoy the coral reefs that snaked around the huge, submerged boulder we were circling. Despite the master’s demeanor, the dives were so much fun. The visibility was only a couple of meters, but we still spotted tons of fish, many traveling in huge schools that were dizzying when they’d surround you, several blue-spotted stingrays, and all sorts of big corals and anemones. We did 2 deep dives and I did a bit of snorkeling which was great over some of the shallow reefs. Thanks to Ben’s penchant for salt water aquariums, I knew quite a bit about what I was looking at. We drank a few beers and got to know some of the others on the return trip to had rin.

The Spanish divers joined us for Mexican food and margaritas. It didn’t take long for Michelle and I to decide we wanted to dance; I’m in a deficit since there are no real clubs to speak of here in Joetsu. Everyone else headed back to our bungalows, carrying with them our bags. As all the bathrooms also have shower heads, we rinsed off in the restaurant before shop-hopping and piecing together outfits for the evening. Even scored some accessories and borrowed a bit of make-up. At this point we haven’t been home in 2 days and we are on our way out. How ghetto fabulous. About midnight we made the decision to party through the night, as the last boat taxis were pulling out. Michelle and I had split up and I had hung with a few guys I’d met several days before. One of the interesting things about backpacking, many people are making the same rounds so you meet interesting, like-minded people and somehow seem to keep bumping into them. I caught the 8 am boat taxi back to our beach. What rare party form.
12/30/04
Lazed on the beach all day, drinking fresh fruit shakes and eating – a lot. We all went to the next group of bungalows down the beach for dinner.

I had whole broiled red snapper stuffed with ginger and lemongrass with a side of sweet potato fries. Awesome. Then we donned our headlamps for the trek back to big blue...

we took it over, chatting and dancing and lamenting it was our last night on the island.

12/31/04
Up early to depart paradise. Had a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich [non-existent in Japan] and said goodbye to our bungalows and the brilliant people who staff them.

Boarded a boat taxi for Had Rin where we lounged and shopped a bit.


10 of us went in on a bottle of Absinthe, the eastern European drink made from worm wood that’s supposed to taste like licorice and leave you delightfully woozy. Later we caught a ferry to the neighboring island of Koh Samui. On this island we stayed about a 20 minute taxi ride from the action. Being New Year’s Eve, everyone was anxious to get out and about.
The girls...

We made a group reservation at a swanky fresh seafood restaurant. Liz and I treated ourselves to steamed mussels with Thai herbs, salmon and vodka cream sauce ravioli [which we can’t find anywhere in Japan] and lobster tail.

We drank a bit of wine and started in on the Absinthe, which I thought proved to be a disappointment. I was definitely woozy, but the effect was nothing more exciting than an alcohol buzz and getting it down was pretty rough. We moved on to the green mango, a complex of attached bars playing every sort of music, which was throbbing with the party crowd.

We met so many other travelers passing through this touristy island for a one night, new year’s blowout. We all caught taxis to the reggae club, another huge place, but this one had cheesy live music and a bono, from U2, wannabe who was ridiculous and captivating. Everyone headed home but Michelle and I. We caught a taxi back to the main strip [one of these trucks with a covered bed you sit in. these drivers are nuts. I looked into the cab to see him barreling along at 120 kph…that’s about as fast as my little car at home will go. They’re the cheapest and most plentiful transport though]. Tons more dancing and debauchery, a pit-stop at burger king [guilty. It became known as the burger club cause it was such a late night hangout] and we finally made it home…before the sun came up.


1/1/05
Made our way into downtown koh samui.

Overran a pizza hut for the first real pie I’ve had in months. Here we were approached by a production team from the Travel Channel [be still my heart…I was a nervous wreck since that is my absolute dream job. They asked us to scrounge up some bizarre travel stories and email ‘em. I need to get to work on that…this could be my big break. So, if you have any outlandish tales, do tell…] we shopped a bit, then liz and I went for a massage. This was the most unprofessional, unrelaxing rubdown of the trip. In broken English, they told us to take our clothes off, then they began to laugh, and they didn’t stop. They talked constantly and passed things under the curtain to the neighboring rooms. I was worried they were going to steal out of our bags so I couldn’t close my eyes and rest. Then came the breast massage, a little weird considering they chattered and laughed the whole time. After, we were off to eat again, imagine that!

More Mexican, hooray! Fresh Red Snapper tacos and strawberry margaritas hit the spot. Thailand is famous for its transsexuals and I was pleased to see that gawking tourists were welcome at their shows and not shunned because we are obviously living outside of this alternative lifestyle. We crowded into a ‘ladyboy’ cabaret, as they are called, which was unreal.


Some beautiful pre- and post-operative women. It was so interesting watching them make male tourists who had stumbled in uncomfortable.

They all were truly talented. She did a great 'Proud Mary'...

The show was free and the drinks were expensive. It was going to be an early night until we were all inspired by the incredible stage show, so we headed back to the bar district for a little booty shakin’. The clubs in Thailand are incredible. They are huge and are crawling with people who want to dance, not wall-flowers, it was refreshing. I met an awesome tattoo artist named sang whose English was surprisingly good; he spoke with an interesting cadence and ended all his sentences in a rising ‘yeah?’. It was infectious. Late night we headed to an out-of-the-way spot with beautiful fauna surrounding outdoor seating and a bumping dance floor. By the time I was heading home, everyone else had split. It was late and cabs were few so I caught a motorcycle taxi back to the bungalow. What a late night, scary rush that was.