Sitting on the porch of my Koh Mook Rubber Tree Hotel  bungalow on the waning moments of the trip as the cicadas buzz away- in a couple hours I’ll start a 48 hour journey to the other side of the world for a work meeting. 4 days have passed – two in the Bungalow at Koh Mook and 2 in a tent at Koh Rok.   Sleep has been fitful as it’s just too hot – even when the power’s on the fan here provides little relief, though naps on the beach and lazy days also have something to do with it.

Update: now waiting to get on the sleeper train back to Bangkok.  The islands were extremely sparse – Koh Mook has just a few resorts and restaurants, and a small beach.

It was a two hour longtail boat ride to Koh Rok, the engine grating on my ears.  The sand at Koh Rok was like flour – when it’s wet it stratified on the water and you’d call it muck if it wasn’t so pretty.  There’s no resort or massages, only tents.    More tourists come from 10-2 each day but then leave; there are about 20 of us with a whole island to ourselves.  I’ve never had this much beach to myself.  I go exploring and find a dead lobster being picked over by crabs and a wrecked longtail boat.   This must be what it feels like to be on Survivor.

The bathroom had plumbing for the showers and toilets were bucket flush  – both in the same room (why not connect the toilet too?).  Huge crocodile sized lizards hung out nearby in the evenings, and the leaves rustled with hermit crabs on the prowl.    I slept in a beach hammock one night, my first night in a hammock- the lights of the calamari boats in the distance, male campers walking by every few hours to take a leak in the sea (presumably to avoid the inland lizards or spiders or cockroaches or rats).  It was cooler in than the hot tent, but sleep was still fitful.  I awoke startled a couple times as unknown creatures tickled my toes, but the breeze and my DEET were strong enough to keep the mosquitoes away.

We could swim 30 feet off the beach to the most amazing snorkeling; my back got the best tan.  My favorites were the clownfish pairs  darting in and our of their anemones and the giant clams with their florescent mantles embedded deep in the rock.  I still had mask fitting problems with the new equipment, and the reefs were so shallow I ended up scraping the tops of my feet up while treading water a few times.  We went deep sea fishing one afternoon with the staff – I caught a small tuna and some other fish which the staff cooked for us that night.  The fish with red curry (which I had to request special since they don’t serve the tourists spicy food by default) was the best dish of the trip.

Now, the sleeper train has started it’s roll out of the tiny station in Traang (“Traang Station”).  The rickety fans are blowing the air conditioning around.  It’s 2:30am in the US, I should try to grab some slep if I know what’s good for me.

(new pics start here)

No tags

We’ve spent the last couple days at Ao Nang, a touristy beach town near Krabi.

(New pics start here)

We arrived in the late afternoon.  It was even hotter than Bangkok.  Checked in, had a drink at the beachside bar at sunset , shopped around the fake goods street and had Tex-Mex for dinner.   The rest of our group of 5 has been in Thailand for weeks and is sick of the food.    They also don’t eat seafood  I’d be sick of 2 weeks of Pad Thai too.   Yesterday was much more pleasant weather wise, swe took a speedboat trip island hopping with stops at 4 small island beaches and a snorkeling spot.  All the beaches had much finer sand than Ao Nang, and the snorkeling was pretty good – not much reef but many fish.  My mask and snorkel were a bit uncomfortable but I made due.

The guide suggested a dinner spot and all six of us loaded up in a tuk tuk to get there.  It was a seafood places so people were scared to each conch (delicious, just don’t eat the bony foot) and terrified of a whole grilled fish.  Since Cyn and I are now Asia veterans, we filleted it with aplbomb and dug right in.   This isn’t much of a partying group, so we retreated to our rooms at 7:30 or so . . . they have wireless internet so we watched the Winter Olympics on Slingbox.  Cynthia and I did stop at the dive shop to invest in some better snorkeling gear (mask and tube <$30 for the set) . . . I’m excited to try out the new mask that actually fits and a snorkel with a splash resistant top and a valve for clearing water.

Right now, we’re riding in the van to heading on a two hour ride to Trang Province where we’ll say goodbye to air conditioning for a few days and meet our beach bungalow.  Thailand really reminds me of Costa Rica or the Dominican Republic – same constructions techniques and similar farming and vegetation, just different writing on the signs and everybody drives on the left side of the road.  It still “feels”" the same.

No tags

(click to see pics)

I think Taipei has muted Bangkok for us a bit, because when you come down to it, it’s to us just another city in Asia, just not quite as dense, a bit dirtier, with murals of the king everywhere and Buddhist  temples in a different style.  We set off at about 8:30 on our walking tour and it was already hot and humid (90 degrees and 80% humidity).  We figured out how to catch the water taxi – they only stop at each pier for about 15 seconds in a flurry of exhaust as the deckhands jump off and tie the boat.  Our first stop was the Golden Palace – Cynthia was unhappy it cost more than $10 each to get in.  We went first to the temple area (Wot Phra Kaew) which was quite gilded, saw the emerald Buddha (actually jade), we then walked around the place grounds and stopped in a small  air conditioned museum to see  the kings crown and coin collection.

We left the palace and went to Wat Suthat, were we started to realize we’ve really gotten the feel for Buddist temples.  Next up was Sir Gurusingh Sabha in the little India.  We had to take our shoes off and wear head coverings, but there wasn’t really much to see there except a bunch of guys in Turbans and a climb to the sixth story where you had a pretty good view of the city.
Since we know we’ll be having Thai food all week, we intentionally stopped at an Indain restraunt, Royal India, for lunch.  The food was good but the air conditioning was even better.  Next, we walked through densely packed open air markets in Little India Chinatown, which was similar to the Taipei night markets but with more stores selling fabrics and beads.  Cynthia found an embroidered table cloth that she liked, so we picked it up as a souvenier (rare for us).

The rest of the day called for more Wots, but the heat was really starting to wear on us (and thus we were wearing on each other), so we headed back to the hotel.  We’d been drinking a lot of water all day but I was quite dizzy after we got back to the room, I’m not sure if it was dehydration, overhydration, the heat, the food or some combination of all of it.  I ended up laying low for about 3 hours, Cynthia hung out by the pool, and  by the time we met our small tour group at 6 for an orientation I was feeling much better.  Dinner was Chinese style duck  noodle soup, and we walked back through Chinatown, all lit up with lanterns for the New Year holiday.  After the group finished beers from 7-eleven, we called it a night.

Today we’re off on a domestic flight to Krabi and thus the beach odyssey we’re here for.

No tags

I’m sitting in the China Airlines Lounge at TPE, which we somehow got invited to by showing a Delta Skymiles Card when getting our KLM tickets to Bangkok.  They have a noodle bar, dim sum, free magazines and internet access and booze.   Relaxation has begun.   I don’t know how connected I’ll be, as we’re traveling to remote and rustic islands, but I’ll journal and post pics when I can.

No tags

We took a train trip to Hualien and Taroko Gorge this weekend with friends from work and I posted pics here.  It was scenic and a lot of fun . . .  until  we got back Sunday night I realized my apartment key had fallen out of my pocket in the cab or train or something and that we were locked out.   We managed not to sleep in the street but didn’t get back into the apartment until Monday morning.   It sucked.
More trips are coming, stay tuned.

No tags