Advertisement
Published: January 9th 2009
Happy Happy Summer!
While all you Connors/BRCC/extended family folk were partying in Hackett's Cove this Saturday, I was on a midnight train bound for Malaysia. And don't think I wasn't thinking of you!
Since I last wrote from Bangkok, just after leaving the lovely lovely Laos, I've continued on my journey...south. Wayyyy south!
Back in May, (seems like a lifetime ago!) I visited 2 of the 3 islands located in the Gulf of Thailand: Koh Tao and Koh Samui. (You may recall the food poisoning/parasite incident? That was there.) Anyway, since I missed out on Koh Phagnan, the one in the middle, I dropped in (sounds so casual, eh?) on my way to Malaysia.
I knew that two Swedish girls I befriended in Laos were going to be there as well. Anyway, Koh Phagnan is the island that the movie 'The Beach' is based around. Apparently, it USED to be a hidden gem in Thailand... but since the budget backpacker discovered it, oh, say a decade ago, it's become very much a mainstream destination for Full Moon Party-goers and beach bums. Not to mention anyone who has seen Leonardo DiCaprio strut around topless in the movie....
I spent a few days on Haad Rin Nai and Haad Rin Nok (Sunset and Sunrise beach -- opposite of one another). Sunset beach is lovely --lined with swaying coconut trees and cheap bungalows. SunRISE beach, on the other hand, is lined with obscene bars each blaring a different form of house or techno music starting from about noon on. This area of Thailand could be anywhere really... You've got all the ammenities - 7-11s, tattoo parlours, piercing shops, etc.etc. It's a mini Bangkok, really. You can rent bikes and motorbikes. There are several little nursing stations. They each advertise things like wound care, pregnancy tests, ear irrigation, etc which speaks to the fact that it is most definately a party place.
When the Full Moon Party (or the half moon, or the black moon party for that matter) is on, the local hospital in Surat Thani doubles its staff. Yup.
Anyway, needless to say, in my opinion, there is no magic in Haad Rin. And, well, after having been to the paradise island of Koh Tao, nothing compares. 😊 Interesting to see, regardless.
I mean, it's great if you're 19 and looking for a massive beach party with an international flair -- or you're looking to eat (crappy) western food all day or sit in bars and play Playstation or watch the movie 'The Beach' 12 times a day. (Honest to Pete -- that's what happens here.)
There are, luckily, some other less populated beaches around Koh Phagnan. I found one, called Haad Thien just up the eastern coast. Instead of 345 cheap bungalow resorts, I found one lovely place called the Sanctuary. You can only get there by taxi boat. It's a spa/wellness centre/yoga/reiki/color therapy/numerology/tarot/chakra hippie dippie doo dah place. This, compared to the chaos that is Haad Rin, was heavenly. For a short time.
I ate loads of delicious (yet very pricey) vegetarian food (a rarity in Thailand) and did 2 hour yoga classes in the jungle with incense and bells. I could hear monkies in the distance. I did yoga on the beach. I read and wrote. And learned alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll about colonic irrigation.
Huh?!?!? (My reaction as well.) This place, I found out, is most popular for its colonic cleansing program. People come from all around the world -- well, mostly Western women and gay guys from what I could tell -- and fast for 5-7 days, drink volcanic clay shakes and have daily colonics. (I didn't even know what a colonic was until I arrived. Don't worry, I didn't go there..... )
Yup. People were lazing around, all vegged out, filled with coconut juices and herbal teas and volonic clay. And because I wasn't one of them, and couldn't join in on the chats about what my tummy was doing and what was...er...happening down there... I didn't feel that I fit in too well. So... I bailed. I felt super after two days of peace and quiet and yoga and healthy food, so it wasn't a loss at all.
I forgot to mention the most important thing that happened on that tiny little secluded beach.
I pulled up in my long-tail taxi boat, tossed my backpacks onto the beach and hopped into knee-deep water. There were just a few people on the beach. One of them was one of my best friends from high school!
I haven't seen Cameron -- let alone spoken to him in 2 years or so. He's been living in Vancouver since I was out there -- 4 years ago. I had no idea where he was, what he was doing. I most certainly didn't know he was in Asia, let alone Koh Phagnan, let alone this silly little beach!
Sidenote: no, he wasn't there for yoga or a colonic cleansing... he and his friend hiked the 2 hour path for fun. (That's the only other way you can get to this place.)
I couldn't believe it. Coincidences? They're everywhere. I'm a believer. I pounced him to the ground and couldn't stop laughing! Of all the places in the world... And get this.... we had been staying at bungalow resorts side by side for a couple of days and didn't run into one another. We only had a 30 minute chat -- he was bound for the mainland to catch a train back to Bangkok to head to London. But that 30 minutes filled me up, more than I can tell you. Amazing, amazing, amazing...
And had I not stopped to check my email, had I not stopped at Chicken Corner for that mango squishy, we would have passed one another again. Crazy how these things happen.
It took me a few hours to get over that one.
After my three days in hippiesville, I head back to Haad Rin. I was about to leave and head up to the north of the island where there is supposed to be great snorkelling. I actually hopped in a taxi (read: back of a pick up truck) with some folks I met on my long tail boat ride back to the beach. (It's cheaper with more people.) I got out halfway up the island, where they were stopping...and decided to stop and think before making my next move. I just happened to check my email once again, and got one from my Swedish friends -- Karin and Katarina (both 32, live in Stolkholm) and they had just arrived and were in Haad Rin (uggh!) where I had just left.
What to do. I could continue up the coast alone...or go back to the chaos to hang out with them. I asked a stranger in a coffee shop for advice. He told me to go where I'd have the most fun. And since I just had a few days of relaxation, I head back to Haad Rin to meet up with them. And I'm so glad I did. Great company. We splurged and bought wine (Hardy's Shiraz) and chatted by sunset every night (spectacular!) and had a great time. Another coincidence, I'd say... getting that email before I went too far. Getting advice from that stranger. Annnnd running into a British couple I met on the bus from Bangkok -- who had just come from the north and said the monsoon season ruined the snorkelling. Coincidences everywhere.
One night, K, K and I actually ventured down to the beach for the half-moon warm up party. There, we drank 'buckets' (literally, a sand pail filled with vodka, red bull and who knows what else) and watched people and motorbikes jump through burning rings of fire. Yup. This truly is the land that makes NO sense.
There are three legged dogs running around everywhere as well.
Can't figure that one out.
And people with road rash all over their arms and legs. They call that the Koh Phagnan motorbike tattoo. Huh. That's the reason for 'wound care' on the nursing station sign I reckon.
Had a great few days on Koh Phagnan with them... but left yesterday afternoon to continue on alone. I took the ferry (saw the sunset from there -- even more spectacular) and then a bus (for 2 hours) then a train (for 11) to the border of Thailand and Malaysia. And literally, I was watching the hours, figuring what you'd be doing at what time... I figured out when the guitars were coming out, when Susan's rolls and Monica's cheesecakes were coming out and when Johnny's famous knee-slapping began... 😊
I hope you all saved some energy for the Prospect party on the 30th. 😊
The train stopped at Sungai Koklok and we (met a couple from Paris on the train -- they couldn't speak English -- boy did I learn how much of my French I lost) crossed over to Malaysia together by foot. It was like walking into another land.
Just about all of the women are wearing headscarves. It felt different. It smelled different. I took a taxi to the city of Kota Bharu. (The French couple went to the airport.) KB is in the northeastern corner of the country and it is the capital of the state of Kelantan, which is an Islamic stronghold and has a very strong Malay culture -- moreso than anywhere else in the country. And you can tell.
I'm only here for 24 hours before I head to the Perentian Islands on Monday.
Kota Bharu's main attraction is its food and its markets, so says the Lonely Planet. The markets, I've seen better elsewhere. Everywhere else, actually. But the food market???? Yeee-haw! I just ate my way around Malaysian culture tonight!
It is described by the LP as a 'bonanza of regional Malay and Indain specialties.' I think I had one of everything.
It is a great big parking lot with hundreds of food vendors cooking everything from curries and rotis (banana, chicken, beef, whatever), more unidentified meat on a bamboo stick, bubble teas, and cakes cakes cakes! (Not cakes like ours, more jelly-like.)
The people come here, line up early, to pick up their steaming packages of noodles and curries and meat on a stick and soups to either eat there on plastic tables and plastic chairs, or to take home to their families. I could tell which places were the best -- they had the longest line of women wearing headscarves. I followed them.
I started off with springrolls... because I was nervous. Then I moved on to a vegetable curry with a cucumberish side dish and a pineapple shake. Then I went for the most famous regional dish -- one that my taxi driver said I should try -- which is called nasi kerabu. It's blue rice (food coloring, not sure why), with coconut, dried fish, spices, a coconut sauce, sprouts and raw cabbage slivers. And they pack it up in newspaper for me. And you eat it with your fingers. Picture this: Me walking around carrying this handful of blue rice slop in newspaper, eating it with my hands. It's falling all over the place. It's stuck to my face. I'm soooo graceful. And the BLUE matches the BLUE scarf I have draped over my shoulders (I have no long sleeved shirts and women have to cover themselves). Oh yes. I'm a sight to be seen alright.
I noticed this table of locals laughing at me... and then they invited me over to eat with them. I was reluctant at first, thinking they were making fun. But, I went... And by the end of my conversation with them, I had an invitation to come stay at their house when I come back through KB! The wife is named Anni, her husband works for a tetra-juice packing company. They have 3 children. They shared some of their food with me and we had a great conversation. Again, out of nowhere. I must have something that says, "I'm alone. Please talk to me." Because people do!
Anyway, I learned that in KB (not the rest of Malaysia), Sunday is like our Monday. Friday and Saturday are the days off. Today was Sunday and no one likes to cook on a Sunday, which is why the lot was so full tonight. Much fun. And delicious. I can hardly walk. This is why I am in this internet cafe.
I've not been here long, but in my little area of town, I've seen an A&W, a KFC (that serves Halal style...!?!?) and a MacDonald's. That serves some type of curry soup. Not that I eat at McD's, but do we have that one at home? Doubtful.
Tomorrow I get a taxi to the coast then a ferry to the islands. Karin and Katarina arrive on Tuesday. I'll spend my last few days in Asia there -- before one last night in Bangkok. I'll be home on July the 27th.
I can't believe it's coming up to three months. I'm still in awe of this part of the world every single day. I'm seeing and learning so much. More than I ever imagined. It's gonna take awhile to digest it all. Anyway, I must admit, I'm looking forward to coming home to see you all...
Damn, I miss oatmeal.
And proper milk. Not UHT.
And for some reason, I'm craving one honkin' barbequed hamburger. I haven't eaten meat in more than 2 months. Nada.
Mom, save me some strawberries in the freezer, please!
That's it for now. Over and out.
See ya on the 30th!
Oh...friends? You're all invited to mom and dad's on July 30th for a bash...Prospect Bay style. BYOB. This means you Petey and Gibbon and you can bring your band. It'll be fun. 😊
Love to all.
xo xoxo xo xox xox
Advertisement
Tot: 0.11s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 12; qc: 61; dbt: 0.0717s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Helen Jay
non-member comment
sat down again last night to enjoy yout journey. We do have a good laugh with you Kelly. Tell me...are you getting my notes?