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Published: October 2nd 2013
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I am often asked why I travel as I do. This question has left me flummoxed at the best of times leaving me stammering a half hearted response that sounds more contrived than truthful. To be honest, travelling is so much more than an act or a verb used to describe moving from one place to another. For me travelling encapsulates a way of life that seems impossible at home. Above all, to me, travelling offers me a sense of freedom which is constrained by my real life at home by obligations not held when away from home. Even time can be seemingly controlled. Life can be sped up, slowed down and may seem to even stand still if you will it to do so. Above all, travel demands that you remain in a perpetual state of optimism. If you are unsatisfied with where you are, who you are with or who you are, the solution is simple; change the situation. It has been written that when you travel, you are forced to be an unbridled optimist. Each day offers the promise to be better than the last otherwise we'd just all go home.
After a wonderful 4 weeks in
Malaysia, I felt it was time to move on but still with 10 days until my flight from Singapore to the Philippines, I made a rather rash decision to head in the opposite direction north and into Thailand.
I would love to say that I had meticulously planned my trip but Thailand came about as a rather compulsively. Being near the border with Thailand, I decided to take the hour and a half bus ride to the border where I assumed that would be easy to locate a bus station with a plethora of destinations within Thailand for me to choose from. What I had not realized was that the border crossing in SE Thailand had been mostly been a no go border for tourists as a result of relatively frequent bombings from rebels. Instead, I arrived at a derelict bus station without proper currency nor any idea of the exchange rate from Malaysian ringet to Thai baht. Without a bus schedule and local workers with a scant understanding of English I managed to find my way on a bus to a busier transit hub several hours away. The bus weaved through a series of military checkpoints with bombs
armed to explode if a foolish car tried to bypass them. I arrived in Yat Hai without a destination in mind, I quickly rattled off a list of places I had heard of until I was finally shepherded onto a bus for another 9 hours. Finally, 16 hours later, exhausted I arrived in a town I had no heard of at 2 am where after a half hour of aimless wandering I finally found a hotel for the night and where I would head off from towards my new destination; the scuba Mecca of Ko Tao.
Ko Tao might have been anywhere in the world; full of expats with only a few Thai food stalls to remind you what country you were in. It is a busy island littered with scuba shops all offering basement bargain deals on diving courses and diving packages all. Fun dives for certified divers were nearly half the price of even the cheapest diving spots elsewhere around the world with free accommodation thrown in, they almost dare you NOT to dive. The problem being that at each dive site, divers almost out numbered the fish. Though I had a blast diving and enjoyed Ko
Tao, the weather seemed to be turning for the worst and believed I had confirmation when I noticed the colourful anemones closing up to prepare for rough waters and so I left for the mainland.
With a flight from Phuket to Singapore in several days, I spent 3 days relaxing in the town of Krabi where I feasted nightly at the night market amongst karaoke singers and fire dancers and climbed the 1237 stairs to the top of the Tiger Temple which left me a sweaty mess but offered a stunning view of the town of Krabi and out beyond the pock marked limestone mountains and distant jungle.
Though I enjoyed the serenity of Krabi, I ignored the advice of a few friends and headed to Phuket where I would be beachside and near the airport. I was warned that Phuket was a cesspool of filth and the underbelly of the revolting see tourism industry of Thailand. In spite of the warnings, I found myself unprepared for the intensity of the unbridled hedonism of Phuket. After dark the streets became obstacle courses as we dodged over eager men selling ping pong shows (which have NOTHING to do with table tennis), Russian and Thai prostitutes and strippers spilling out from the bars blaring music from the sidelines and 60 year old men holding hands with 12 year old local girls. Drunk expats stumbled about and local people who ordinarily wear gentle smiles seemed hardened and cold as they reluctantly served intoxicated foreigners. Never have I been to a place where I have held so much disdain.
Finally free of Phuket I flew over Malaysia and over to the city state of Singapore where I was suddenly thrust into a big city metropolis of towering skyscrapers where I met up with Holly, a friend from the Perhetian Islands where I had a quick foot tour of Chinatown before walking for hours along the Marina which shimmered after dark. Though ordinarily unimpressed by concrete jungles, Singapore had a remarkable vibrancy and liveliness usually inhibited by the steel and glass of cities. Runners passed by the boardwalk as lovers held hands and embraced while looking out over the city. With one day and night Singapore struck me as everything other infant cities such as Dubai has tried and failed to achieve. Though I wish I had more time, it is back to tropical islands, this time in the Philippines. Yalla!
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