The Land of Smiles

---

After all the bustle and oddities we uncovered in Bangkok, it was finally time to head to the "relaxation" portion of the trip. The days were a bit lazier and the sun was bit hotter but it was while visiting the islands and meeting the people in Southern Thailand that I understood why they call their country "The land of smiles."

Day 5
I was sad when I woke up because I knew it was time to leave Bangkok and although it might be the most polluted place I've ever been, there is more than enough to make up for it. Quickly I began to think of all the things I had wanted to do while here, trying to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything...oooh, a Thai massage!!! We found the closest massage place and signed up for a one-hour, massage complete with comfy clothes and post-massage lemongrass tea! Thai massage is more than just a rubdown, they actually stretch you, kind of like yoga for the lazy man. I left feeling the most relaxed I'd felt in months! Afterwards, we walked down Thanon Phra Sumen to Santichaiprakan Park on the river and home of a very photogenic fort. The fort is one of the last remenants of the old city fortifications and it is quite impressive, architecturally. I couldn't leave the city without one more trip through the local markets and Khao San Rd. The local market was abuzz with people, mostly women, buying vegetables, sweets, fruits, and an assortment of other things including my personal favorite: the "funny sausages!" They had a whole bin full of random sausages cut into pieces and mixed together in a box labeled "funny sausages," but they didn't seem to be a big seller. Apparently mystery meat is one of those universal things that no one, in any country, likes. Khao San Rd. (I heard, I didn't look it up) is the place in that movie "The Beach" where they go shopping at one point. This was something I found out after our visit but didn't change the fact that I loved the atmosphere. After a quick goodbye to Bangkok, we headed to Don Meuang airport to catch our flight southbound for Hat Yai.

About an hour later (I figured, as I was asleep before we left Bangkok...I told you that massage was relaxing!) we were safely in Hat Yai and ready to begin the task of finding a way to Pak Bara, the port city where we would catch the ferry the next morning. No sooner had we walked up to the information desk to inquire about the shuttle bus, than we were approached by a Dutch man headed our way. We all agreed it would be cheaper, and faster, to split a cab rather than rely on the more expensive, less sound looking shuttle "buses" and $15 and an hour and a half later, we found ourselves in the dusty town of Pak Bara. We immediately got down to the buisness of finding a room for the night which was easy because there were several locals standing outside a cafe/restaurant that pointed to a guest house 2 blocks down. Who knew Pak Bara had such wonderful accomodations? Before we could get checked in though, I had a terrible run-in with an army of fire ants! These guys did not mess around! I stood on the dirt path with my suitcase, waiting for the guest house owner to show us to our bungalow, and within a couple seconds my flip-flopped feet were itching and stinging like crazy! I looked down and saw, to my horror, at least 30 fire ants the size of the big black ants back home, crawling all over my feet and legs. Of course I tried to brush them off and play it cool, but it was no use and I finally let out a little scream, which was when the owner asked "Ants?" He unlocked the door to the first bungalow and told me to run in and spray off my feet with the bidet/hose thing they have in all the bathrooms in Thailand. For the next 30 minutes my feet were on fire and I could've sworn there were still ants crawling up my legs. After that I was on high alert, and fortunately had no more ant run-ins the remainder of my visit.

Anyway, we checked in and got our choice of bungalows, we picked one near the pond, and reunited with our taxi-sharing friend for some grub at the only restaurant in town that looked open (incidentally the same place where the people had directed us to the guest house.) The town was so small that when I needed to use an ATM (heeding the warning that there were no ATM's on the island) they pointed to a van across the street and said the mobile ATM. The ATM was literally in the back of a van with it's back doors tied open and there was a little step ladder so you could climb in the back of the van to get your money...this town was small! Dinner was of course delicious (it must be hard to get a bad meal in this country!) and we met a few other travellers including a German guy and an ex-pat couple from Holland and Scotland who give diving lessons on one of the other islands, but they were on vacation. The night ended on the pier with our new friends, a few Thai beers, and some excited locals trying to show off their muscles to the guys and their English to me. Thailand is "the land of smiles?" Case in point.

Day 6
The day began meeting our new friends from the night before for some quick breakfast, or in my case, an iced cocoa. Afterwards, we had no trouble booking a shuttle back to the airport in Hat Yai for when we returned from the islands. Then it was back to the hotel for a quick check-out and they even gave us, and our lugguage, a ride to the pier on the back of a motorcycle with a sidecar. The wait at the pier was hot and we weren’t able to leave anywhere near on-time. That said, when you’re waiting to go to an exotic tropical island, it is easy to overlook the small things like an hour delay or a crowded boat. The first stop was at Ko Tarutao which bears the same name as the National Park that is comprised of Tarutao and several neighboring islands. My personal favorite bit of trivia from the trip is that Ko Tarutao is also where they filmed “Survivor: Thailand” and I was a bit disappointed that I wasn’t actually able to get off the boat. Next stop: Ko Lipe!

After about an hour and a half, we finally approached a floating pier just off Sunset Beach. There was another ferry pulled up on one side of the pier unloading passengers and on the other side there were a couple long tail boats waiting to take the people and their luggage to the powdery, white sand shores of Lipe. In mere minutes, we too had climbed into a waiting boat and were dumped on shore (the wrong shore as it later turned out) with our suitcases amongst the sunbathers. It didn't take long to realize we were at the wrong place and if you've ever had to wheel your suitcase through sand, you know that walking around the tiny island was not an option. For a few dollars more, we hired a "taxi" (because there are no roads on the tiny island, taxis are long-tail boats that sputter around the island) to take us to the correct beach where we were relieved to find our resort sign planted firmly in the sand. I later found out that for a couple of bucks, you could hire one of the long-tails to take you to a deserted island and then pick you up again at a designated time. I talked to a few people on the island that had done just that and they said they were dropped off with a cooler full of water and beer and they brought snacks and food and they wandered the island and just spent the day playing on their own, private island! I guess you'd have to trust your boat guy not to forget you but otherwise, it sounded amazing. There were tiny islands all around, in fact no matter what beach you were on, you could see at least one island nearby. The water was literally emerald green, not like the turquoise waters of the Caribbean or the blue-green beaches of Hawai'i but completely different. Whenever I was on one of the boats operated by the Chao Ley (aka: sea gypsies) people who live in these islands, I couldn't help but stare into the pure green waters below. Most of the time the water was so clear that I could see straight to the bottom even when the water was nearly 5 feet deep!

It should come as no surprise to anyone that within a couple of hours I had made myself completely at home on the island. After going for a swim and sunning on the beach, I sported a beautiful new sarong and crossed the island, which took all of 15 minutes, to have fruity cocktails with orchid garnishes, at a fun reggae bar, on the beach with some of our new friends from Pak Bara.

Day 7
New Year's Eve! To be honest, the next few days mostly consisted of the following routine: rice for breakfast courtesy of the resort, a morning swim and some time to suntan and read on the beach, though sometimes I mixed it up, sometimes I'd write or listen to my trusty iPod while looking out to sea and watching the long-tails go by. Usually in the mid-morning, but sometimes in the afternoon and on one occcasion twice, I'd head to my favorite island cafe where I'd have an iced-cocoa, enjoy the breeze from the electric fan, and lounge on the comfy Thai triangle cushions under the bamboo and palm-leaf thatched roof. It was bliss and the most relaxed I've been maybe ever! It was nice to see the smiling faces of the women at the cafe; they knew I'd be stopping by each day. Most days I went for an afternoon swim as well and quickly rinsed off and changed before heading to Pattaya beach for the night. For dinner tonight we headed to the most famous place on the island, Pooh's. I, naturally, had Pad Sie Ewe...my favorite! All afternoon we had seen boys about 12 years old, in the Muay Thai (traditional Thai boxing involving kicking) outfits, soliciting tourists to watch them box that evening. It was interesting to see young kids boxing and so many locals turned up to watch them. I was skeptical, at first, because they were so young, but the boys seemed to be having fun and were smiling the whole time. Afterwards, they all hung out together, no hard feelings. I have to believe that when men fight, it's much more rough, but I was glad I didn't have to see that!

Several bars/restaurants played English movies nightly, but since tonight was a holiday, we headed down to Pattaya beach where people were sending huge rice paper lanterns into the black, night sky. The sky was lit up with probably a dozen of these lanterns at any given moment and all up and down the beach people were getting ready to send more off. It was amazing to see them floating out over the ocean until they disappeared. After standing out in the crowd full of locals, we decided maybe watching the Thai band wasn't the best way to countdown 'til the New Year and so we returned to the reggae bar where we had spent the afternoon lounging on the beds that overlook the ocean and drinking, in my case, Cuba Libres. There was no official countdown, but I could not think of a better way to ring in 2009, than on beach with a cool drink, watching the sky light up, while listening to the local band play tropical versions of "The Boxer" and "Take Me Home Country Roads"...

Day 8
New Year's Day! Ko Lipe is such a beautiful island that you can be perfectly content to do nothing all day as long as you can daydream on the beach while watching the boats, the emerald green water, and the neighboring islands. It isn't surprising that islands like these can inspire exotic tales that captivate readers time and time again. There is only a dirt path through the island that connects the three beaches: Sunrise, Sunset, and Pattaya and while most of the people walk, some of the local men will ride along on scooters. On this beautiful sunny afternoon, after having my mid-morning iced cocoa, we walked down the dirt path and passed a kayak rental shop. I've never kayaked and neither had my friend but after hours upon hours of soaking up the sun, the cocktails, and the sea, I was beginning to wonder if it was possible to suffer from "vacation atrophy" and so decided I was up for the challenge of sea kayaking. Not to mention it was the start of 2009, why not try the untried? They were very kind in bringing the kayak down to the beach and after throwing on our life vests, we hauled the boat into the water and were off! At this point I must remind you that I have NEVER kayaked before, let alone on the ocean as the winds were picking up (I swear the waves got bigger once we were in the water!) As the people on the beach looked on and, I'm sure, had a good laugh, we tried to get into a rowing rhythm so we didn't end up going in circles. I wish I could have seen us from the shore because it would have been hysterical! We would row far from shore and then I'd get scared that we were too far out and we'd paddle closer to shore. We zig-zagged all the way down the coast and it only took 30 minutes! At first I was impressed with my natural paddling abilities but after about 15 mins. my arms felt like Gumby arms and when we got to the end of the beach, we had to bring the boat ashore for a break and I got to collect seashells! After a bit, it was back in the water, which had calmed, and we actually got back to our starting point in about half the time plus I felt like I was starting to get the hang of kayaking! Something about being that far from shore still makes me nervous but it was a great work-out and I only regret not having a camera to capture the awesome sights! After battling the high seas, I was in dire need of some relaxation and the white beach looked so inviting, what choice did I have but to take a nap right there in the sand. When I woke, it was dinner time and we found tasty noodles and prime seats for the evening showing of "Wall-E" but again, those damn comfy Thai triangle pillows...I fell asleep halfway through the movie! These islands were magical, there is so much to do from hiking to diving to kayaking but at the same time, comfort and relaxation is always right at your fingertips.

Day 9
Our last full day on Ko Lipe and we spent most of it at sea! We had signed up the day before to go on a snorkeling day trip that also included stops at various islands, including one that alledgedly had monkeys! At 9:00am, which is early for a vacationer, we were waiting at the snack shop on Pattaya beach and picking out our masks and fins. They seperated the waiting adventurers onto three different boats according to which trip they'd signed up for and we were off. Our long-tail sea gypsy guide first took us to a tiny rock island about an hour away. As we got closer I began to get nervous. I'd never snorkeled in the ocean really, in Hawai'i I saw one fish but was scared to go out further because I was snorkeling without a buddy! Laugh all you want, but as everyone knows, you shouldn't swim or snorkel or partake in ocean-going adventues alone...it's just not safe! So anyway, I had all kinds of irrational visions of having to snorkel in the middle of the ocean (obviously this would also mean no reefs and is thus ridiculous, but the mind wanders when under stress!) or worse, having an encounter with a shark! When we got to the rock island, I was relieved to be close to land, even if that land was basically a boulder. After the other 3 guys on the trip hopped in the water, unattacked, I decided it was safe and splash! I went right in. When I first put my mask in the water it was indescribable! It was like an instant calm because I could see everything around me and good news...no sharks! I swam around (though I never let the boat get out of sight) and saw bright yellow and black angelfish, orange clown fish (Nemo fish for the younger set), black sea urchins everywhere, some as big as my head! I saw all kinds of coral, and a bright blue bowl-like thing, it looked like it was gelatinous but inside there were sea anemones. It was the prettiest thing I saw down there but I'm still not quite sure what it was. I saw a couple of them on the trip. I stayed away from dark corners, I know about the eels, and I even saw a sea snake, though fortunately I didn't know they were venomous at the time and it was about 20 ft. away. Everything was so vibrant, it is definitely something everyone should do at least once. After about 20 minutes though, I realized that I was alone on one side of the island (the side with the boat) while everyone else had decided to swim off in various other directions. I also couldn't help but notice that when I looked toward the island, I could see all kinds of fish that would swim through my hands and colorful corals but when I turned at looked away from the island, about 10 feet in front of my face, I saw darkness. Ummm...time to get back in the boat. What scared me was not what I could see but what I couldn't. When there was no way to tell what could be swimming right towards me...ummm...boat time. So I swam, with incredible ease thanks to my newly acquired fins, back to the waiting boat. Not 5 minutes later, the older Italian man came back onboard and I had to admit that I got scared when I started seeing darkness. He laughed and said that's what made him come back to the boat. Within 10 minutes, everyone was back and we headed to the monkey island: Ko Dong.

Ko Dong was beautiful and nearly untouched. It was sad to see the occasional oil can that had washed ashore or the cigarette cartons no doubt left by tourists, that littered some parts of the otherwise pristine beaches. I walked the shores taking pictures and scouting for the monkeys that supposedly loved to dine on crabs, but the closest I got was hearing the monkey calls echoing from the jungle. At one point our guide took us into the jungle, not far since we weren't wearing shoes, so that we could see some termites and other really big, and really ugly bugs. It was in the jungle that I could hear the elusive monkeys, and I though perhaps if I'd brought a pouch full of crustaceans I'd of had better luck! The next stop was an island that was part of Ko Tarutao National Park and it offered a beautiful but small beach that looked like it was made to be on a postcard. Nearly all the snorkel tours were making a stop at this speck of an island, and while we sat on the rocks eating our picnic lunch, I watched everyone take pictures in exactly the same spot. It was the spot on the beach that was shaped like a triangle so if you stood there, the water rushed in from two sides and it really emphasized the color of the sea. I watched that bit of beach for 30 minutes and it never got old. Some of the beaches and islands are hypnotic!

Sadly, after lunch the skies began to cloud over. The next snorkel stop was far more beautiful than the first, so I can only imagine what it would be like on a sunnier day. After seeing many more fish, including another sea snake and an irridescent parrot fish, it was back on the boat to head toward the last site of the day. Unfortnately, before we could make it there, the skies grew darker and darker and it was slightly unsettling watching the last speck of land disappear, leaving us in small boat (basically a canoe) on the open sea at least an hour from Lipe. Then the rain began. We continued on for a few minutes but then the operator dropped the anchor, pulled the blue tarp down over the front of the boat so we wouldn't get wet, and it seemed we were going to wait it out. Ok, I was nevous! The wind and rain were whipping around us and we were being tossed around as waves occasionally splashed over the sides of our dinghy. We sat there for about 10 minutes, waiting...waiting...waiting. The skies didn't clear but I suppose the guide decided it wasn't going to get better and so we began making our way back to Ko Lipe, through the tempest. I tried to make the best of it, telling myself "Well, you've never been in a storm on the Indian Ocean before..." but strangely, this was not a comforting thought. When we finally reached Lipe, I had never been so happy to be back on land and I as I watched the guide bailing out our boat, I noticed he too had a smile on his face. I'm telling you, "the land of smiles!"

Day 10
Planes, boats, and automobiles sums up today. The whole day we were en route to somewhere. We said goodbye to the islands and took the much delayed ferry back to Pak Bara and from there took a van (they called it a shuttle bus, but it was really just an old van) to the airport in Hat Yai. With several hours to kill, we enjoyed some airport shopping, and some Dairy Queen! It's true, they have DQ in Thailand but just as a warning: the only have vanilla. Normally I'd have skipped it altogether but who knows when I'd get to indulge in a Blizzard again so I forced myself to enjoy the vanilla blizzard. Hard work, I know. We also had our worst meal in Thailand at the airport restaurant. Spicy lemongrass beef, but trust me it tasted like furniture polish. It was awful and so spicy I couldn't eat it! Luckily, I knew there was delicious food awaiting in Bangkok. We got to Bangkok, checked in to the hotel, and decided we needed one more night to soak up the Thai nightlife. However, we were met with some dishearterning news. Most places were closed for the New Year, I guess they celebrate for several days, not just one. Instead we wandered down the street to have a scrumptious dinner among some locals at restaurant stall. They even had American college football on t.v.! They were happy to speak in English to us, and were very interested in our home countries. The people in Thailand are so warm and gracious and excited to share their culture with anyone who seems interested. They didn't get the glass-eyed look on their face that I've seen other places, when people are faced with the prospect of having to converse with a Westerner. I was surprised at how many people spoke English and if they didn't, it wasn't hard to communicate because they were all so patient and friendly. The name fits and I can't imagine finding a warmer place than "the land of smiles!"

---

Photos

Need I Say More?
A market in Bangkok

Townies!
Hanging out at the Pak Bara pier

Pak Bara Cuisine
Waiting for the ferry

Survivor Island!
Ko Tarutao

Deserted Island
Somewhere in the Andaman Sea

I Want One of These!
Bamboo cabana on Ko Lipe

Sand and Sea
Cove on Ko Lipe

Island Sunset
I was hoping for a better sunset, but this is the best we got!

Fire Twirler
There were kids doing this too! Pattaya Beach

Tropical Splendor
The first night at a reggae bar on Pattaya beach

Muay Thai Boxing
The whole town showed up!

Mini-Muay Thai Boxers
Muay Thai children boxer in Ko Lipe

A New Year, A New Dream...
Lanterns on the beach at Pattaya

Swimming with the Fishes
I loved snorkeling!

Rock Islands
Andaman Sea

Sea Gypsy
It's said the Chao Ley people of these islands are descended from the Sea Gypsy people.

Comments

[chicken]

:-)
amazing! i'm so jealous: i would have loved to been there! you've made me SMILE!

[A fan]

Gorgeous Thailand
Luisa, What a fabulous travelogue--just reading it made me feel like I had been on a vacation! The pictures added to the story. My favorites, you perched on the long boat...and of course the beaches, it's easy to feel like you're there. Though I had not thought of Thailand before as a destination for a vacation, after reading your blog I'm reconsidering--it looks like the perfect place for adventure and relaxation. Thanks for sharing! I can't wait until your next story, Cheers, A fan