Life's a beach - Karon Beach in my case

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I spent maybe a week and a half in Bangkok. Days lazing by the pool, or wandering the streets watching the world go by. Evenings were usually spent at one makeshift roadside bar or another. The pace of life slow, my will to do anything exciting low.

I had several pleasant evenings talking to a couple from Bristol, and and a couple of teachers from London. As they were all heading down south, I decided to follow and head down to Karon Beach - Phuket to get out of Bangkok, and maybe get myself a tan. I wasn't too hopeful as usually this is the rainy season on the Anderman Coast. I had also heard reports of travellers heading back to Bangkok as it had been raining constantly down here. Not the usual hour a day, but all day, just like home... I am glad to say that since I have been here, there has not been a drop! Now of course I have cursed myself and will probably walk out of the cafe into a downpour.

The bus journey down was the usual farce. From time of pick up until time of arrival at hotel was somewhere around twenty hours. The bus dropped us off in the bus station out of town. A common tactic in these parts, I am sure designed to help taxi and tuk-tuk drivers rip off tired and confused travellers. I was offered a taxi for 500 Baht to Karon Beach. Luckily I had been here before, and after spying a bus full of locals just about to leave the station, I jumped on and made the trip into town for 10 Baht. A quick walk across town in the blazing sun bought me to where I knew the local buses headed to the beaches. It cost me another 30 Baht for the bus to the beach, and twenty minutes later I was checking into my first hotel on Karon beach for a nifty 40 Baht. Slightly cheaper than my initial quote.

I spent one night down in the centre of Karon. Unfortunately I was opposite a bar playing rubbish music until about two in the morning. Luckily I was so tired from the bus journey, that this never really stopped me from dropping off. The room I was staying in had a row of strange looking dolls attacted to the wall, that I am sure were staring at me all night. I woke in the morning to find that the wooden carving behind my head was a scene of elephants having sex... Nice!

I moved to the other end of the beach to stay at the same hotel as the two teachers that I had arranged to meet up with. The journey from my original hotel was a twenty minute walk, hot in the morning sun. I tried to take a tuk-tuk but refused to pay the frankly stupid price of 200 Baht being offered.

The hotel that I have moved into is cleaner, cheaper and in the low season quieter than the one before. Luckily for me most of the bars nearby are closed for the low season. But I still only have to walk a couple of hundred meters at most to get to several soi filled with bars. Easy enough to stagger back from, but far enough away not to be heard should an early night be the order of the day.

I had several nice evenings out with the girls, and also met up again with the couple from bristol. Spending that night first drinking at a bar which was a converted VW Camper and then later on at a girlie bar, where most of the ladies behind the bar had a little added extra. Well either little or tucked away very successfully. Unfortunately noone paid for a dance from the girls working the floor, so there was only a few minutes of pole dancing on offer that night. I think I am getting immune to alcohol again, as many cocktails were sunk without great effect. Either that or the measures in them were tiny.

I have spend the days mainly on the beach, trying to get myself a tan. At least now I don't look like all the other white and pasty people that I am seeing appear. I have been here a week or so now. It's hard to tell, time seems to be slipping again. I have a few more days here at least. After that I will go somewhere, not sure where yet. Either across to one of the other islands, or possibly back up to Bangkok. I have been playing with the idea of changing my flight to sometime in August, hence possibly Bangkok.

Everyone has left now, and I am back to just me and the random people I talk to on the beach or at the bars in the evening. Two days of a Buddhist festival stopped the flow of chang briefly. The beach is just not the same without the odd beer to keep you going. Yesterday I got to the beach early. The tide was high coming up underneath the sun loungers on occasion. I sat watching for about fifteen minutes, saving my sandals from being swept out to sea a couple of times. The koreans just down the row were not so lucky, as a wave came up and took their sandals and beer out to sea. The sea seemed to have been receding, and with no big waves for a while, I settled back with my book. My shorts with camera, wallet and phone next to me on the lounger. After about twenty minutes, all of a sudden, the sea decided to attack. The first I knew about it was when a huge wave hit the bottom of my lounger, dumping half the sea and beach into my lap. I jumped up to find that my sandals were fifteen yards back, my shorts, towel, book, wallet and phone were soaked. The only thing that avoided getting wet was my camera. Most things dried out within ten minutes or so, unfortunately my phone never made it. It will occasionally light up or vibrate, but as a phone it is currently useless.

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