Siamese Dream
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Published: June 15th 2017
In The Shade At Maya Bay
I always like shade at the beach and some of the shade at Maya Bay is wonderfully and uniquely provided by a limestone overhang.I said that I'd do nothing and that was exactly what I did. The intestinal infection I picked up in Myanmar ensured I wasn't able to do much anyway. I was only meant to stay in Kuala Lumpur for a month but ended up staying about five weeks thanks to the stubbornness and persistence of whatever I picked up. The resulting dietary restrictions in a food paradise such as Malaysia however is just torture, especially when staying with relatives who never let you go hungry and are enthusiastic about bringing you everything that's worth eating in this country. And for this outstanding hospitality, I really do have to give massive thanks to my Aunty Josephine and my Uncle Wooi Ping for looking after me. A break from travelling, blogging and fending for myself after eighteen months on the road was much needed and it was amazing to have my own room and no pressure to do anything but piss around reading the paper and watching silly YouTube videos for a while.
It wasn't just my aunt and uncle that I was catching up with however; I had several more aunts, uncles and cousins to catch up with as well as
Bamboo Island
Deserted island that we stopped off at during our tour to Maya Bay from Koh Phi Phi. my own mother. Though it was awesome to catch up with so many people, I wouldn't say that my five weeks in KL were all fun and games - my recovery from illness was a slow one and it kept messing up my schedule. My wait for full health was a bit like Waiting For Godot. The frustrating wait did allow me to fall into a comfort zone however so when it came to leaving, I didn't really feel like I wanted to - I could perhaps have done with one more week to fully recover and recharge my batteries. In the end, I was well enough to travel and it suited everyone for me to leave when I did and so I found myself on my way back to Thailand.
Rather than leaving with my batteries fully charged however, I still left under a cloud of fatigue; I thought hard in KL about what I was going to do once this journey has finished and the idea of having my own place and going back to work had more appeal than trudging on through Asia for another six months. But in the end I knew that I might
Maya Bay
Spectacular beach where "The Beach" was filmed starring Leonardo Di Caprio. not have this opportunity again and that I wasn't getting any younger - I had to go on. Hopefully, once I am back in the travelling groove rather than being in a state of sickness and heat induced lethargy, I will start enjoying myself again.
It is probably a sign of my age, current health and fatigue however, that I was far more excited about getting to the culture of China and Japan than I was about the beaches and parties awaiting me on Thailand's southern islands. Who would've thought? But before getting to North East Asia, I had to get through South East Asia first.
I didn't pick the easiest journey to get back into the swing of things. I was trying to get to the island of Koh Muk in Thailand's south and this involved a five and a half hour train ride from KL to the border, another hour's train from the border to the southern Thai hub of Hat Yai, a two hour bus from Hat Yai to Trang, and then some sort of water transport over to Koh Muk after an over night stay in Trang.
Malaysia really is one of the richer countries
Haad Yao
Beach just next to where I was staying on Koh Phangan. in South East Asia and the train from KL to the border showed as much. It was brand-new, fast and even came with movies to watch. Tired from an early start, I would've easily slept the whole journey if the train's air conditioning hadn't made it feel as if I was inside a refrigerator.
Rather than walking across a land border this time, it was much easier to wait around a couple of hours in the train station for the next train to Hat Yai. Known as where Malaysian men go for prostitutes, you can imagine the kind of a place Hat Yai is; so perhaps it was no surprise that I got a little ripped off for my motorbike taxi to the bus station and for my minivan to Trang. As for Trang itself, it seemed pretty non-descript; merely a launchpad to the islands just off the coast of it. It was very local though; there were hardly any signs in English.
When it comes to Thai islands, Koh Muk probably isn't the first one to come to mind but for me that was kind-of why l decided to come here. I wanted to go off the radar
How The Islanders Live
These are the rather sad conditions that the islanders live in on Koh Muk. a little to try and find a lost paradise and indeed I wouldn't even have heard of Koh Muk myself had I not stumbled across an article in The Guardian about the island and the ones around it in the Trang Archipelago under the headline: "The world's best hidden beaches."
Getting out there took a little longer than expected though; an hour by mini-van from Trang to a pier, before a half-hour cruise in a wooden tugboat of suspect seaworthiness.
Unlike what I have heard of other Thai islands, development on Koh Muk has yet to completely take over and while walking across the island, you walk through all the local villages that still go about their traditional daily lives, like they've always done. Like
Ihla Grande, there are only motorbikes in the island - taxis are simply motorbikes with a sidecar - and just as well, as the roads are not much wider than a driveway. Everyone is friendly and laid back and no-one is pestering you to buy anything. It is all part of the island's charm and is a real find for those wanting to experience a relaxing Thai island holiday away from the crowds. The local life
Trang Archipalego
Less frequented group of islands off the city of Trang, a couple of hours south of Krabi. doesn't look great though, if I'm honest; wooden shacks are built on stilts and puddles of water and trash abounds all over the grounds of every village. There is no other word to describe it; these people are living in squalor. Plastic bottles line the shores. With supplies coming onto the island from mainland, there doesn't seem to an efficient programme that takes the resultant trash back off it, in what seems a sad and filthy state of affairs.
I hadn't really thought about when the rainy season would be in the various countries I was visiting in Southeast Asia but it varies so much across a fairly small area that it was impossible to visit every place at the right time. Not that travelling off-season is necessarily a bad thing - you will often get cheaper rates - but for Koh Muk, it was a very bad thing. Often you might get away with some decent weather when travelling in the off-season but for the four nights I spent on Koh Muk, rainy season meant rainy season, as it rained cats and frogs (who made an absolute cacophony every night) for just about my entire stay. I didn't
Haad Farang
Beach nearest to where I was staying on Koh Muk. even get the chance to visit the island's most famous sight, the Emerald Cave, a pitch black tunnel that leads to a
cenote of sorts, with its own secret beach. Normally you could hire a kayak for 100B (£2.50) an hour and paddle to and through the cave but the constant storms and rough conditions made this impossible. Low season also means that most tours and transport services are not operating and that there was no-one around to split any costs with. In the end it was academic; despite organising an expensive 1,000B boat to take me to the cave as well as to another secret, boat-access-only beach, the rain pummelled down, the thunder crashed and the lightning flashed just minutes before each departure, ensuring I never made it out. So the one good thing to come out of my four days on Koh Muk was the saving of some dosh.
It was nice having a cheap bungalow to myself for four nights, but low season meant that there was hardly anyone around. So there are no two ways about it - my time in Koh Muk was wretched and trapped indoors by the weather and with no-one interesting to
Ao Kham
About as close as Koh Muk gets to a 'developed' beach. talk to, it was the most boring four days of the entire trip. I usually don't mind downtime as it gives me time to catch up my blog - but I had just had five weeks of downtime and believe it or not, my blog was completely up to date! Just as well there was passable wifi available or else I would have had literally nothing to do.
As for the beaches on Koh Muk, they were as perhaps you would expect, decent. Haad Farang has picturesque limestone karsts, jungle-backed shade and non-intrusive development. Ao Kham has development that resembles a super-peaceful Playa Del Carmen with squeaky-white sand I haven't experienced since I was in Ihla Grande and a narrow beach with coconut trees which evokes the beaches on the islands off
Bocas Del Toro. Alas, the only decent time I got on either of them over the entire four days was one hour lying in a hammock on Ao Kham that I wasn't meant to be lying in, listening to some tunes. It was the best hour of my four days on Koh Muk. I didn't even go for a single swim. During the dry season with dry sand, blue
Fire Show
In the front row, I was a little too close to the fire for comfort during this fire show in Ao Nang. skies and clear turquoise water not made murky by storms, Koh Muk, I imagine, would be absolutely amazing.
Moving back onto the mainland to Krabi - more specifically, the beach town of Ao Nang - my luck didn't really change much. This was thanks to yet more rain - and something else that I hadn't done for weeks; booze.
You don't always hit it off with your dorm mates but in Catalan Francesc, English Dan and German Lucas, I found some friends with common ground since we were all travelling alone on long trips. Having not really socialised with anyone for weeks, I was more than happy to talk to people again and with my gut pretty much now 100%!h(MISSING)ealthy, I was willing to test it out by getting back on the booze. Two fun nights of solid drinking saw me encounter many keen local girls in the clubs, catch Manchester United's Europa League win over Ajax - important, happy and poignant given the tragic terrorist attack in Manchester just a couple of days earlier - and learn
">a popular local reggae song that will always stay with the four of us.
But in the same way the rain and wind had cancelled boats out to Railay Beach for me for
a couple of days, my reunion with hangovers also saw me lose time. Not that hanging out in Ao Nang was a problem - my hostel was great and I had people to hang with and Ao Nang has all the tourist conveniences one could possibly need, from hostels and tour agencies to 7-Elevens and cheap eats. Tourist Central it may be but after India and Myanmar, sometimes it's nice.
I did eventually make it to Railay Beach, which was one of the main reasons I had decided to stay in Krabi. On the mainland but only accessible by boat, Railay is famed for its limestone cliffs and indeed there were climbers going at it right next to the Princess Cave, one of Railay's big draws. And boy did it draw - the place was ram-packed with tourists, mainly of the packaged Chinese and Indian variety who had all pulled in on large speedboats.
It was trying to escape the crowd which led me to take on what was one of the more dangerous hikes I have undertaken. While I hadn't planned on doing any climbing, I ended up doing some anyway. Instructed by Lonely Planet to look for a
"Crude Path"
This is what I had to climb to get to the lookout and the lagoon; slippery and muddy after days of rain. This cliff was only about 10% of the whole adventure. "crude path" that leads to a lookout and a lagoon, I missed it completely because it wasn't actually a path but a wall - complete with a rope to help you get up. With the rain-soaked rocks and mud making the wall treacherously slippery, most tourists heeded the advice of the sign in front of the 'path' and opted not to do something that was "not recommended". Not me. It wasn't the first and it won't be the last stupid thing that I will do. Going ultra-slow and being ultra-cautious with every foothold and making sure I was at least holding the rope or a rock with at least one of my hands, it was anything but easy but it was do-able. Once at the top, the view was good but perhaps not "killer" as described by the LP. I then had to negotiate an extremely slippery slope down to the lagoon, which was really cool. The lagoon was at the bottom of a huge crater, the water coloured a milky aquamarine. The lagoon resembled the
cenotes that I had encountered
in Mexico last year. The whole adventure reminded me of the climb I did up
La Fortuna in Costa Rica last year which also had a crater lake
Lagoon, Railay
This is the cool lagoon that I ventured to in Railay. at the end of it. As if things weren't challenging enough, it then started to bucket down with rain, adding waterfalls to the slippery rocks, sludgy mud and filthy puddles that I already had to deal with barefooted. Much to my relief, I made it and I can't believe that people were still allowed to actually go up there - it would have been so easy to slip and fall to a painful death.
I spent the rest of the afternoon chilling on Ton Sai Beach whose collection of ramshackle huts and dreadlocked hippies made the closest thing to "The Beach" I have seen since arriving in Thailand. Despite being on the mainland, the fact it is only accessible by boat gives Railay an island feel. Arriving at high tide when the water was lapping at the beachfront restaurants, I couldn't quite believe how much the tide went out at low tide, revealing about 70 metres of beach and giving the place a completely different look. All in all it was a satisfying day and I'm glad I stayed a little longer to make sure I could visit Railay.
I also joined a tour that went to James Bond
James Bond Island
This standalone rock in Phang Nga Bay was where Scaramanga's hideout was located in the 1974 Bond flick, The Man With The Golden Gun. Island - an iconic standalone limestone rock used as Scaramanga's hideout in the 1974 Bond flick The Man With The Golden Gun. Incidentally, Roger Moore played the world's most famous spy in that film and he sadly passed away just a few days before I paid homage to Moore's second outing as Bond. I didn't really enjoy the tour too much; I was quite tired throughout it and I had a group of seven loud and annoying Indian tourists in my van. Included as part of the tour was the sad, ridiculous sight of tens of colourful, poncho-covered tourists in canoes floating around in a small cove near James Bond Island. You didn't even get to paddle the boat yourself - you were just sitting on a boat in the rain getting pushed around by a uniformed local. It looked utterly miserable. I declined paying extra for the experience. We also stopped at yet another waterfall, which have been ruined for me, having seen
this one and
these ones. Of interest however, was the Monkey Cave we stopped at as part of the tour which was impressively large and had cool rock formations within. Also within was a large reclining Buddha and
Streets Of Koh Phi Phi
Although heavily developed, I liked how compact the main town is on Koh Phi Phi. several images which along with the monkeys, made it similar in feel to Kuala Lumpur's Batu Caves (the only difference being that Batu Caves is a Hindu shrine rather than a Buddhist one). For lunch we stopped at Koh Panyee, a literal floating Muslim village built on stilts next to another huge rock. Phang Nga Bay is riddled with all of these limestone rocks, forming a very unique looking archipelago which was lovely to sail through on our long tail boat.
Having seen one noted film site, I was now off to see another with a visit to Koh Phi Phi. Koh Phi Phi is perhaps he total opposite to Koh Muk; the isthmus in the middle of the island is a loud, concrete, pedestrianised town full of bars, restaurants, guesthouses and tattoo parlours. Every tourist convenience is catered for and things are made even more convenient by how compact the whole island is, making everything walkable. Interestingly, the island is also full of stray cats; a cat-lover's paradise.
Much of Phi Phi's recent popularity has been due to the filming of Leonardo Di Caprio vehicle The Beach here. The beach that the film centres around is Maya Bay,
Emerald Waters
Beautifully calm and coloured water in an inlet on Koh Phi Phi Lee. a short boat trip away on Koh Phi Phi Lee. Myself and a few others from the hostel ended up watching the movie over dinner, as the place we ate at just happened to be showing it. It got me quite excited about heading over to the secret paradise the next day.
While the rain seemed to have followed me from Koh Muk, to Ao Nang and now to Phi Phi, it fortunately didn't put too much of a dampener on the boat tour, even if a heavy downpour just before we got going was ominous.
Our first stop was on Bamboo Island, an uninhabited island with aquamarine water and wonderful white sand; it very much reminded me of one of the islands I visited in similar fashion off the coast of Bocas Del Toro.
Next, we snorkelled in a bay off Phi Phi as the rain pummelled down - I don't mind getting wet if I'm wet already - where I saw some white, yellow and purple striped fish in the clearest water I had seen in Thailand so far. The snorkelling however has nothing on
Roatan Island or
Belize.
It was then off to Koh Phi Phi Lee
Adventure To Maya Bay
Just like in the movie, it was a bit of an adventure getting to Maya Bay. We had to swim twenty metres in rough waters to get to this rope ladder, after which we still had a short walk to get to the beach itself. where our first stop was the spectacular Philay Bay, which was an inlet with still, emerald water surrounded by looming limestone cliffs.
Our last stop was The Beach itself; Maya Bay. In order to preserve the cleanliness of the bay, very few boats are allowed to drop tourists off in the bay itself; which was why we had a twenty-meter swim in rough waters from our boat to a rope ladder which then took you via a five minute walk, to The Beach. My first reaction was "shit, do we have to swim?", which was swiftly followed by "awesome, we have to swim!"
I then had a dilemma however; how to get my camera to the beach. I did have a waterproof dry bag with me but it wasn't mine and I wasn't sure if it was 100% waterproof. It should be, so I decided to take a big risk and put my DSLR in the dry bag and take it with me into the water. I figured that the camera is getting old and that I had got it for free; and that I still had an iPhone to take photos should the worst happen. Despite being fully submerged
Me At Maya Bay
Probably one of my favourite beaches in the world. in the water, the dry bag worked exactly as it should've; I only took it with me on the hostel owner's suggestion and it proved to be an amazing call. And just as well I had my camera as the bay was absolutely beautiful. The bay was loomed over my imposing limestone cliffs while the beach was just like in the movie with its light swimming-pool blue water and perfect soft white sand. Shade was provided by the jungle behind it as well as from overhanging limestone cliffs. The whole sight was spectacular, better than I had expected - and a serious contender for my favourite beach in the world. Seriously. My camera served another purpose; the recreating of a jumping photo resembling the one taken of the crew on The Beach. I'll even email it to everybody afterwards! The places we went on the tour were all good - good enough for me to forgive the disorganisation, long waiting times, lack of communication and the dodgy boat engine of the tour itself.
There is plenty of nightlife in Phi Phi including beach parties reminiscent of the ones in
Goa. There was also a bar with a boxing ring
Beach Party, Ko Phi Phi
Revellers letting their hair down at a beach party on Kho Phi Phi. in it which gave a free bucket to any pair of patrons willing to go toe-to-toe against each other for three thirty-second rounds of furious
muay thai. We saw two pairs of lads go quite hard at each other as well as a pair of female fighters. If you're wondering why people would do something so crazy for just a bucket, anyone who has been to Thailand will know that a bucket contains ice and a combination of mixers, along with an entire bottle of liquor. Cheap and potent. I shared one with my American boys Jeremy and Julian from the hostel - naturally, we downed it in one.
On my last two days, the weather finally played ball and on my last day in particular, the sun came out and allowed me to enjoy a gorgeous day on a gorgeous beach; Phi Phi's best one, Long Beach. Hanging out with me were British couple Liz and Jake, as well Dutch girl Eva, a friend I made that I got on so well with, she made me prolong my stay on Phi Phi by an extra day.
Koh Phangan is most famous for its parties; in particular, those
Shenanigans On Koh Phangan
The bar at my resort was rather lively most nights. of the full moon variety. Tired from my time on Phi Phi however, I wasn't feeling too enthusiastic about more drinking.
Party I did, however.
I was staying at a place recommended by Eva called the Shiralea Backpackers' Resort, a complex of bungalows and dorms at crazy cheap prices that was held together by a bar/restaurant, a swimming pool and good times. I knew that in between Full Moon Parties and being in low season that things might be quiet, so I thought it'd be better to be somewhere comfortable and relaxing (with a pool) - like a resort - if things were going to be quiet. But apart from one night, there was always something going on (beer pong) at the resort and I enjoyed two big nights on the booze including my last one which saw me have to get up at 5.30am to catch my ferry off the island the next morning. Ouch. Some things never change. Nights involving midnight swims are usually pretty wild and that last night was no exception!
As for the island itself, it is much more spread out than Koh Phi Phi or Koh Muk and a scooter really is a necessity.
"Secret Beach"
Neither Haad Yao nor Haad Son - "Secret Beach" - were particularly good for swimming as the water was too shallow, too warm and too rocky. The resort was right next to Haad Yao Beach whose beachfront cafes, bars and restaurants reminded me of Goa and
Gokarna a bit but it wasn't the greatest beach in terms of chilling out at; the water was too warm and shallow, the sand too flat and hard, there were quite a few rocks on the shore and there was little shade. The nearby (Not-So-) Secret Beach was more attractive and had more shade but was little better. The only other part of the island I visited was Ko Ma, a small island connected to the main island by a sand bar which was cool to see from 360 Bar, a bar atop a hill which like the name suggests, gives some pretty good unobstructed views. Shame the sunset was ruined by clouds.
I was a bit nervous about riding a scooter across the island having not ridden a petrol powered one before, given my only similar experience riding an electric one
wasn't exactly plain sailing. My fears were academic in the end as my last day in the islands were very fittingly, like my first; a complete washout. This meant I didn't even get to see Haad Rin, the most concentrated part
Beach Life
Our tour group recreate a photo taken of the crew in the film "The Beach". of the island where all the Full Moon action takes place. Nevertheless there is more to the island than just the Full Moon Parties and apparently there are some beautiful beaches on the difficult-to-access east coast - so perhaps I might return one day.
For now, my time in the islands are over and it was nice to get back into the backpacker groove and to meet some cool, fun people. Of the places I visited, I would say Koh Phi Phi was my favourite with Railay coming in second in the beauty stakes. Weather and low season ruined charming Koh Muk for me while a lack of transport and weather again put a literal dampener on Koh Phangan.
Having just found my backpacker mojo however, I'm now putting it away again as I avoid the legendary Khao San Road in favour of a more sedate and civilised Bangkokian experience ahead. I'm meeting my Mum again in Bangkok, meaning no ping pong shows and getting sloshed - a very different experience to what I would have undertaken if I was going alone!
แล้วเจอกันใหม่ (leaw-jor-kan-mai),
Derek
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