Advertisement
Published: September 26th 2005
Edit Blog Post
Beautiful Beach
What could be better than lying on the beach? Lying on the beach while getting a Thai massage. Contrast Thailand seems to entertain a sort of dualism. On the one hand, it is a tropical paradise, teeming with exotic fruits, friendly people, and more beauty than one thought possible. On the other, it contains one of the world’s most populous cities, chalked full of smog, traffic jams, and scam artists. Despite being polar opposites, Thailand is both options.
On our last journey Thailand was really only the first description. We stayed in the city only one night and were mesmerized by the newness of everything. We left early the next morning and never had a chance to acquaint ourselves with this metropolis. Instead we stayed on white sandy beaches with warm turquoise water and locals who had smiles permanently affixed to their faces. The only indication that there was another side to Thailand came from our few days in Pataya, a city where foreigners tended to migrate. We blamed more western behavior in Pataya to the high concentration of foreigners and the city’s infamy as a hot spot for sex tourism.
Our second journey, however, is providing a little perspective.
At the current moment we are staying with our Thai friends in Bang Na, a suburb
Palm tree
This was my view during my Thai massage. Life is rough. of Bangkok. Bangkok is an enormous city which sprawls for more than 560 square km and has more than 6 million people. Much like Bangkok, Bang Na is constantly in motion. Cars race by, street vendors push their carts, motorcycles weave in and out of rush hour traffic. Somehow, it works.
Bangkok, and Bang Na for that matter, are not the Thailand that you see in travel brochures. They are dirty, smoggy and noisy. There are no beaches or bikinis or white people in lawn chairs sipping on Mai Thais. There is instead a hot sweaty city overflowing with people and vitality. Empty lots with trash strewn about sit next to large apartment complexes and small businesses. It is both energizing and draining.
The city is intimidating. It is full of signs we can’t read and people we can’t communicate with. Unlike us, it never sleeps. After 4 days there we were tired and ready to get reacquainted with the Thailand we fell in love with on our last trip.
Suthep, likely sensing that we needed a break, had arranged for us to go to Ko Samet for a few days. His sister owns a nice little resort
Michelle of the deep
Why, no. That's not the Lockness monster, its Michelle. on the beach and he arranged for us to stay there at a reasonable rate. As Suthep drove us out of Bangkok toward the Eastern seaboard I immediately started to relax. Seeing the beautiful countryside instantly began melting away the stress which I had accumulated in the city. The three hour car ride was a pleasant one and I remained fixed to the window watching as the palm trees and fruit stands passed by.
As we approached the port Suthep pointed to the island 6km offshore. We were headed to an island with no cars, no smog, no Bangkok. We boarded a moderately sized boat and slowly motored towards Ko Samet. The boat moved slowly giving us plenty of time to enjoy the view as we rolled over large waves.
We arrived on the island after about a half hour boat ride. The island was a little bit touristy, but hugely beautiful. We headed to our lodgings with his sister and her friend taxiing our bags in their tuk-tuk while we strolled down the islands only road. Our room was located on the second floor of a beachfront resort and was quite nice. Immediately to the left of
Stormy rock
I woke up at 5am that day. There isn't much to do at 5am, so I took a picture of this rock. I was also bitten by about 40 sand fleas while taking pictures on the beach that morning. That's what I get for waking up early. our room is a little elevated courtyard with a garden and an amusing lawn furniture set.
We got situated and headed to the beach for a little recreation. Emily and Michelle went for a swim while I received an hour long Thai massage on the beach. Thai massage seems to be a blend of Swedish massage, Shiatsu massage, assisted stretching and a little bit of chiropractics thrown in the mix. It felt wonderful. All the knots and tension left over from the long flight and week in Bangkok were rubbed, pulled, chopped and kneaded out of my body as I watched the beautiful sunset. After Em and Michelle were finished with their swim they came over to enjoy a Thai massage as well.
We were once again enjoying the tropical fantasy of Thailand. The busy and loud reality of Bangkok seemed thousands of miles away and we were happy to leave it there for the moment. The contrast provided by the two versions of Thailand only served to make this leisure time more rewarding. For now, our reality was comfortable.
Note: My computer was destroyed by the airport baggage Smashers. It arrived in numerous pieces with the waves
In Bang Na I saw a Farang with a Flock of Seaguls cut and one guy with the meanest looking curly haired Skullet I've ever seen. All there is in Ko Samet is beautiful beaches and waves. If I grew a mullet this place might have everything. C drive erased. I’m not sure what you have to do to a computer that is packed into a padded box to tear the hard drive cage from the chasey, break the face plates off the cd burners, and bend connectors on the motherboard, but they managed. So Michelle has been kind enough to let me load Photoshop elements (my Photoshop CD was left back in MN, Doh!!!) onto her machine. When I return to Bang Na I will head back to the airport and try to file a claim with United. That promises to be a pain in the ass. Anyhow, if the images have weird color casts it may be due to the fact that this monitor is not color calibrated. So the images may look a little strange until I get things figured out. I also have images of Bang Na that would have made sense to include with this entry but I left them back at Suthep’s; so I will import them next time.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.072s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 7; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0283s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb
Albert
non-member comment
smash'd
Glad to hear beach = win, but sad to hear computer = b0rked. If you need software and you can figure out what I need to do to get it to you, I'd be more than glad to send some CDs your way.