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Published: September 27th 2008
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Koh Nang Yuang
A little island formation on the north-west corner of Koh Tao So, another round up of many weeks into a short entry - though I am going to treat you to a couple of entries, to separate the different parts of the travels....
So what can I say about my last month and a half on Koh Tao? Not much really - I was living a day-to-day life which it's hard to round up. It's funny how quickly going diving in amazingly warm tropical water quickly becomes rote, seeing some stunning underwater life, like WHALE SHARKS! And boxfish (look them up if you can't imagine them, a small yellow cube with a pouty lips and fins). Rays, sharks, eels, a whole host of other stunningly beautiful tropical fish that would only in the divers amongst you. My friend Charlotte and I did a two-hour dive, which was no mean feat - it got pretty boring towards the end, heaven knows what we would have done without our underwater magnetic message writing devices, through which happy medium I was informed of Charlotte weeing in her wetsuit whilst I was floating next to her. Pleasant. A lot of my time was devoted to assisting on courses and finishing up my MSDT (Master Scuba
Medium Boat
Where I spent most of my time not underwater Diver Trainer - one level above your run-of-the-mill instructor) internship. I actually fully led at least 2 courses (bar the academic sessions though), and the first one of those was somewhat terrifying, entirely on my own and responsible for the correct diver training and safety of 6 people.... but we all got through it unscathed so hip hip hooray! I really enjoyed my time at Buddha View, the people were nice, the diving was stunning, the bar was convivial (yes, convivial) and comfortable. The only time that it became difficult was in the last week of August when everyone began leaving. I was caught between wanting to stay on because I'd made some friends who weren't leaving and I enjoyed the lifestyle, the beautiful island and the lovely lovely locals.... and wanting to leave with all my scores of friends who were heading off.
I eventually decided on September 7th as my leaving date and happily discovered that a few other people were leaving on the same day so I would be rolling up in Bangkok alone and scared of cities.... 3 months on a tiny island, urban environments were starting to seem like a massive behemoth!! Including, happily,
Medium Boat Bow
The metal bit is where Buddha rides... Daniella, who was keen to follow a similar route as me and so we ended up sticking together for the next couple of weeks. So it was with slightly heavier than normal (lead lined perhaps??) hearts that we set off toward Bangkok, the nearest I ever get to tearful farewells!! Bangkok - well what can you say? It's a massive, loud and vibrant city, with a different smell assailing the traveller at every turn, some nice, some pretty damn putrid!! We did visit Jim Thompson's House though. Not just some random wacky guy we met (thought there have been a few), but a collection of 5 traditional Thai wooden houses on stilts, all built together and housing a massive collection of Thai arts collected by a former CIA agent (before it was the CIA) cum explorer, who 50 years ago mysteriously went missing whilst on a trip to Malaysia - they never found his body so obviously it's a big mystery. He was also really important to the Thai silk industry, so there is a large chain of shops bearing his name selling traditional Thai silks... anyway his house was beautifully laid out and had some lovely Buddha relics and
Buddha Bar
Convivial I tell you chamberpots though they wouldn't let me look at his bathroom. :-(.
During this time, we also met up with Amaya, who, for those of you that don't know, is my next door neighbour and best friend from the age of 2 until we went our separate ways aged about 14 or so. She is getting towards the end of a RTW trip that started in S America, and she was alone for this particular part of her SE Asia jaunt, and so happily joined Daniella and I as we headed up north to Chiang Mai. Our main aim here was to go on a trek, though Chiang Mai is a beautiful little town, much more Thai and less extreme than Bangkok, and we were all pretty sad we couldn't stay a little longer, but my visa was running out. It was worth it though, our trekking trip took 3 days, and we had a lovely group. I was IMMENSELY glad that we didn't share our truck with some irritating French and Israeli guys who'd been on our bus up to CM. Our trek started with wandering round an orchid farm and a snake farm (Amaya and I couldn't quite
Ang & Yoko
Sad goodbyes stomach the snake "show"), and some lunch, followed by a brisk march up some jungly-overgrown hills for about 2 hours or so before we reached our village, which was a suitably rural looking affair, with huts made out of bamboo matting and reed roofs. Which was slightly less satisfying when the nightly downpour began around 3am.... soggy.
We were up at at 'em not-very-early the next day, and after a leisurely breakfast we continued tramping through the jungle and various villages for about 6.5 hours (including lunch and waterfall-stops!) until we reached our 2nd village, by the river. Our rooms were open to the elements, which was quite nice. You could see the hills and the river from bed! And except for the fact that Amaya got EATEN ALIVE by bedbugs, it was also fairly comfortable.... poor girl. I'm not kidding, her legs were atrocious. Learn a lesson from this - ALWAYS USE YOUR SLEEPING SACK!!
The next morning we got up, again, and had some more pancakes and honey and black Oolong tea for breakfast, lovely. At which point 3 elephants turned up and invited us to climb on their backs, so they could meander through the
bush and alternately eat our bananas and vegetation. They are made out of movable concrete, it's really weird.... our one kept blowing all over Amaya, teeheehee! After the elephants had had enough of us, or at least we got the the elephant-mustering station, we all leapt of and donned some white water rafting gear for some..... well, white water rafting, down the river, which was great. We were soaked to the bone in approximately 5.7 seconds. We also went for a bamboo raft which just involved sitting on some big bamboos lashed together, floating along at just below the water's surface, with a seasoned guide (who looked about 12) punting us along which was like nothing so much as a ride down a slightly more tropical Thames in Oxford (or the Isis, if we're going to be correct).
Thus ended our trekking trip and as we headed back to town we all agreed to meet up and sample the delights that the massive Sunday Night Market in CM had to offer, and delights they were, The thing I will probably miss most about Thailand, and SE Asia in general, is the ubiquitous night market, which offers a massive range
of immensely cheap and delicious food. I am truly addicted to them and I don't know what I'm going to do now I won't be able to PERUSE them anymore... sad.
The next morning was actually our time to leave CM, and Thailand, on a mini-bus to Chang Khong which is on the border with Laos. So after a quick breakfast and a run around the Wats (temples) of CM, before hopping on this bus with an idiot driver who delighted in going ridiculously slowly before overtaking vehicles in front, seemingly as an excuse to play "Chicken" with oncoming trucks. The concept of a steady speed was clearly alien to this man, and the whole journey was a jerky, terrifying, nauseating ride from hell. Similar to many a road journey in SE Asia, as a matter of fact. Our last night in Thailand was uneventful - we had a river right by the Mekong with our next country - Laos - just over the banks.
It was definitely weird to be heading out of Thailand, possibly never to return - I do love this country and I strongly advise anyone with an inclination to come and see it.
White water rafting
the group prepares... I really do want to come back because there's so much left to do. Like learn Thai form one, and do a cookery course, and a massage course.... more diving and trekking and generally chatting the Thais is immensely enjoyable too, they are mostly so funny and cheeky - what a country! I will miss it enormously.
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