Leaving the islands-back to the mainland

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So my last night in Phuket consisted of a lot of unnecessary drinking and nonstop dancing. We had been invited to Clublime-a Swiss-owned foreigners club. It was 800baht for 1hr buffet, and 2hrs of open bar! Followed by free shots all night after 11pm. We: Iva, Denis, and myself, did our fair share of drinking at the club before a large group of us moved onward to Bangla Road, to the Tiger Club. Now for those who have never been to Phuket, Bangla Road is the main nightlife road-full of Thai hookers, ladyboys, and a bunch of old white men trying to act as though they are still in their prime youth(being ‘escorted’ by young Thai girls). Another popular happening-Ping Pong shows-this isn’t the kind of ping pong we typically play-I’ll just tell you this, it consists of Thai women on a stage with ping pong balls, amongst other things, coming out of…well you can probably figure it out. Oh and one thing I forgot to mention in previous entries is that the massages that are being offered day and night-almost always give an option for a “happy ending”. Indeed…Soooo back on track….we went to Tiger Club and I danced the night away into the early morning. We crashed around 4am, and I had a minibus coming to pick me up for Koh Phangan around 7:30am…ahhh why I do this to myself I am uncertain! In all honesty though, I had hoped this would be the case, because I knew the trip was going to be long, and after a night out I knew I would sleep most of the way. This is exactly what happened. After a hard night of drinking and dancing in Phuket, the ride seemed short and harmless. I arrived in Koh Phangan…and well it’s fantabulous! I fell in love almost immediately. I arrived just before sunset settled into my own little bungalow (which feels somewhat like a little studio apartment now), and made it to the beach just in time to watch the sun slip into the waves. Ahhh what a warm welcoming! I decided perhaps some dinner would be a good idea, due to the day long travel cross country, I hadn’t really given myself time to eat much of anything. Rainbow Bungalows, located right on Baan Kai beach, was fully equipped to satisfy my appetite, with a beautiful open air restaurant area, extensive menu, and fantastic view of the water. The owners, Noy and Martin, were great hosts. Martin is an Aussie native and Noy is Thai. They married and have been in Koh Phangan for about 20 years I believe. They have an energetic son, and her mother and father live with them as well. They are all beautiful people, and I truly enjoyed staying with them. I had only intended on staying one night but stayed seven. It was in a great location, about halfway between the two “big” towns-Haad Rin and Thong Sala. Not only that but it was quiet and I was able to relax. The first night was very low key; I just ate, took a shower, and decided to crash. The next day I was up and out the door to rent a moped across the way, and explore the new island. After filling the tank for 120baht (a little over $3), I was off. I went toward Thong Sala. I drove about the town a bit before taking a random turn onto a “country” road. I drove a couple km before seeing a sign for “waterfall”. That’s all it said, it didn’t say which one or how far, just “waterfall”. Sounded good to me! So I turned and ended up at some recreational park, with hiking trails to several different areas. I headed for the waterfall. When I reached the place where the waterfall was, I was sad to find only a little trickle of water making its way down the rocks. I sat down trying to decide what to do, when a nice gentleman came strolling by. He asked if I was lost, and I said no, I was just looking for the waterfall. He told me there was another one just up the trail, but it too only had a trickle. He said it was a nice stroll though, and there was a good viewpoint not far from there. I decided to hike on, why not, it’s not like I had plans for anything! I reached the top and the view was indeed fantastic. I sat on the large rocks overlooking the island, and the surrounding waters, and smiled to myself. That is one hard thing about travelling alone-you see these amazing things, but have no one to share them, no one to turn to and say “wow, isn’t this gorgeous?” Still, I took it all in, and thought to myself how grand it was that I was there, on my own, in an amazing and beautiful place. I felt proud of myself in a way…I was there, in an unknown place, discovering new things for myself, something that will now be a part of me forever. Ahhh enough with the dramatics…so I left and took some “wrong” turns trying to get back to Thong Sala. I ended up going over a mountain to the north part of the island. It was a nice cruise, but I eventually made it back to a place I recognized. By this time it was still only noon! I made a pit stop at my bungalow to change into my swimsuit and head for Haad Rin. This is the big foreigner beach…the place where the infamous Full Moon Party takes place. I would say unfortunately I missed it, but to be honest I felt fortunate. It sounds a little out of control, with a whole lot of idiots running around high on drugs or too drunk to function. They litter the beach, pee in the water, and make fools of themselves. Ok so maybe it would be interesting to experience at least one time in my life, but I wasn’t too disappointed this trip! Anyway, I travelled the winding road from Ban Kai to Haad Rin, parked my moped, and walked to the beach. It was full of half naked bodies of all races, shapes, and sizes. I slipped of my flip flops and stepped down onto the sand. It was so hot from the midday sun that it was almost like walking on coals. After hopping online for a bit, I desperately needed to use the bathroom. I know you could care less about reading about my bathroom needs, but I mentioned it for the sole purpose of pointing out that the toilet was on the ground, and you have to put on foot on each side and squat down-NOT COOL! Haha Then to flush you must fill a bowl with water and dump it into the toilet. Oh and some don’t have toilet paper, only a little hose to spray yourself off…ewww. Luckily this one did have TP, but you can’t flush it, it must go in the waste basket. So complicated! So the next time you step into the bathroom, be grateful you have a regular toilet, toilet paper, and a handle to flush it all down!!!!!!! :D So after my bathroom adventure I went to lie out on the beach. I was sure to put on plenty of sunblock after my incident in Phuket! I went back to my bungalow early evening and discovered a huge nasty spider on the floor! I didn't scream, yet, I just stopped dead and stared. It was huge! Ewww. I didn't want to even attempt to step on it in my flip flops, so I decided to grab one of my shoes to hit it with. When I tried to hit it, it ran away behind one of the beds,and I screamed a little and jumped around a bit. So I started tearing the room apart-quite a scene I'm sure-and he was tucked in a corner. I wasn't going to get stuck in a small corner between the bed and him, so I decided to throw one of my other shoes at it. It then made its way up the wall a little. Finally I got a good angle and smashed the bugger. Poor thing didn't stand a chance. After that I shut all the windows and checker the entire room for any other creepy crawlers! Luckily, there were none. That night I decided to check out the nightlife of Haad Rin. I made my way to the beach around 9:30pm, bought a bucket, not a glass, of vodka red bull lime, and sat on the grass mats to watch the fire twirlers. I eventually walked up the beach to the Drop In Bar (the original Full Moon Party bar), where I asked a young woman if she was alone. She answered yes, so I asked to join her. We sat, talked, and watched the fire twirlers. After a bit the party started to liven up and they pulled out the fire rope. The object is to jump rope over this flaming rope. Hell yes I was down to try it out! I did trip on the way out, but check out the video, not bad after a little to drink! Haha I also participated in a game of musical chairs, and I won! The prize-another bucket! AHHHH!!! The night turned into a lot of dancing as usual, but eventually, when I danced off the booze enough to drive, I hopped on the moped and made my way ‘home’. The next day I headed for Thong Sala again to do some gift shopping. While browsing the shops I ran into one of the Thai women I met the night before, while playing musical chairs. She and I were the final two! I chatted with her, and noticed all her sweet piercings. I had been considering some new ones myself, so I asked where she did hers. She pointed me across the way to her friend’s shop to look at some metal, and told me should could do them. She said she could do them for 300baht/piercing and I was planning on 6; one in the nose, two on each lobe, and one on the inner ear. I only had 1000baht with me, but she agreed to include all the jewelry and do the piercings. She didn’t have the needle to do the inner ear, but she pierced the other 5. So it was about $30 for 5 piercings! Not bad! Later in the day I went to the mountains again. I was in search of another waterfall, hopefully with some water falling! Along the way I saw a sign for a place called Chai High ‘Treat’ Shop-hmmm interesting, so I figured I’d check it out, and ask how far to the waterfall. I was kindly greeted by Joe (his English name, not sure what his Thai name was). He was working on bending some wood, and building something for the garden area. He welcomed me to look inside at some of the good the sold. There were bottles of oils, some bags, and dried herbs everywhere. He said his wife knew more about the oils, so I could stop by after visiting the waterfall, because she should return by then. I made my way toward the waterfall. The road was HORRIBLE!!! I even tipped the moped while trying to climb one hill. I’m a true trooper though, and I wasn’t going to turn back! I fought the bike on the middle of a steep washed out dirt road in flip flops! I made it to the top! I knew that all the hills I travelled over would have to be travelled upon again, but I was going to get to the waterfall! I followed the road to the end! I arrived at what I believe was the waterfall, still not sure because that is the thing about the island, it will give you one or two signs pointing you in the right direction, but then you’re on your own. So there wasn’t a sign saying this is the such and such waterfall, and again there was nothing but a trickle. It was an accomplishment getting there nonetheless, so I sat on the rock ledge, looking down at the water in the distance, the green hills/mountains all around, and listened as the water trickled down the rocks. I stopped at the Chai High ‘Treat’ shop, and she still hadn’t returned, so I said I’d try again tomorrow afternoon. That night I visited with Noy. I watched her cook, and we talked about many different things; work, family, life-the usual. She was preparing food for Temple the next day, so she explained to me the traditions and practices that she and her family followed. Such things as, the parents living with the daughter, and how parents usually support the children financially all the way through college! Most never have to work, do laundry, cook, or anything of the like! She said she didn’t really agree with that, and that she didn’t want her son to grow up that way. After talking for a couple hours, and eating some delicious food, I decided I would go to check out this Shiva Moon Party in the jungle. It was 300baht to get in, and that included one drink. I arrived and it was dead. (Everyone came later, or so the workers claimed.) It was a really neat set up, with a psychedelic theme, black lights lighting up different designs all around, and a neat terrain, with stumps and plants popping up all over the place. After maybe 20min I was approached by the drug dealers-“you want pill”. Oh joy-I continued to tell them no, but they were very persistent “I give you pill for 500baht, 3 pill for 1000baht, no problem.” I was growing tired of the haggling, and after a while I started to haggle back. They say “you want pill?” I say “for free”. They didn’t like that much. I finished my one drink, chatted with an Italian guy I had met earlier at the Chai place, and met a Finnish guy. I decided to buy a vodka bucket, and the Finnish guy and I sat and chatted a bit. The drug dealers came up once more, “Last chance, you want pill? We go to Haad Rin.” I said, “No money, for free?” haha They left. I told the Finnish guy that if the drug dealers are leaving, chances are no one is coming, and it was already midnight, so I suggested Haad Rin. We snuck out through the field so I could take my bucket, and went to Haad Rin. I took him to the Drop In bar. Throughout the night we got separated, but he was close to his hostel, and I figured he could find his way back. I danced the night away again, and headed ‘home’ around 3am. The next day I went to visit a beach on the northeast side of the island that Noy suggested (the place I stayed was in the southwest part of the island). This was perfect because the road went right by the Chai place, so I decided I would stop on my way back. It was quite a drive to get to the beach, and the roads were so so (not as bad as the waterfall, but not good either). The beach was almost completely empty though. I spent most of the time sitting in the warm shallow water, watching the fish swim around me. After what seemed only an hour, if that, I heard thunder in the distance, and a black cloud looked as though it was creeping my way! Oh no! I knew if those roads were wet and muddy I’d never make it back, so I gathered my things and headed back. I stopped at the Chai shop, and luckily the lady was there this time. I was greeted with a nice warm cup of homemade chai tea, before heading inside to talk about the oils. She gave me a couple books to look through, and directed me to the loft area to sit in peace and look through them. After an essential oil lesson, she and I started to play around a bit with all the different scents. We probably did this for an hour, before concocting three different oils for me to take home. The night turned out to be low key, went to Haad Rin, met a girl from Israel, we chilled a bit, but the beach was dead, so we called it a night. The following day was another beach day. That night I went to eat some sushi…yay! It was fairly good, but the rice wasn’t cooked right, still better than the sushi in Seoul. Then went to this place called The Lazyhouse, where they were playing “The Dark Knight”. I laid there, had a chocolate coconut milkshake, and watched the movie, it was still early, and the parties weren’t hopping yet. I ended up making my way to Coral Bungalows for the pool party. The night started slow as usual, but I was the first up on the dance floor, and before long the place was rockin. One of the workers came to me and said if I would get up on the stage/tables grouped together, then I would get a free bucket. Ok! I didn’t mind dancing. I was given a free bucket and I danced into the morning once again. The next day was all a build up to the Black Moon Party (in my mind). I did, however, set up a dentist appointment for the morning. Noy had recommended her dentist, and for a check up and cleaning it was only 700baht-about $20. Not bad! Other than that I just laid on the beach, listening to music, and reading. The Black Moon Party was supposed to be a big party. There are 4 “big” parties that happen every month: Full Moon, Half Moon, Black Moon, and Half Moon. I wasn’t feeling all that great after dinner, so I took a shower and laid down for a power nap (a common occurrence for me here on the island). This party was only a couple beaches down from where I was-not over in Haad Rin, where most parties are. I could hear the thumping from the music while lying in my bungalow. I waited until about 10:30pm or 11pm before going-the parties always start to liven up a bit later anyway. When I arrived I wasn’t feeling it. It was another psychedelic party, everyone was painted in black light paint, and the music was ALL trance…playing some trance is ok for me…but not only trance. I sat on the beach for a bit. Eventually I made my way to dance, but grew tired of the cruddy music, grabbed my shoes, and headed back to my bungalow. The only excitement of the night-the gecko in the bathroom, trying to get into the garbage, and when I went to use the toilet he scurried under my foot-felt really weird and almost made me jump off the toilet. haha Anyway, I leave for the city tomorrow around 1pm on a speed ferry, then transfer to a bus, and arrive in Bangkok around 1am! Woo hooo!

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Photos

Roots
Along the hike-I thought these looked really neat.

The Mutt
My little beach friend

The "Waterfall"
It may have only been a trickle, but it was still fabulous!

Chai High
The little house in the jungle is the Chai High 'Treat' Shop

The Oils
This is where the creations came to life!