The Thai Experience

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Just walked in the door. Slumped in the door is more like it. I always get that feeling of disassociation when I return home from a trip. But coming home to Korea has that extra oomph of oddity. I feel like I am sitting in a stranger's room. Maybe I am a stranger to the person that was here before December 22nd.....at least, I hope that is partially true. The past few months in Korea warped me more than I thought. And I am grateful a little sand and sun and fun puts things back into perspective.

I was a little saddened by the fact that I wasn't going to experience a Korean Christmas with people I now know and love in a place that I now feel is familiar, almost home-ish (hardy har har). And so many things were going on in my little brain before vacation that I felt like it was a bonus I would get a tan for Christmas break, and go back under the ocean, and that was about as far as I had thought. The best part about approaching a holiday with no expectations is that it has nothing to live up to. And when it has nothing to live up to, and everything seems to work out as perfectly as it did, it is almost hard to bear the ecstacy of it all.

We flew into Bangkok, and then Koh Samui, as a big group, which was fabulous. I spent the hours on the plane listening to the boys go on and on (I should say listening to Charlie) about intentions for the trip that I will not mention, keeping in mind they were spending two days in Bangkok. OK, you have to talk about it. And you have to talk big, afterall, you're going to Thailand.

The Samui airport was ridiculous. It is a little island shack, Eden-esk in its flowers and garden pools and fountains and bar stools (what's the first things you want to do when you smell that sweet tropical air? a bevie). But we parted ways and set off on our own little threesome adventure. I think all of us had at least a small amount of apprehension about travelling with the three of us girls, one with a broken arm. But as it turned out, along with everything else, it was perfect. Catherine, cast in tow, had easily the most amazing attitude possible for a human being in a hot beautiful place with beautiful water (both outside and inside the pools) and hot beautiful men (her with a loving hubby at home and two single girls being...single) and sand in every crack and crevous, including that damn cast. She smiled the whole damn time, never complained once, and felt horrible if, god forbid, she had to ask us to put sunscreen on her back (um, Catherine, EVERYONE needs help with that).

We had nowhere to stay the first night before we caught the ferry, and we got in in the dark. I didn't want any cabbies trying to take advantage of us after the Manila airport incident, so I picked a random hotel that looked close to the pier and relatively easy to find other accomodations elsewhere if we couldn't get in, and off we went to the Mae Nam Beach resort. Um, I'm pretty sure the gods stepped in on that one, because this place was cheap, GORGEOUS, with a little patio, a secluded white sand beach, a giant bed, and one kick ass Pad Thai. It was the perfect was to start the trip, with the waves crashing on the sand outside our windows and butterflies in the flowers outside our door in our garden. Yay for us for finding that one.

But so much more awaited us. Koh Phangan was an island I didn't want to miss, not after everything you hear. I knew fully that, after my contract, I would spend a few months throughout Malaysia and Indonesia and Thailand, but I couldn't wait for the Full Moon Party beach experience. Granted we weren't there for a full moon, I still wanted to see it. And see it we did. Our hotel, after we got over the bad first impression (it was supposed to be a quiet spa on the quiet end of the beach, and upon arrival at 1 in the afternoon they were blaring hardcore techno at the pool...this was a freak incident), ended up being perfect. It was away from the insanity that is Haad Rin, had beautiful sunsets, a brilliant banquet dinner on Christmas Eve, and a kick ass pool. Not to mention the wonderful facial I got one hungover afternoon. Man did I need that.

Christmas Eve was our first night of three. I was feeling really weirded out, and I needed to interect with other people that were away from home, and ok with it. After dinner we wandered to the Same Same bar up the road, where a live band was playing and things were "happening". Didn't take long before Catherine's cast brough strangers full of questions and conversation to us. But a particular group of 8 blokes from Brighton stuck to us like glue and, in the end, made our three days in Koh Phangan a completely wonderful escapade. They were awesome...reminded me that there are actually boys out there that treat girls with respect. And they were some of the funnest people to party with I have ever met. Needless to say a lot of the three days was in a haze, but a delightful one. It was heartbreaking to leave....really....but diving had to be done.

So off to Koh Tao we went, after tears on the pier ( and, I think, a spotting of a fellow Okotokian as we were driving to the dock). Koh Tao was a world of its own, much more similar to a Borocay vibe. Pillows on the beach, fire pits, mellow fire dancers, and people just chilling out in general. It is a divers island, but people go there to get away from the bustle of Haad Rin and detoxify. That's exactly what I did. Unfortunately, the five dive Advanced course I was all set to do ended after two (tragically, right before my night dive ) because the cold I have been harboring kept me from equalizing my ears on the second dive. As a result, I dove for 45 minutes with my ears drums screaming at me to go to the surface, and they refused to pop, or to ease up on the agonizing pain. Alas, I spent the next day working on my tan. Not really a problem; the viz was shite and after 6 days of having the time of my life with those girls I didn't want to miss out on our last full day together. In the end, it all worked out the way it was meant to.

We almost had an incident in the morning at the Lomprayah ticket booth. The system they have on the island to book ferry tickets is completely ludicrous. They sell tickets at travel agencies and front desks all over the island, but they just write you up a ticket by hand and send you on your way. HOWEVER, due to the fact that they do not enter this into a computer system, they have no idea at Lomprayah how many tickets are booked. So the ferry in the morning was totally overbooked, due to the fact that New Year's and the Full Moon party were just around the corner, and there was a whole slough of people freaking out about getting where they needed to go on an island that does not have an airport (or any other means of getting off, besides a good long swim). However, after getting shoved aside from the booth for no apparent reason while the rest of the line moved through and got their appropriate tickets, we told them about our flight later that day out of Samui and they let us on. Katie had to wake me up, sweating it out a little, to ask for some gravol. Not the most pleasant of seas to sail in....good thing I took a pill or two ahead of time. They came through the cabin with barf bags about 2 minutes in, and I promptly passed out, thankfully.

We had one last genuine Pad Thai and spicy seafood salad at a little hole in the wall outside the Samui airport, hopped over to the Bangkok airport for an afternoon of pedicures and ice cream, and eventually found the rest of our Kid's College crew. Reality sunk it...this is not reality. Though, in truth, the world would be a much happier place if it were. Never been so hard to leave a vacation.....ever. Lessons were learned though, and hopefully those lessons transfer into the New Year...in Korea.....and I make it through alright. Only one more year and I can say arrivaderci to this place and live on a island, hopefully forever (don't worry guys, I'll come home for Christmas....though Christmas in Koh Phangan ain't so bad......)

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Photos

Lost in Translation
Korean airport, subway sandwiches has a little misspelling

A goodbye, morning drink
It's five o'clock somewhere

On the plane
Aaron passed out, Charlie...being Charlie

At our random resort
Mae Nam beach resort...close your eyes and point at a map and everything works out

At our random resort
In the morning, overlooking the water from our restaurant

The promised land
Koh Phangan

The lobby
Christmas at the resort

The town
Haad Rin town