Paradise Found?

---

Geo: 7.8242, 98.2977

Sometimes the best travel moments involve the people you meet, and it's those interactions, despite all the bad that has transpired the past few days in Southern Thailand, that leave us with fond memories of our time here. As easy as it is to focus on the negative in life, at times it's even more difficult to look for the positives, and barely thirty minutes after being mugged in Phuket Town, we experienced a great example of human kindness and compassion back at our hotel.

Obviously shocked after our experience, our emotions quickly turned to completing logical tasks, figuring out what had to be done next - canceling the cell phone, credit cards, ATM cards, etc. Normally these would be very simple tasks, but weren't so easy in Thailand - the phone in our hotel room couldn't make international calls, and my cell phone would've been prohibitively expensive, even if it had been configured for international calls.

Knowing our troubles, Jayson, a young worker at the hotel, offered to let us use his cell phone and his calling card credits to make our required calls, no questions asked. It may not seem like a big deal, but keep in mind that he's a young guy from the Philippines, who had just moved to Phuket a few weeks prior, to take a job working at a hotel - chances are, he needed those cell phone credits more than we did.

But it wasn't so much the act of lending us his cell phone, it was the fact that it took a hell of a long time for us to make all our calls, especially because we ended up using all his credits and I had to run out on two separate occasions to go buy more calling cards. We figure that the guy stayed an hour past the end of his shift, unpaid, just so that we could keep using his phone. As his battery power dwindled, he also offered to run home to get his charger for us, at nearly midnight.

When a person is genuinely kind and good, it's blatantly obvious, and Jayson was very concerned with our situation and wanted to help more, even though there was absolutely nothing more that he could've done for us. Just before Jayson went home, he told us that he would speak to his roommate, who also worked at the hotel and would be there for the morning shift the day after, and that if we needed anything, to speak to her and she would help in any way she could.

With an early flight to Singapore tomorrow, we made our way back to the mainland, but this time bypassing Phuket Town altogether and landed in probably the best place we could've - Kata Beach. While Kata does have some of the overdeveloped feel of Ko Phi Phi, it's less so, allowing a better appreciation of the beauty that lies beneath. But again, perhaps the highlight of Kata wasn't necessarily anything to do with the beach or anything touristy, it was the people you come across.

A couple of expats, Phil and Jo, own the guesthouse we stayed at, and there's nothing like a warm welcome to make you forget about any previous trials and tribulations - these guys were awesome, right on down to their workers. Phil had genuine sympathy for our situation when he found out about the mugging and food poisoning, and even offered to lend us some money! It doesn't get any better than that, and they were the ultimate hosts, offering up all manner of sightseeing and restaurant tips, and even asking if we wanted a quick tour of the area.

So this was it for our time in Thailand - what had started out so beautifully in Chiang Mai quickly descended to the lowest of the lows, but things have definitely looked up for us in Kata. It's easy to say that we would never come back to Thailand because of what happened, but that's really not true - I'm a firm believer in not blaming the greater whole for the sins of the tiny minority. The bottom line is that Thai people are amazing, and some of the loveliest people you'll find anywhere in the World.

No matter what happened after Chiang Mai, it doesn't change the fact that it is an amazing city that we loved, and we definitely wish that we had spent more time in the north. Coming back to Thailand just to explore more of that area would totally be worthwhile, and will one day be in the cards. As far as the south goes ... well, we wouldn't rule that out, either - while we may have no desire to return to Ko Phi Phi or Phuket, perhaps there are some other islands and beach towns that would be more to our tastes. I just don't think we would go out of our way to come back, but if we happened to be in the vicinity, it could happen.

For all the ups and downs in Thailand, we've ended our time here on a high, with a small measure of redemption. It's been far from perfect in Southern Thailand, but finally, on our last day, maybe we managed to find just a little bit of paradise ...

---

Photos

Skin-Deep Beauty ...
... there's no denying that Kata Beach is beautiful, but perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the beach is that as soon as you step off of it, you realize that while beautiful at first glance, you soon come across what is wrong with this part of Thailand ...

Nasty ...
... this canal was an absolute cesspool, filled with sludge and oil from a nearby pumping station, and reeked of raw sewage. This picture doesn't even begin to show how disgusting this pool was, but still try and contrast this with the photo above - whatever sludge and slime is here has to eventually make its way down to lovely Kata Beach.

Good Riddance ...
... bye bye to Ko Phi Phi - while most that visit probably don't want to leave, we couldn't wait to get the hell out of there.

Dragonfruit ...
... beyond it's exotic appearance, it's not the most exciting of fruits - typically bland and flavourless.

The Mighy Mango ...
... there have been a few misses with mangoes so far in Thailand, but when it's on, IT IS ON!!! We've had some phenomenal mangoes, and that makes us want to come back one day just to try them during their high season - apparently, the taste of the mangoes at that time would blow away anything we've had so far.

Scary-Looking Rambutans ...
... don't be put off by their appearance of hairy balls, as they are very similar in texture and taste to lychee and longan. This was my first time having them and I wasn't overly-impressed, preferring the aforementioned lychee or longan - chances are these are infinitely better during the peak season.

Mangosteen ...
... disappointing, once again - all the more reason to come back to Thailand one day, but during the right season for some fantastic fruit.

Dumpy But Delicious ...
... of course, it's only dumpy by First World standards, but there's no denying the awesomeness that is the Pad Thai Shop. Packed with locals, save for one other tourist couple, this joint came highly recommended by our super cool guesthouse owner, Phil.

House Specialty ...
... pad thai is the main dish on offer here, and both our dishes were nearly identical, with the one exception being the type of noodle chosen - one dish had some killer fat noodles that are similar to Chinese chow fun, wonderfully chewy, and the other some more traditional thinner noodles. Phil also recommended that we try the chicken soup, but two things conspired against deciding to sample it - it was simply too hot for soup, and since it comes from a vat that simmers all day long, we opted for something that was made to order.

Chicken Satay ...
... who knows how authentic this dish may be, but it's been a guaranteed hit during our time in Thailand. Super juicy and delicious - but even though it was good, we still pined for the perfect peanut sauce dished up at Lemongrass in Chiang Mai.

Same Same, But Different ...
... we had a suspicion that Cafe Opera wouldn't be the most authentic Thai food in town since it served a menu that was 50/50 Thai and international, but it did come highly recommended by Jo at the guesthouse. Truth be told, both of our main courses were good and well-prepared, though they very similar to each other, and seemed to be sanitized versions of Thai cuisine prepared for the tourist masses. However, we would still heartily recommend the place, as we enjoyed both the food and atmosphere, and it was exactly what we were looking for tonight - impeccable hygiene, and a great vibe with the mostly expat/tourist crowd, and a pretty damn good live band.

Pretty Similar to the Previous Dish ...
... but instead of beef, it was served with shrimp. The highlight of either dish was the vegetables, especially the super crisp and delicious green beans.

Banana Spring Rolls ...
... obviously not very traditional, but again, we weren't necessarily looking for super-traditional Thai food tonight. Not bad, though a bit too greasy for somebody still getting over food poisoning.

World's Fanciest Gas Station Bathroom ...
... looks more like it's from a tropical boutique hotel, than Shell.