Have you ever spent three days travelling across the country cause you couldn't quite find the vibe you were after? Well I have. I got back from the awesome Queen Scuba liveaboard and had to stay once again in Phuket. Fortunately, this time, I was accompanied by 2 Swedes who had done the liveaboard with me; mother and daughter, journalist and photographer respectively. It was motivating to see an older woman of 50 or so hit the water with excitement and ease like the rest of us. She turned out to be a seasoned traveller with many tales to tell, themore recent of how she lived through the news of the Tsunami. Her other daughter who works aboard the Queen Scuba was in Phuket at the time. Thankfully nothing happened to her. It is incredible to see how many islands and areas, like Khao Lak, from where the Queen Scuba departs, have managed to rebuild in a matter of months, despite terrible water damage, boats being found inland more than 400metres from shore, not to mention the people who disappeared. Then you hear incredible stories from people like Vic, one of the divemasters on the Queen Scuba, who was at sea but far enough from Phuket that he and the rest of the crew did not feel a thing!
So, my newly found Swedish friends and I, after a 4 hour minibus ride, managed to find a really nice Trattoria where I ate my all time favourite linguine alle vongole (pasta with clams) ... cooked with olive oil! (Please...can I just say how much I have missed olive oil?) My plan was to head to Koh Lanta further south on the Andaman Coast, but I was told I would have to spend the night in Koh Phi Phi ( where they filmed some scenes of "The Beach"... oh shucks!). Phi Phi was seriously hit by the Tsunami. Rumour has it that rebuilding is paralised because the large hotel chains wanting a piece of the action are at odds with the locals who lost their resorts (and who have no papers to claim their land ownership). Well, I was headed there to contribute to local economy AND.... it was probably not going to be as touristy and built up as before, which I secretly looked forward to. The pier hasn't been fully rebuilt which makes for a rather wet and wild disembarkement. "Amazing Thailand"...indeed it is; 1 Km before docking on the pier, another boat knocks on our side, diesel exhaust and all, throws a rope, and lets travellers and locals on my boat jump over mid water...rucksacks and all! Guess where that boat was headed? Koh Lanta! Oh well, I figured, since I was in Phi Phi, I may as well stay the night. The island was packed out...so I had no option but to check into one of the last bamboo huts around; another dingy affair with beach...and garbage container view!Other amenities: no shower head, brown water, and of course, resident roach...yeah the thumb size ones. You know, I never get around to taking a picture of them, but I swear, travelling is not just white sandy beaches. I get the shivers. I decide I am going to sleep on a hammock I've spotted between a couple of palms only minutes from my doorstep. There I head, with a book, a blanket and the key to my room. I'm all set and ready. The lights go out, nobody seems to mind me being there so I rock myself to sleep with water lapping at my feet....but only for an hour. The rope of the hammock was digging into my butt and it was starting to get too chilly even for the blanket I had brought. I decided to face the roach, shoe in hand, and hope for the best. When I got back, he/she was gone. So I took the mosquito net and tucked it tight under the mattress.
I was glad to see sunrise.... and find that the roach had not returned. I think they just like to come out at dusk and scare the living daylight outta me! Anyway, my Swedish friends, an Ozzie couple and I rent a longtail and head for THE BEACH. Despite the boats full of tourists & snorkellers, the place is stunning. There is only that one beach / lagoon on the island and sunbathing, snorkelling or a short walk to the nearby "nature toilets" is the activity seton this beautiful national park. The detour was well worth it.
I took off that same afternoon, lest I be forced to endure another roach approach. I got on that same boat that only 1 day before I had seen taking tourists on mid-water. I sat on the upper deck and listened to my iPod. Yeah, you know, there is not one traveller these days that hasn't got a mobile phone, an iPod, an internet e-mail account and money for a decent...or in my case, not so decent, bed in a bamboo hut. The days of travel according to my 50 year old Swedish friend, or even my brother for that matter, seem long gone. But modern comforts have their advantages...and if not, what are you all doing reading this blog!? The clouds approached and before I knew it, I was drenched, along with another 12 people, in a rather enjoyable and adventurous mid sea storm.
I knew about an hour after arriving that Koh Lanta just wasn't for me. Oh dear! It seemed to cater to families and couples looking to deposit their bags and not move from the four walls of their resort in a fortnight! The island was very big and you needed wheels to get around. The diving was prohibitively expensive. After weighing out the options, I followed my heart and decided I would leave the following morning, endure another 24 hours of travel on ferries and minibuses just to cross to Thailand's other coast and return to Coral Grand and the Sairee Beach sunsets! So after I bought my tickets at the hotel desk, dodged all manner of looks and enquiries as to the nature of my sudden departure, and approached my bamboo hut...surprise surprise! It's a family of roaches this time! I counted 6 in total in a 45 minute span. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! And this place was A LOT CLEANER! There were no vacancies, there was some repellent but this was a stilted hut after all....what's the point! I tried everything! I was assured I would be safe inside the mosquito net. This time, I could not seek solace in a hammock. Boy was I happy to wake up the following morning (How I slept, I don't know) and begin my journey. I was even looking forward to that night ferry again!
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