Hi Everyone,
Just thought I would fill you in on my latest travels. The last several weeks I have been in Kho Phan Ngan, an island on the gulf (east) side of Thailand. I traveled down with a friend of some friends from the US that I ran into in Bangkok.
Amnon and I took the night bus from Bangkok and ferry from Surat Thani. The bus made a stop in the night at an inflated priced food stand... a typical ruse to make up for cheaper bus tickets. The ferry ride was beautiful over turquoise waters and sights of islands. Kho Pha Ngan is mainly a tourist island. Not much local culture there... probably a few fishing villages were all that was there before tourism hit. Now the beautiful beaches are covered in tourist bungalows. Many of the beaches can only be reached by longtail boat. We stayed at Had Thian, one of the more remote beaches which was very quiet. A resort called Sanctuary was there which was kind of a new age California like vegetarian resort with spa services like Thai massage, facials, a fasting program, colon hydrotherapy, etc. A few other bungalow operations were there also. A good place to relax and do little. Though snorkeling and diving trips were possible along with sea kayaking and just swimming in the shallow waters.
I found it a bit boring, though I enjoyed a few swim, and met some nice people. Saw a couple of good movies (One Giant Leap, and Dances of Ecstasy, on the weekly movie nights) Amnon left to go home to Israel and I hooked up with a English/Aussie couple, Tom and Emma, who were interested in coming to Nahkon Si Tammarat. We went to another beach on the north side of the island where there was a small town. It was funny as we first went to Bottle beach which was supposed to be the second busiest on the island. We hired a boat for the 45 minute ride. As we pulled up to bottle beach, we found a deserted beach with a few bungalow operations. We were all a bit disappointed. We checked it out and decided to head elsewhere. Our boat had left, so we took a boat taxi to the nearest travel juncture, which was Ao Thong Nai Pan Yai... that turned out to be a small village and so we stayed there. I found a nice family run bungalow operation where the family seemed caring rather than money grubbing, like some of the more resort like operations feel.
It was exciting in that there was a little bit of a village. The place is growing fast... with lots of new construction of bars and resorts. I stayed in a musty bamboo hut with a fan and light... actually I slept in my hammock on the porch for 150 baht/night ($4.70). On the nearby penninsula lay a resort with swimming pool and artificial water fall and air conditioning. I would guess it cost $100/night. Emma and I took a walk away from the beach and found a bar which was to open that night. It was a huge 2 story glass and concrete industrial design, with patio and ponds... something that could be in Bangkok or New York. It wasn't even completely finished. across the dusty dirt road was a row of tarp houses, probably for the construction crew. About as drastic a culture shock and juxtapostion as I could imagine. I felt good about my bungalow and the family running it... like I was living more like them, rather than just coming and partying and not experiencing local culture.
Two nights there, then we took the night ferry to Surat Thani. The good news was the ferry had sleeping berths for the 10pm-5am ride... the bad news was they were narrow mats right next to each other on the floor. It was actually reasonably good sleeping. They had the tourists on one side and the locals on the other so people would worry so much about being ripped off.
We got off the boat at Surat Thani at 5am and were greeted by taxi touts... 10 baht to the bus station for a bus to Nakhon Si Thammarat they said. It sounded a bit cheap. We took a mini van taxi ride to the "bus station" along with maybe 6-8 others... we pulled up to a street side storefront with a travel counter on one side and a bunch of chairs in the street and food stand on the other side. The bus ticket was quoted at 256 baht... our guide book said 70 baht, and though guidebooks are never completely up to date, we realized it was likely a scam. In fact, Tom read the section on Bus Scams where a high priced ticket is sold and you end up on a local bus or minivan. We looked up the bus station on the map and it didn't match where we were, and so we escaped to there and found a bus for 70 baht.
We arrived groggily at Nakhon Si Thamarrat yesterday morning at about 9 am. Tom and Emma booked their bus ticket for Bangkok for the evening bus. They fly to England in a couple of days. We walked around the sweltering heat and I got a room and dropped off my bags. We then were looking for a place to breakfast and ran into a local boy who'd befriended Tom on the bus. He cutely practiced his English and helped us order some local dishes at a restaurant. He was an obviously gay student about to enter college. Smart and obviously clued into the world culture. His English was rough, though far better than our Thai. We tried to ask him what he liked to eat or what was a good local breakfast, and I'm not sure he ever really understood... at first he thought we wanted to buy him breakfast and he politely refused, embarrassed a bit (plus he'd just eaten).
Khao Yam is a rice salad... rice and dried spices and chilies mixed together. Then some meat curries. It was nice to get off the island of Kho Pha Ngan where everything is 2- 3 times as expensive due to shipping costs and just due to tourists. There a meal cost 60-100 baht (2-3 $). Here you can eat for half that. I released alot of tension as my budget of 10$/day was impossible to meet on the island.
Our Thai friend left us to eat. We roamed the city taking advantage of sangthaews (pickup truck taxis which roam up and down the streets like mini buses picking up and discharging passengers along the way). They cost 10 baht. It felt like culture shock going from the quiet tourist island where we were removed from car traffic, to being in a typical Asian city full of polluting cars, and also where tourist were the exception. I felt many stares at us.
We visited the local shadow puppet master's home and workshop. A beautiful old wooden home, with a workspace under the stilts. It was a wood structure, more substantial than the bamboo huts of the islands. The shadow puppets are made of goat or cow hide and intricately cut and painted... some are translucent and their color shows through during the show. There was a display of puppets hundreds of years old. We enjoyed a private show. Complete with sound effects and gongs. It was in Thai. Some sort of love story, then a joker/devil and god involved. We laughed when a cell phone appeared as well as an airplane and motorcycle. The storyline was obviously tradition Thai, yet made current.
We stopped by the Gov't Tourish Office where I tried to get information on the nearby park where there is a 1785 meter moutain. They told me about a 3 day tour lead by villagers who live there. But it was out of my budget unless I could come up with a group to distribute costs. I tried to find out if I could just go and hike around for a day, but the communication was just not good enough. Today I went a inquired about village homestays I read about in the brochure. They had no openings, but a lady working at the Tourist office invited me to her home where her mother teaches English. There is a waterfall nearby. So I am off on that adventure this evening. Hopefully it is not a date! Nor a scam. She says it is free (the regular homestay has a per meal and per night cost). I will stay a night or two depending on how it goes. Then I will go to Malaysia on a visa run (U.S. citizens get a free 30 day visa upon arrival, and can "renew" it by crossing a border and re-entering).
Back to yesterday. Tom and Emma and I then ate at a busy street vendor. Typical of Thailand, many street and alleys have vendors who have a cart with cooking apparatus, and often tables set up around them. I was dismayed to find out that most of the food carts are owned by entrepreneurs (I could apparently buy one and rent it out) and rented to the operator/cook... I thought each one was a family-owned business. We ate a new to me dish... noodles and sauce... then each table is adorned with pots of toppings which were various pickled vegetables as near as I could tell. Boiled eggs were available too. And cut up raw green beans, cucumbers, etc. It was good. And I think cost 20 baht (70cents) for a semi-all you can eat meal (all the toppings were self serve).
After that we roamed around the streets sweltering in the heat. Tom and Emma were going to do some shopping, but by the time they got to an ATM, were tired of shopping. We had ice cream and fried bannanas. It was a posh place and air conditioned and still prices were only 30-40 baht per meal... half even the cheapest place on the touristy island. There was ice cream purported to be from San Francisco, though I didn't recognize the brand.
Tom and Emma had some beef noodle soup at a street stand to fill up before there 6pm bus. They parted. I was sad to be alone, especially in this very untouristed town. I went back to my huge, dingy room. Only 140 baht with attached bath. I showered and felt better after the sweltering heat. I ventured out for dinner. Everything except street stands seemed to be closed by 7:30pm. It didn't feel like a good place to explore. I felt very conspicuous. So I ate, and retired and caught up on my sleep. I had hoped to meet some backpackers to explore the nearby park and mountain with... or at least who might have some information. But there were none.
I expect to spend a night or two at the village, then to Hat Yai and Malaysia for a visa run. Then to Krabi to check out the rock climbing there. I have until 17 May when I depart from Bangkok to Calcutta, India.
So that's my latest report!
Write when you can as I enjoy hearing from you!
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