Travelogue Three: The B's of Paradis
April 15th, 2003
Sawat dee ka!
I know it's been a while, but hey, we've been lounging in paradise for the past few weeks on an island called Ko Phan Gan (ko means island in Thai). It's absolutely beautiful! Clear blue water, fine sand beaches, stunning coral, hammocks on the deck and a fine bungalow right on the beach for only 200B a day- which is about $7 Canadian.
The train ride down here was fantastic; it was like riding a gentle lullaby with the windows open and the sun setting on small towns that we passed. Since it was an overnight train all the seats were turned into beds with fresh crisp linen and big comfy pillows. It sure beat what they consider a mattress at the D&D in Bangkok! After arriving two and a half hours late in the port town of Surat Thani we took a 20 min bus ride to the ferry and clambered aboard alongside heaps of other backpackers. We were lucky enough to meet Coconut a young Thai who helps run his family's bungalows called Haad Khom.
Haad Khom is up on the north side of the island far from the craziness of Haad Rin where the full moon party is happening tomorrow. Anywhere from 7-10 000 people descend on this town to get totally sideways on red bull and hallucinogens dancing under the moon to thumping sound systems- we've decided to skip it. It's far to idyllic and quiet where we are.
We did however check out Haad Rin last week, which brings me to the first danger of paradise, BIKES. Andrew and I rented a little moped (and they tried to call it a motorbike) and headed into town with our fantastic new Australian friend David. The roads were unbelievably scary, particularly on the back! The hills dove straight down at 30degrees or more for several hundred feet only to dip in a mess of broken concrete and dive back up again at a severe curve. I can't imagine what it was like before it was paved. Going down the brakes hardly worked and going up we never had enough juice so I had to walk up most of the hills from the midpoint. Total insanity with pickups flying by loaded with backpackers and other mopeds passing in the wrong lane. Guess that's what you get for leaving the hammock...
Should've learned, but no, BAKING ON BOULDERS would be the near end of us the next time as we thought we'd take a supposedly one hour hike to the next bay and Bottle Beach. Three and a half hours later we made it to the beach. I of course had worn the wrong shoes, we didn't have enough water and ended up popping out of the trees at the tip of the bay on this large granite rocks that were searing hot. My feet fried like eggs when I took my shoes off to get a better grip. After an hour on the rocks I just couldn't go any further and Andrew was getting heat stroke. I joke with the boys that I'm not going on any more adventures with them since it's terrorizing, but at least it's a good story, particularly when you have to get 'rescued' by a longboat off the rocks and pay just as much to go a couple more minutes down the coast as you would've coming directly from the hostel!
Next is BUGS. Andrew is suffering immensely. Mosquito bites, sand fly bites, fleabites and the bugs that fly up the nose. He told me to let you know that he reckons if you added a few more fingers to your hand, a couple of marbles as eyes and a set of nasty pinchers, then lopped it off at the wrist and stuck it to a wall you might get an idea of the spiders we've seen. Hiking the other day at a waterfall- Nam Tok Phaeng I noticed something drop from a tree almost on his head. When I checked the forest floor it was a tarantula with a body the size of a 50cent coin! But the lizards are just as impressive so we figure that there is a good balance.
Our last B of paradise if of course the phenomenon of being BAIT. Lucky we haven't met with any nasty triggerfish (they apparently ram divers in the head occasionally rendering them unconscious), but we do occasionally feel attacked by a sensation of pins and needles when snorkeling. The first person that can do research and tell us what it is that we encounter in the water (and it's not jelly fish) will get a CD mailed to them (yes it's a contest!!). We notice that the cloudier the water is the worse the prickles are. No marks are left on our skin, but it feels fierce! So search it out, we're really curious to find out what it getting us- could just be coral spooge, or anemone goo, but we're not sure.
Anyways, I must run off to the chemist. A couple of the girls at the hostel are suffering from belly cramps. Andrew and I have both had one night of tummy sickness, but it seems to have passed and I sure as heck it doesn't hit again- not pleasant to feel as if you're in a ball one minute then ready to explode the next! but hey that's a risk when you're eating from a kitchen with no screens and only coolers to keep things chilled. We'll be in Ko Phan Gan til the 27th, then off to Ko Tao to do some diving and to meet up with Kelly and Jason. Susan is living it up in Vietnam after several weeks in Laos. She actually ran into Baby G on the street in Vientiane the other day! Aubrey and Lara are due today. Feel free to send any good books along with Jason as I'm feeling the literary crunch since mostly all you can find is Danielle Steele and John Grisham. Hope all of you are well. We send lots of sunshiny love and hope that some of you can join us here on Ko Phan Gan for a 2 week holiday next xmas- new years... We can take over the bungalows at Haad Khom. Let us know if you're interested and we'll start planning!
big smooches,
*steph* and *andrew*
