November 12, 2003
After spending Halloween on Khao San road (No name shake and the lady with the rooms full of cats rulez!) surranded by all those partying Thais and the famous ladyboys we head to south the next day to Railey beach, Krabi.
This spot is one of the best for rock climbing and can only been entered by boat. It is not so touristy, so you meet real people here. But for me the big attraction were the caves, rocks and the tropical lagoon we discovered. In the middle of a huge limestone rock there is a tropical forest, where you have to climb up and down to get to the lagoon, which water is affected by the tide. We were virtually alone under those huge palm leaves and bigrooted trees there! (When I got there I started to sing with the echo while my friend set out to discover the other side. He soon turned back though, after nearly drowning in mud. :)
Our rock climbing (usually with a 6b+ difficulty) wasn't so successful. After about 5 bolts there was always a very difficult one. Nevertheless the sceenery with the beach underneath us was truly amazing and I really enjoyed the upzailig (?) or in other words, which I know, the going down on the ropes. Specially when it was on the other side of the hill from a cave we just passed through. :) A very quick tropical rain helped us to make the final decision and turn back. (Even the monkeys in the forest were hiding under the leaves.) Later on, when it cleared up I got a chance to try and learn how to turn the so popular pole with fires at both ends. Good fun!
On the next day we took a seakayak at noon to the small nearby Poda and Ckicken islands. It took as about half an hour and the water was crystal clear and full of fish. (Some of the fish tasted me on my ears while I was snorkeling to try if I was food. :) When my friend wanted to climb a coconut tree a local man, who spoke no English, got 2 fresh ones for us. After drinking the juice he cut it so we could get to the very soft inside. It was like butter melting! On the way back, once again we experienced tropical rain and thunderstorm on the open sea. It was amazing! Our destination disappered in a blink of an eye in grey clouds and lightening. Wind was blowing and the raindrops were unbelievably huge. I did not think before that anything like that would happen to me in real life. Nor the following:
On that day I must have adjusted my brain size to that of a ckicken bacause I forgot to use any suncream or hat as well as drink enough water. The evening result was dehydration together with a 3rd class burning on my legs, which have not seen sunshine for so many years. When I finally had something to eat it was already too late. A very nice pussycat kept coming back to my lap to comfort me and she took up all the possible poses a cat can do, maybe even more! :) but it was not enough to stop me, after my quiet dinner and one bottle of water, to lie down just to experience how it feesl to be on fire.
Fortunately, I got better so I got up before sunrise to have a very quiet walk on the beach. It was nice but not nearly as amazing as our walk back from the other beach the other night. It was just 2 days to fullmoon and we could not take the long-tail boat because the tide was so low. We had to walk. In moonlight, on sharp edgy rocks and water full of small crabs. I was the lucky one with the shoes. Unlike my friend who had none. A bit of an adventure but truly wonderful! I wish I could have taken photos or at least tell you how it looked but I think it is impossible. You have to go and see it yourselves! :)) (And taste the seafood, too. Shark is my favourite, though Barracuda and the crabs are nice, too. :)
Speaking of full moon, I was on Phi Phi island when the time for LoiKratong festival came. I saw some Thai girls making their beautifully creative birdnestlike little 'boats' and they inivited me to make one, so I did. With banana leaves, orchids, inscence and a candle. This was not the first time when I ralized how creative these people are! Amazing what they an do with simple things. And great variety, too! When we finished it was about tme to go to the sea and gently push these kratongs, whick are supposed to take away all last year's sin and sorrow to change it to good luck for the next year. (For me it somehow simbolises how the Thai people think about life.) The floating lights in full moon looked very romantic...
Between Railey and Phi Phi we visited the wonderfully clear and cold sweetwater river surranded by the tangling roots of the mangrove forest in Tha Pom. It is a fairytale place to bath in and not many tourist visit it, so the place where we had our lunch had a manu in Thai only. We closed our eyes and pointed at 2 of the meals. One of them was a green fishy thing wrapped in banana leaves. Very tasty. (The local girls bathing here had to wear shirts and trousers becouse of their muslim religion.) Since we rented a motorbike, which I had a chance to drive, too, we rode to the Buddhist temple above the Tiger Cave. We climed 1264 steep steps and 600 m elevation. While doing so (me in 30minutes!:) it got dark and there came fireflies and monkeys and a kind of bird that must have swallowed a fire alarm it sounded exactly like that and was that loud, too! (Do you know what sound the everywhere present gekkos make? Strange.)
On Phi Phi I also went for a one day snorkeling around the so famous Maya Bay and so on... I saw bright orange fan corals and so many kind of fish in all the colours possible I cannot remember. Dolphins, too!! :)) I also went diving the next day morning at 8 o' clock. I finished at 8:15 am. I got told off not to mention my low blood pressure earlier, so after the introductory tutorial I got my money back and off I went feeling a bit upset. (Never mind. I wil do the PADI course at home and come back! - I told myself.) But at least I had one more day to enjoy my upcoming birthday.
In order to celebrate, I made up my mind long ago to go to see a baby tiger that I can handle and stroke freely in Phuket zoo. So I went to Phuket town by boat and was it just coincidence that the girlfriend of the Belgian boy I was talking to on the top of the ship (the Thais are crazy about air condition, so I choose not to freeze) had her birthday the next day, too!?! Funny. I went to see Matrix 3 in the evening at the local Ocean Plaza, which was exactly like one at home, except the toilets are much more comfortable for my standard (They are squat toilets.) and before the film all Thais got up to pay honour to their king by singing their beautiful national anthem. Even the teenage boys are quite proud and serious about it!
That evening I got scared in my room at the On On Hotel because I had a dark backroom filled with strange noises from outside and the bloody scene from 'The Beach' that was filmed here stuck in my mind. (I actualy did not realize this on checking in this cheap place.) Luckily I woke up for the noise of a squirell outside my room, and off I went to the saddest zoo I have ever seen. The baby tiger in fact was 10 month old, 80 kg and were coming in a twin package. They were chained to one spot for the whole day and their skin did not look were healthy. Nevertheless, I still payed to have a picture and stay with them for a while. (Their names are Saddam and Bin Laden and my Japanese friend was here to feed them when they were baby cubs.)
I also got to play with them a little, though I was feeling sorry continously for them and the other underfed animals so desperate for food and a bit of space and love. (One of the monkey was coughing all the time!) I took acouple of photos before I had to realise that this 'super' zoo had no batteries I needed and it was in the middle of nowhere out of town, too. So, I said goodbye and stroked the head of these big cats once more.
I observed the local variety of school uniforms on the songthew (local bus: about 1/20th of a price of a tuk tuk) on my way to Kamala beach. (Some of these Thais are rather big in the belt! and many of the 12 year olds have their mobiles!) On the next day I was prctising how it feels to be a snake: I started sheding my skin, so I spent the morning peacefully peeling off the dead bits and giving a higher score to myself for the bigger i could get in one. (Disgusting? I don't think so. It is the sad reality.) While I was thus relaxing I had no idea about the adventure the rest of the day was keeping for me.
But first I have to tell you something: A few days ago I realized that a strange kind of illness started to develop in me, which symphtoms include a yearning urge to walk, climb, swim or do ANY kind of excercise! and it is getting worse each day. Plus I started to have some kind of unfamiliar bumps all over my body - I was told they are called 'muscles'. :)
After the peeling and my swim in the sea, I walked to this beautiful little bay, Laem Singh. (The taxi and the Tuk Tuk drivers always tell you there is no more bus but you should not fall to their tricks. Just chech it out a bit further.) A songtew picked me up and soon I was on the beach which is really similar to the scene of the Similan islands. And there was the object of my fun for the next half an hour: a big jetski, capable of doing 140 km/h. Of course, as some of you already know, I had to start with the maximum speed and off we flew rocking the waves! (Even though, it was my first time to try.) The rental boy, who first wanted a 1000 B for 30 min agreed to let me have it for 200 B/15 min and came with me to show a nice tiny island nearby.
When we got there and I jumped to swim underwater, he surprised me with swimming underneath me facing me. He was going to grab me but i was faster and swam away. When we got back on the jet he put his hands on my waist and as I was driving they started to wonder down. I halted so suddenly he nearly fall off and told him not to do it. He did it again and once more but by that time I got so pissed off I told myself: 'Ok. Kingu, let's show him just what is the way the cookie crambles!' and I turned the wheel so quickly right and left that he had difficulty staying on, so he had to hold the wheel as well! :)) I must say I had a hell of a good time! and the bonus for him was the nice amount of water that he got in his face. Still, wen we got off, he asked me directly for sex because the way I drove turned him on. I told him NO! and that was it. We smiled and said goodbye, fortunatelly. (Later on I looked around the beach and saw many nude and half nude tourists who must have made the wrong impression in this boy's head, who was the same age as me.)
I spent the rest of the day running from place to place to pick up my bus ticket and get to to station. After stubbornly not accepting again the tales of the taxi drivers I cought the local bus just on time after a short walk to the main road. As soon as I got on, a beautiful warm storm started to pull the crowns of the rubber plantations. I collected my ticket from a very helpful man and off I went to find my bus. Now, on the bus there was only one homeless smelling man and you could guess where he was sitting... Yes. That's right. But at least not the whole bus as in Nepal. :)
By the way, have I told you that I have long forgotten about western hygenic standards? (In fact about hyginie as it is!) Partly because you really have to try hard to keep to them in some remote places and partly because of my experiment where I discovered that my palm is not itching from prickly heat if i do not wash it. :) The same applies to eating as well. So far I have been eating ANYTHING and ANYWHERE and had no serious problem. (Fingers crossed for tomorrows Myanmar!) The best, cheapest and freshest food is at the markets which sometimes change 4 times a day trying to cater for the diferent needs of the locals. You find the most fruits and cooked meals at night, and if they do not speak English you are surely in for a surprise meal, my friend. :) (It would be too long to list all the different culinary enjoyments i had. Many of the fruits I ate, I don't even know their names in any languages. Oh, yes, the next time I see fried Scorpios, cockoroaches and worms I promised myself to try them! :)
There was a rather unplesant surprise on this 2nd class bus used by Thais mainly: the driver's wife and himself shouting woke me up and kept me awake for a long time. She was hitting him as well behind the curtains and he was just quietly saying something all the while in the 2 hours it lasted. I mean it is amazing how much the Thai woman like to control everything. I saw girls acting like teenagers and they turn out to be shop owners and a hard bargainers, too! It is not true anymore here what that very nice Sherpa family told me in Nepal: the man is the boss outside, but inside it is the man who accepts the word of his wise wife. (who is a few years older just to make sure everything is perfect :) In Thailand the boys seem to be somewhat soft and the woman are sometimes too overtly aggressive, jealous and passionate. It does not mean that everybody is like that, but that is my impression so far (also from the tv films).
I just want to ask you one more thing before saying goodbye for now. Do you know the kind of feeling when you believe yourself of capable of doing ANYTHING? That is how I felt yesterday. Being exactly just where I wanted it to be.At the very place.
The bus. (Just joking :)
Tomorrow I fly to Burma, whish me good luck and the same to you all!
Love:
Tiglis
PS: Thank you for the sweet 29 birthday wishes! :))