Bali.

A surfer's paradise, world-class scuba diving. the honey-moon spot of the world, the "cancun" of the east. Bali is just about all that you can, and can't imagine at the same time, and I was only able to get a quick 7 day taste of the unforgettable island. That being said, we tried to pack it all in and get as much out of Bali as we could with our time there. And even though i'm happy with all that we did and saw, the island is already calling me back to try out all the things I missed.

It's been super busy with exams and lots of things going on in Bangkok, so I kind of lost track of the blog for a while, but just wanted to write about Bali and my overall experience here before going home. So, back to Bali: I flew AirAsia with my friend Antoine from California- a quick and easy 5 hour flight from bangkok to bali. The tickets are usually expensive, but every once in a while airasia will post these ridiculously cheap deals on their website, and we caught it at the right time and got a great price.

When we arrived, we had no set plans, but knew we wanted to atleast surf and scuba dive before heading home. We ended up heading from the airport to a town called Kuta, which is the main tourist spot on the island and the most developed. Bali is one of the thousands of islands in Indonesia, and is  not too big. It takes only 3 or so hours to get around the entire place, but the vibe from place to place across the island is completely different. Mostly down in the southern part of the island is where the best surfing is located and where alot of the development and hotels are located. As you head further up into the center, rice terraces and valcanoes dot the land, a truly incredible site. Life is alot quiter and relaxing on the east,west, and inside of the island.

On our first day in Kuta, we arrived late in the afternoon  and after finding a guest house, we headed straight to the beach for some surfing. The prices in Bali were a bit more expensive than some other places in Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia that i've been too, but $10 a night for a room with a  pool and a 2 minute walk to the beach is still pretty amazing. The roads here are very small, with lots of street stalls and restauraunts. The beach was crowded, but still nice. But what caught our attention was the waves. We rented boards and headed out to perfect, glassy, head-high  beach breaks and surfed until sunset. One of the things I really enjoyed about the beach was how many people came out to watch the sunset everynight. I honestly saw some of the best sunsets i've ever seen in my whole life night after night after night. Lots of locals come out with their families and just play on the beach as the sun sets over the blue ocean. There's always a group or two sitting in the sand, playing guitar and singing, and just enoying the warm lifestyle of the island.

The nightlife in Kuta can best be described as Cancun of the east. I was really surprised and had no idea that the place was going to be so crazy. It was almost entirely australians that we met out at the bars and clubs- I guess they had finished their year at university and many come to bali to celebrate afterwards. We had a blast and enjoyed the night, but knew that we wanted to find out alot about Bali than Kuta beach.

The following day we got up early and rented motorbikes for the day. There's tons of surf shops around and you can just rent a board for the day, strap it onto the side of your motorbike, and head to one of the many beaches spread out across the southern coast. We ended up hanging out at one of the shops with the owner for an hour or so, and he gave us tips and advice on where we should go for the next few days. I couldn't get over how friendly all of the Balinese people had been- just so down to earth, outgoing, and laid back. Life would be real nice here. So we strapped on the boards and headed further south by motobike for about 40 minutes to a famous beach called Dreamland. This in my opinion was much better than Kuta. Not very crowded, and the waves were breaking further off shore with less surfers. We spent pretty much all day surfing, we just couldn't get enough of it. I really can't stress enough how perfect these waves and the rides were. This beach had a pretty slow break that would take you about 100 yards down the coast of the beach until finally dying out.

We left Dreamland with enough time before sunset to head to Uluwatu, the southern most tip of Bali. Uluwatu is famous for its surfing and has some of the biggest waves on the island, sometimes reaching over 40 feet! This is a reef break with really shallow waters, so you've got to know what you're doing or it's game over. No, I didn't surf. But.. the beach is surrounded by massive cliffs and you can sit up at a restauraunt overlooking the beach and waves and watch for a long time. We wanted to stay there for the sunset, but had heard that the temple just on the other side of the bay was the place to go. So, we quickly hopped back on the bikes and drove 10 minutes to this temple to make it just in time. The temple was set up high on the cliffs, and had been overtaken by monkeys. Antoine actually lost his hat because a little baby monkey came up when he wasn't looking and snatched it from his head. I guess they're famous for stealing cameras and other shiny things, but luckily nothing else got stolen. We watched the sunset, then headed back on the motorbikes to our final night in Kuta. We ended up meeting a few australians, french, and english people staying at our guest house and all went out together for the night.

The next day, our friend Ryan from Thammasat in Bangkok flew out and met us for the remainder of the trip. This day, we took the bikes and headed to another beach called Padma a litte further west of Kuta. It was the same type of day, just surfing and hanging out on an incredible beach. I don't think it ever could have gotten old. We stayed in Padma for the night which was much quiter than the wild Kuta.

Next day, we woke up really early and headed to the northeast part of the island called Amed for our scuba diving trip. We were all PADI certified, so we were able to book a trip with us 3 and then two other divemasters and go out as only one group. It took about two hours to reach Amed, and then we suited up and got ready for our first of two dives. The boats were very classical  old Indonesian boats that fit only about 6 people. They were wooden tri-marans with longshaft motors, and left right from the beach. Our first of two dives was along  a rock wall off the eastern part of the beach. I was amazed when I dipped my mask underwater and caught a glipse of the pacific for the first time. 100 foot visibility! The rainbow and neon bright colored corals, massive schools of fish, and crazy marine life that I had never known existed surrounded me as I plunged 18 meters down to the bottom of the wall. The only way I can explain the diving is that I felt like I was watching a HD Planet Earth show but was actually floating around myself inside the TV. It really looked fake with the brightness of colors and amounts of fish swimming around. The second dive was just as spectacular and was a bit further out in the ocean where a current drifted around a massive rock base at the bottom. Basically, once we got down to about 15 meters, you could feel a current starting to take you. Once we found our perfect buyouncy to neither go up or down, we could just float there and slowly drift about 2 miles an hour around the coral without ever having to kick or paddle. When the current took us around the second corner of the coral face, I looked up and saw a giant sea turtle slowly and beautiully coasting up the corals through schools of fish. I think you get the idea about what the scuba diving was like.

Next day, or technically 2 a.m of that night, we got up and headed to Mt. Batur, a famous volcano located towards the center of the island. We left the base of the volcano around 3:30 and headed up for a 2 and a  half hour hike to the top of the volcano to watch the sunrise. It was a pretty exhausting hike until reaching the summit of 2,000 meters. We decided to climb to the actual top rather than another look out point a few hundered meters down, which was well worth the extra hike. Rather than being surrounded by about 20 other groups at that level, us and only one other group hiked to the summit. The view looked over lake batur, another valcano in the background, and then the haze of the ocean behind both. It was a great sunrise and well worth the early morning hike. Later in the day, we went further into the center of bali and got to stop at some of the rice terraces for lunch. These terraces are remarkable and are pretty famous on postcards and everything for the pictures of Bali. They are staggered along the moutains and have a bright green color to them that makes for amazing photos. After lunch along the terraces, we went to Ubud, the cultural town of the island, and got to walk around or a while and then went to a famous monkey temple. There were thouands of monkeys all around the temple and it was fun to walk around and check out the different sites.

The following day was our last full day and we all wanted to get as much out of surfing as possible to end the trip. We went to another beach along the southern coast of the island, the name is escaping me now. It was alot less crowded and once again, had perfect waves. I had this moment towards the end of the day where I just stopped for a few seconds and looked around and couldn't get over the fact that I was here and how happy I was to actually have made it. I was sitting out on my surfboard waiting for a wave. Directly in front of me, I was witnessing one of the most spectacular sunsets in my life. Off to my left, fireworks were going off and lighting up the beach. Behind me, a massive full moon was rising and playing with the colors of the sky. And to my right, the sounds of guitars, vocals, and laughs floated through the air. Bali, I said to myself. I'm coming back.

Dreamland

View in Uluwatu

Uluwatu Temple

I call this study abraod sculpture class

heading out scuba diving

sunrise from top of mt. batur

Ubud monkey temple

rice terraces

Northern Thailand, The Mekong, and Laos-- Part 2 of 2

The customs place was probably the most chaotic experience ever. No lines, tons of people, and a very strange system. We had to make it up to the front of the crowd of people to get papers to fill out, then go back to the end and fill out the information, then go back through the crowd of people to hand in the papers and give the passport, then wait huddled around hundreds of people for about 20 minutes until someone in the office held up your passport, then pay for the visa, and finally leave. My first impression of Laos was not very good, but the mysterious Mekong that laid ahead quicky erased my memory of customs.

We booked a two day, one night trip down the Mekong River by slowboat that went from the border and all the way into Luang Prabang, which is the "northenrn capital" of Laos. The boat fit about 60 people total, but as we arrived on the boat, there appeared to be over 80. There were no seats left and people were either sitting on the floor, cramped in the engine room, or sitting ontop of all the luggage. We thought that the next two days might be the worst of our lives... but luckily a second boat arrived about 30 seconds before we were going to take off. We transfered boats, actually got a seat, and were off down the Mekong.

The best way to describe the ride is that it's an amazing experience with great scenery and a chance to take a look at the real life of Northern Laos, but it's something that you could never do twice. By the second day and a full 14 hours of cruising down the river, I was definately ready to move on. The first day, we left the dock around noon and heades straight down the river for about 6 hours until stopping in a small town called Pakbeng for the night. The scenery around the river was great- lush mountains with tiny walkways leading up to small Laos villages. Every once in a while you'd see kids swimming in the river, or Laos fisherman crusing along in longtail boats. It was a very, very remote area. The villages were really interesting to see as well. They had anywhere from 5-25 bamboo huts surrounding the village, and in some you could see different parts of the village where they raised livestock, grew plants and vegetables, etc. There is no roads or cars or anything, the villages only use boats as transportation for trading and getting goods. And they live their days along the Mekong, away from all other civilization or modern day appliances.

As the sun began to set over the mountains, we pulled into Pakbeng where we would spend the night. Pakbeng was a very small town, just one road leading up to the Mekong where the boat dock was. I don't think that there was anything here before the boat service started, because all there is on the road is guesthouses and restauraunts. We ended up staying in a decent place and made friends with the guesthouse owner, Orn. He was about 25 and had grown up in Luang Prabang, and now ran the guesthouse with his family in Pakbeng. We ended up eating dinner with him and his family, it was a really fun night. We had a local Laos speciality for dinner, minced buffallo meat and spices with sticky rice. The way you eat it is to roll the sticky rice up in a ball, and grab some of the buffallo and just eat it all together- basically, really yummy stuff. The best part, though, was dessert: crickets. And they really do taste good, I was surprised. The weird part was that I saw Orn's little sister running around when we first got there and grabbing crickets and putting them in a bottle. Next thing I knew, Orn came out of the kitchen after dinner with a plate of them all fried up. I had to try one, and after having one I had to have another. They're kind of like Laos pringles.

By the way, the bugs in Laos are abslutely enormous. Literally the biggest things I have ever seen. I have no idea why, but the crickets, bees, grasshoppers, centipides, everything- are so much bigger here than anywhere else in the world. At one point a centipede about a foot long was walking across the patio, and Orn scooped it up and dropped it into a local bottle of Thai whiskey. The next morning he gave it to us as a gift, saying that the centipede is good for your body and makes you stronger. We ended up trying a sip later in the day, it was not good.

The next morning we cruised for another 8 hours down the river until finally reaching Luang Prabang about an hour before sunset. It was a really fun second day on the boat, we ended up meeting a group of people from australia and italy, and spent the ride at the back of the boat just hanging out and exchanging stories. You meet a lot of really intersting people when traveling and can really learn alot about yourself from meeting new people all the time.After arriving,  we had some time to walk around and check out the small town, and it was a really nice place. Very cultural, lots of temples and just a slow feel to the pace of life. Not many people make it all the way up here when traveling Laos, so the town didn't seem too bombarded by tourism. I felt like I was in a place from the early 1900's or something, everything just seemed older and quieter and more peaceful than current day towns and cities. It was a nice afternoon, followed by a great sunset as we sat along the river bank and watched the sun set between two mountains in the distance.

The next morning we got up early and spent the day at a famous waterfall about half an hour outside of the town. It took about 2 hours to hike the entire waterfall, and we were ready for a swim by the time we reached the top. The colors from the waterfall were so vivid and clear- a perfect blue surrounded by all the greens of the jungle. After the waterfall, we headed back into town and caught the local bus to Vang Vieng, about a 6 hour journey. It was by far the worst ride I have ever experienced in my life. First of all, we booked our ticket from a travel agency, where we paid about 15 dollars for the ride, whereas all of the locals paid about $1 at the bus window. The bus, of course, was completely overbooked. There were people sprawled out across the floor, and every seat for 2 we had to squeeze 3 people. I was sitting next to two people who were both carsick the entire time, and the roads were bumpy, curvy, and crazy. Not too much fun. However, we made it to vang vieng somehow. I did manage to catch a glimpse of some of the stuff out the window on the ride over. Every house or anythign that I saw was just constructed from bamboo, there was never any cement or other type of housing. The country is so big yet there really is not much around except jungle. Besides the few touristy towns like Vang Vieng and Vientiane, it's like life in the Laos jungle has been untouched by the outside world forever.

We finally made it to Vang Vieng at around 2 a.m and headed to bed for a full day of tubing ahead. Vang Vieng is crazy, the ultimate backpackers hangout spot. Basically, its a lazy town along a river in Laos. The highlight activity is tubing, which I will attempt to explain but in reality will not even come close to the experience or the atmosphere of the place. Picture hundreds of backpackers renting tubes and tubing down the river, with massive mountains stretched out on both sides and just incredible scenery all around. As you tube down, people will throw ropes and pull you in to one of the tens of bars that are lined up along both sides of the river. Here, people are drinking, hanging out along the decks that line the river, and the music is bumping. There's all of these crazy ropeswings where you fly about 50 feet off of the ground and can launch yourself into the river. You just spend the day going from place to place, meeting people and hanging out along the river. It was an experience, but not a place where I could stay for more than a few days.

On our last day in Vang Vieng, I ended up getting up early and taking a hike to some of the famous caves on the outskirts of town. It was a really nice walk through the rice fields and out away from all the craziness of Vang Vieng. I ended up reaching the cave and hiked about 20 minutes up the side of the rock formation to where you coudl enter and descend down. It was a great view from that point overlooking Vang Vieng, the rice fields, and dark mountains on the horizon. The cave was dark, but it was fun to walk around with a flashlight and check it out.

We took a bus back later that night which went directly to Bangkok and through customs. It took about 20 hours total, but luckily it was a nice bus and nothing like the previous experience. It was nice to finally be back in the apartment the following day, and surprisingly I missed Thai food alot. It's weird- I crave it now instead of other things from home. Instead of craving pizza or a cheeseburger, it's padthai or tomyum soup.

It was a quick 3 days in Bangkok, and then I was off to Bali for an unforgettable week of surfing and scuba diving in paradise.

slowboat ride down the Mekong





early morning in luang prabang

view of tubing river in Vang Vieng

tubing

Northern Thailand, The Mekong, and Laos-- Part 1 of 2

After two weeks in the beaches and a busy week in Bangkok, it was time to head north to the mountainous northern region of Thailand and into Laos. I planned the trip with two friends, Matt and Andy, from the US and Germany. In all, it was a memorable experience completely different than any of the other trips I’ve taken. It had its ups and downs (when my camera was stolen), but the most amazing part to me was interacting with the people and noticing the differences in the communities from every region in Thailand and Southeast Asia at large. We left for the trip on November 4 and came back the 15^th, here’s a map of where we traveled and the areas that we stayed in:

We took the overnight bus from Bangkok that arrived in Chiang Rai early Friday morning. As we pulled into the small city, all of the people opening up the morning markets and street stalls were decked out in long pants, winter jackets, winter hats, and gloves. I couldn’t believe the temperature difference between here and Bangkok, we were definitely way up north! The nights and mornings were very cold up here, probably reaching around 50 degrees, whereas in Bangkok and further south it hardly gets below 75.  We got off the bus and headed into town to grab some breakfast and find a guesthouse for the night. After dropping off our bags in the room, we decided to walk around Chiang Rai and get a feel for the small city. The first thing that I noticed was the deep cultural ties that the area had with Buddhism and Thailand from the past. There were hundreds of monks all throughout the streets, and everything seemed a bit more quiet and peaceful. When I say city, I don’t mean anything more than a bunch of small roads, markets, Wats, and buildings no higher than 5 stories high. It is just one of the only places way up in the northern region of Thailand that has a lot of people in one area rather than spread out in the countryside. One of the most fascinating places in the town that I saw was Wat Phra Kaeo, where many monks were huddled inside the temple. The story is that about 500 years ago, the temple was struck by lightning and part of it collapsed, revealing the Emerald Buddha. After a few more hours of checking out different wats and places of interest in the city, we decided it was time to venture out into the surrounding areas.

So, we found a local store that rented us motorbikes for $5 a day, and went off in search for the real northern Thailand lifestyle. After about 2 minutes on the motorbikes, I managed to get stuck behind a tuk-tuk driver and got separated from Andy and Matt. Without a cell phone or a plan of where to meet, the next half an hour was spent by us literally driving around the city chasing each other’s places, but never actually running into one- another. I gave up the search, and decided the journey for the day had to go on without them.

I crossed over the Mae Kok River and headed into a more remote region of Thailand. There was a long road that followed the river upstream further and further away from Chiang Rai, and my plan was to take the road up about 20 miles and then cross a bridge and return back to Chiang Rai on the opposite side. It was a really scenic route, with mostly rice paddies and corn fields lined up against the river’s edge and mountains in the background. It was also great to feel chilly enough to put on a sweatshirt and ride through the crisp air- there’s not much of that in Bangkok. About 15 miles into the journey, I found a small dirt road pointing me in the direction to a hill tribe. I parked the bike and started walking up into the mountains, until I was greeted by an old lady and a little boy just outside the hill tribe village.

Now, hill-tribe trekking in Thailand is a very controversial issue. Some people believe that tourism has destroyed the culture and actual lifestyles of the different hill-tribes in the northern region. There are many overnight stays in tribes that you can book through travel agencies in advance, and then go and spend a night with the community. Because the communities are able to make more money from the tourism, they begin to put on fake ceremonies and practices that appeal more to the tourist than the tribe itself.  That being said, it is possible to do hill-tribe treks and live in the communities without harming the people. There are lots of reliable agencies, it’s just the ones that pack loads of people on a bus and bring them from village to village to take photos and buy souvenirs that are harming the tribes. The entire history of all the different hill tribes and how they began living in Thailand is really interesting- so if you ever have time, research some of it.

Anyways, I’m not sure if this was a popular visited hill tribe or not, but I got the vibe that a lot of the people had not seen a foreigner for a while. There was a group of five or six at the edge of the village looking down the road towards me. They didn’t seem mad I was there, just kind of surprised to see a white person walking down the road into the village. I started to slow down the walk and decided that maybe I wasn’t welcome, but an old lady and little boy started walking towards me from their small straw hut. There were about 20 of the huts in all- all perched up on a hill about a mile away from the riverside. It was all dirt roads and gravel around the huts, and then turned into green plants and grasses as the hillside began to slope downwards. The old lady approached me and began talking, and I could understand absolutely nothing. Many of the hill tribes have their own dialects of Thai, some even have a completely different language. I tried my best to use my body language and ask if I could walk around or if it was okay that I was here, and I took the smile as a possible yes. The little boy kept poking his head out from behind the lady, studying me, but every time I turned to look down at him, he would shy away and return behind her.  

I started looking around at the huts and taking a few pictures of the village, and the lady then approached me again and directed me towards her hut, opening the door for me to peek inside. It was a one room area, with dirt floors, two mattresses and quilts, and a small Buddha shrine in the corner of the room lit with candles. She kept speaking in her language, pointing around the room with a smile, and I kept wishing I knew what she was saying.  Although I’ll probably never be able to figure out anything she was telling me, I think I’ll always have the memory of her and the little boy as my first trek into a hill tribe.  After looking around a bit more, I hiked back down the hill and continued the motorbike ride upriver. After another 5 miles or so, the road became much tougher and I was deep in the countryside. I kept passing men and women walking down the street who were walking back from the rice paddies and agricultural fields after a long day of work. One even managed to give a wave and shout “hello”, laughing with uncertainty about how well he pronounced it. I had gone about another 5 miles, this time veering off the river and further into the mountains, and started thinking that maybe I missed the bridge. Luckily, I ran into a Thai man passing the other way on motorbike, and I waved him down and made the hand gesture for a bridge. With a smile, he gave a wave and had me follow him back a few miles to a turn where I found the bridge: a swinging, dangling, 3 foot wide handmade wooden bridge. Luckily there were some railings, and I took the ride slow and crossed to the other side. I made it back to Chiang Rai by night time, and finally met up again with Matt and Andy in the guesthouse before dinner.

We spent the night walking around the town and went to the famous night bazaar for dinner. A lot of the local hill tribes sell their products in the markets, so it was nice to walk around and see some of the different things that each vendor was selling.  We got to bed early for another long day of motor biking in the mountains ahead of us.

The next day we went about 100 miles total into a few different small towns and into the Golden Triangle of Thailand. The first part of the trip was through tons of pineapple fields, and along the roads were stall after stall of people selling the fresh pineapples. We had to stop and try some, and it was the sweetest pineapple I’ve ever eaten. After getting off the main road, we headed into Doi Mae Salong, an area of Thailand known for its tea plantations. The motorbike ride was incredible- going up and down these curvy roads in the mountains, and the views were spectacular. It looked like an entire different country. Finally we reached the town, which was just one main road perched high up in the mountains. We stopped for lunch at a small restaurant perched up on a hill with a great view of the tea plantations and countryside, and got to try some of the local teas that were grown right there. After lunch, we continued on through the mountains until reaching Doi Tung which is where the Royal Villa is located. The Royal mother of the King lived here for a few years a while back when she was performing a massive project to improve the lives of the villages in the area and help eliminate the opium trade in the golden triangle. We got to take a tour of the Royal Villa, the flower garden, and a museum about the family of the King and what they have done for the country of Thailand. Thailand has the longest standing monarchy in the world, and after going to the museum and reading about how much the family has done for its people, I can understand why the royal family is loved so much by the country.

We took a 5 AM bus the next morning from Chiang Rai to the border town of Chiang Khong, which was about 2 hours east and on the border of Thailand and Laos. After going through customs, we crossed the Mekong River by longtail boat and entered Laos for the first time.

Since my camera was stolen on one of the last days of the trip, I don't have any of my pictures, but I took some from my friends and also found a few online just to help give an idea of where I was traveling..

wat phra kaeo

night bazaar, chiang rai

a hill tribe in northern thailand

Karen hill tribe



view on motorbike ride up to doi mae salong




Doi Mae Salong



Flower Hill Resort, Doi Mae Salong- right on the motorbike trail through the mountains

Royal Villa, Doi Tung

Southern Thailand Island Hopping- part 2 of 2

For some reason this was never actually posted.. and I just got back to Bangkok today from another trip, so here was the 2^nd part of the island hopping trip down south:

We took about a 2 hour ferry from the Phi Phi islands to the seaside town of Krabi. Krabi had a different feel than the rest of the places I had seen down south so far- it was more of a stopover hub to go to other places rather than a destination in itself. I’m sure if we had a few extra days to explore that we could have found some things to do, but for the short time we were there it seemed that it was just a place to stay briefly and hop on another ferry to somewhere nearby. We got into Krabi in the late afternoon and had some time to walk around and find a night market for dinner. These night markets are all over Thailand, it’s a really fascinating atmosphere. Hundreds of  outdoor stalls are clustered in one area each selling different  foods, clothes, accessories, cd’s, and anything and everything you can imagine. There’s a large area in the middle with chairs and benches for people to sit and eat. There’s usually either a live Thai band , karaoke, or some sort of music, and everyone just hangs out for hours eating, drinking Chang beers, and enjoying the night. Thai’s love to take their time eating and relaxing at the night markets, and it’s some of the best and cheapest food I’ve had. That’s one of the beauties of Thailand- the street food is usually the best, freshest, and most unique dishes you’ll get across the country, and it’s also the cheapest.

Anyways, after the night market we headed back early to the guesthouse and got a good night’s sleep to prepare for our kayaking adventure. The next morning we met up with our friend Antoine and two of his friends who were studying in Hong Kong and came to Thailand for the week.  We took an early bus from Krabi to Ao Nang, which was a little further north up the coast, and then got on a speedboat ferry to Koh Yao Noi. About half an hour into the trip, we noticed that the turquoise water was turning to a mysterious purple. As we passed over, it appeared that the mile long  stretch of the surface was covered in massive jelly fish! There was literally no spaces between any of the jellyfish, and the tentacles looked nasty. Didn’t see Nemo or Dory though. Luckily, we didn’t encounter any of these creatures on our kayaking trip.

  Koh Yao Noi is one of the bigger islands down south, yet it is also one of the quietist. I’m not sure why tourism hasn’t really reached the area yet, but when we stepped off the ferry it had a whole new feel than Phuket and Phi Phi. There were only a few small hotels and guesthouses on the island, and everything seemed quiet and peaceful. We took a tuk-tuk from the pier to the opposite side of the island where we rented the kayaks. A young Thai guy named Zach ran a small business out of his house where he rented kayaks, tents, cooking gear, etc, and just let people take the kayaks and paddle out to find any of the hundreds of remote islands to sleep on and escape all the crowds. So, we packed up our things, bought some water and rice (in hopes that we’d catch all types of fish, lobsters, and everything else to go with the rice. Which we didn’t..), and headed out and around the coast to find our first camping destination. The paddle was really nice, water temp about 80 degrees, clear blue skies, and tons of jagged islands just popping up from the ocean floor out of nowhere. We paddled about 4 hours or so until finally reaching a small island north of Koh Yao Noi.

I’m not sure if the island had a name, but what intrigued us all was its similarity to “the beach” that we’d seen in Koh Phi Phi. The island was quite small with rough terrain all around- the only accessible part was the beach, which was partially hidden inside of a bay, surrounded by cliffs. Besides us and a few lizards, we were the only people on the island. As the sun set, we set up camp and managed to get a fire going and cook some rice. We spent the night hanging out under the stars, wondering if we could do this for the rest of our lives.

The next morning, the plan was simple. Food. I had brought my speargun and mask, and we also had two hand lines with hooks for fishing. We figured that we would all go out, and come back with enough fish to feed everyone for at least the day. Well, the plan failed. The spearfishing was impossible with the currents and zero visibility from all the sand and rocks getting swirled around on the seafloor, and the handlines came up empty as well. It wouldn’t be a gourmet breakfast after all, but rice and curry powder tasted just fine. After breakfast and packing up camp, we headed off to find a new destination for our second night.  We went back along the opposite coast of Koh Yao Noi in hopes of finding another suitable island for camping. We ended up stopping once on the main island to check out a small resort and infinity pool that seemed too nice to miss out on. After a quick dip in the infinity pool, it was back in the kayaks for some to get away from everyone for the night.  We paddled another 4 miles or so until finding a small island that we couldn’t resist paddling over to and checking it out for camping. Now this was an island from paradise, like something fake that you’d draw up in your mind and wonder if it really existed before actually seeing it. The beach was about half of the entire island- stretching about 100 yards from the ocean up to the tall palm trees curling over the edge of the beach.  We had to stay here.

Luckily we found the island early in the afternoon and had the rest of the day to hang out and enjoy the island to ourselves. We enjoyed the massive beach and played some Frisbee as the sun set over the looming mountains in the distance. We also managed to spear some crabs which were added to the cooking pot for dinner. It was another relaxing night with a big bonfire and some pretty terrible rice-crab-curry-and sand dinner.

The next day we had to say goodbye to the island and head back to Koh Yao Noi for the ferry back to the mainland. It was time for the full moon party. We spent the entire day traveling from place to place, a pretty long and boring day. It went like this: tuk-tuk to pier in Koh Yao Noi, speed boat ferry to Ao nang, bus to krabi, taxi to krabi bus station, bus to Surat Thani province, another bus to Surat Thani ferry pier, overnight ferry to Koh Phagnan, and finally a tuk-tuk to Haad Rin beach for the famous full moon party. The overnight ferry was also a pretty interesting experience. Basically, you walk into the boat and it is two different levels with nothing but tiny mattresses laying on the floor. It was mostly all backpackers on the ferry- all with the same idea of getting to Koh Phagnan just in time for the full moon party. We spent the first few hours of the ferry talking and meeting some people from all around the world, then managed to get some sleep before arriving in Koh Phagnan at 8 a.m the next day.

Koh Phagnan was packed with people. It is a pretty big island, with beaches, jungle, waterfalls, and everything else, but most people just know it as the island for the full moon party. Basically, every full moon of the year, anywhere from 10-30 thousand people gather on Haad Rin beach to party under the full moon until the sun rises the next day. It was an experience. Definitely not something that people could do every month, but something that’s worth seeing and believing that it actually exists. Insanely loud music, fire jump roping, water slides, stages in the ocean, it all was there. We met up with about 50 more of the international students, and spent the night partying on the beach, and then I was off to catch the 8 a.m ferry back to Bangkok the next day.

Overall, a great trip. From witnessing the cultural vegetarian festival, to camping out to spending an afternoon on “the beach”, to camping out on uninhabited islands, and witnessing a full moon party for the first time, I felt like I got a good taste of what the southern islands of Thailand are all about. That said, I know I’ll be back some day. For now, I’ve got the memories.

Pics:





speed boat to koh yao noi

packing up for the trip

camping site #1

the bay we camped in

the camping crew

view from resort on koh yao noi

island for camping night #2

yum?

overnight ferry to koh phagnan

full moon party

Southern Thailand Island Hopping- Part 1 of 2



After a 14 hour crammed mini van ride from Bangkok, I stepped onto Southern Thailand soil for the first time, and was welcomed by monsoon rains. It was Phuket town, the capital city of Phuket island, Thailand's largest island and most visited place by tourists. The ride down had been miserable; bumpy roads, a 10 seater van with 12 passengers, and excessively loud Thai music being played at all times. On the way down south, I hadn't been able to see much through the windows because of the rain, but it looked pretty much just like dirt roads and nothing special. When we stepped out of the van, our first glimpse of the gray phuket town and its buildings made it look dirty, old, and overall just unappealing. I thought to myself, maybe southern thailand isn't really as amazing as i've heard- maybe my expectations for this trip were too high.  I couldn't have been any more wrong. Ten minutes later, the rain stopped (and it didn't rain again for the entire 2 weeks we were there), and I was about to start one of the best journey's of my life.

The plan for the island hopping was as follows: Phuket- Phi Phi islands - Krabi - Ao Nang - Koh Yao Noi - Surat Thani - Koh Phagnan. The pictures above give an idea of where all those places are. So, here it goes- island hopping thai style.

I took the trip with my friend Matt from Ohio State, and then we met up a few days later with another friend Antoine and two of his buddies who were studying abroad in Hong Kong. When Matt and I got out of the van in the morning, we didn't really have a plan for our time in Phuket, but knew we wanted to catch the ferry the next day to the Phi Phi islands. As we were walking around town trying to figure it all out, we started hearing loud firecrackers and yells. Turns out we arrived at the tail end of the Vegetarian Festival, Phuket's largest annual festival. The festival is held at the beginning of the month of Taoist Lent, where the Chinese abstain from eating meat for 2 weeks. The amazing part of the festival is the parades- where hundreds of people walk down the streets with swords(or tree branches, or bouquets of flowers, or anything you can imagine ) peirced through their cheeks, or razor blades cutting up their entire bodies. Shops along the streets have stands with 9 cups, honoring the nine emperor gods. Those that are pierced act as mediums between the gods and people because of the painful state they are in, and go from table to table blessing the food and people around them. While all this is going on, random people in the stands are lighting packages of firecrackers and throwing them into the parade, exploding in the air and hitting people. What a cultural experience to see. The ironic thing is, there is no history that this has ever been practiced in China during the Taoist lent- it's only done in Phuket.

After the parades, we decided we wanted to head to the western part of the island for the beaches. We decided to head to Patong, one of the more popular places on the island. The area was okay and the beach was fine, but it was nothing like the places i'd go to later in the trip. I had mixed opinions about Phuket- it seemed overcrowded and almost destroyed by the amount of resorts, chain restauraunts, and people that lined the beachfront. I'm sure that there were much nicer places in phuket, but in my opinion I think there are other places down south worth seeing, especially if you're on a time limit. Many people will come to Phuket for their entire vacation and never venture off the island.We spent the day on the beach and walked around the town, which was overflowing with foreigners from everywhere. I think a long time ago this place had much more culture and beauty to it, but it seemed like it became too popular too fast and now it's just another beach. The food, however, was amazing. We had dinner at this outdoor restauraunt where you would walk up to the front and choose which fish you wanted, and they would pan fry the entire thing. It was one of the best meals i've had Thailand, and that's pretty tough to do.

The next morning we took the early ferry to Koh Phi Phi, a set of 6 islands about an hour ferry ride away. Phi Phi was a completely different story. The islands are less visited, more stunning, and have a great laid back feel to them. As we approached the island, the views were incredible. The enormous limestone cliffs shooting out of the surrounding turqoise water makes your jaw drop, over and over again. There is only one island that people live on, and this is where the ferry dropped us off. The island was small- it would probably take only an hour to walk around by foot. However, due to the massive cliffs and lack of paths, it's impossible to walk around, and you have to hire longtail boats to reach beaches on opposite sides of the island. The majority of guesthouses, restauraunts, and stores are located in the small town just as you get off of the ferry. There are no cars or roads, just walking paths to get from place to place. We ended up staying at a relatively nice guesthouse in the center of town for just under $8, not a bad deal for living in paradise. We spent the rest of the day at Long beach, which was about an hour hike through the jungle to reach. The effort was worth it though, as there were only about 10 other people on the half mile stretch of perfect sand. On our way back, we decided to hike up to one of the viewpoints which overlooked the small town, both bays, and the monstrous cliffs towering in the background.  On the hike up, we passed a small museum which featured pictures of the aftermath of the tsunami that hit in 2004. I couldn't believe how destroyed the island was, almost everything was completely wiped out. I ended up meeting a few people who had lived on the island during the catastrophe, and they all had fascinating stories. Although it was a terrible day and lives were lost, people seemed so proud and happy that the island they had fell in love with was finally back on its feet and flourishing.

The nightlife was also a lot of fun on the island. Basically, when you walk into town for dinner, there are tons of people standing around and handing out flyers for free bbq dinners at the beach, free drinks at different times, etc. If you wanted, you could lay out all the flyers you get, and walk around from place to place and never have to pay for a meal or drink for the entire night. The nights would start in the town, and then everyone would head down to outdoor clubs and bars lined up along one of the beaches, dancing in the sand all night. I ended up talking to a few of the people who were handing out flyers to figure out how they ended up living here. Most were in their low or mid 20's, from all over the world, and they all had pretty much the same exact story. "I was here for vacation, and couldn't convince myself to ever leave. I mean, it's paradise- why go home?" Some had been here for years and years, getting paid about $12 a day to work at the bars or restauraunts. You work at night, you seize the day, and $12 is enough to live comfortably and happily in paradise.

The following day we took a sailing trip around the different islands of Phi Phi with about 10 other people. First stop was monkey beach,  a small beach covered with monkeys climbing the cliffs and playing in the sand, unbothered by the humans surrounding them. We also stopped a few times for some snorkeling, which was some of the best i'd ever seen. I couldn't believe how clear the water was and the amount of fish and sealife around. Next stop was for some cliff jumping, 14 meters high. And then, finally, I reached "the beach". I'm not sure if any of you have seen the movie, but "the beach" is a film with leonardo dicaprio about a backpacker who discovers a secret island with the perfect beach on it and lives there with a small community of people. The movie is worth seeing for the landscapes, but the book is much better. Anyways, the movie was filmed at this beach, located in Maya Bay on Phi Phi Ley. We had to climb through a small crevice in the cliffs to get onto the island, and then followed a dirt path through the jungle to the opening of "the beach". I literally sat there for 20 minutes in awe just looking up at the thousand foot high cliffs that encircled the shallow blue bay. It's one of the most spectacular places I've ever seen.  The only issue now is that the movie has made the area very popular, and the number of boats traveling to Maya Bay has increased alot over the years. The day ended as we sailed across the Andaman Sea and watched the sunset from the boat. 

We spent another day going around to different parts of the main island and checking out some other places, and then decided we had to continue on with the trip. It was a tough goodbye, but I hope to go back again some day..

Plus, next stop was kayaking and camping on uninhabited islands around Koh Yao Noi, so I had something to look forward to. I'll be writing about the rest of the trip soon. Here's some pics from part 1:

Vegetarian Festival, Phuket

"Aroy Aroy" = delicious

patong beach, phuket

Koh Phi Phi

Viewpoint on Koh Phi Phi

You could even box for fun for a free bucket at reggae bar

View of Koh Phi Phi from ferry area

Monkey beach

cliff jumping

"the beach"

I also just found a video from youtube on the phi phi islands.. around the 2:50 mark is of "the beach". it's a little better than my pics

Video of Koh Phi Phi islands