I know, I know. Not the most PC title of a blog, however, I suppose the idea that “trash” exists everywhere in the world unites us all in a sense. No?? Is that a stretch?? Well regardless the title is true. White trash exists even in Australia. My idea of white trash used to be a Jerry Springer episode of an incestuous family from Louisiana beating each other up on screen for everyone who watches syndicated tv to watch. But this universal “trashy-ness” is now a concept that I know runs deep into the cosmos.
Let me remind you, I am a girl from NH, not exactly the most diverse state in the union. I went to Ithaca College in upstate NY, not exactly a place that breeds varied cultures. I lived in Hoboken NJ which is now Mr. and Mrs. White Bred USA. Being from these, I’ll admit, lucky, borderline upper-crust areas, “trash” seems to stick out like a sore thumb. I have seen this “trash” throughout my days, and once again I witnessed it on my 24 hour train ride from Darwin to Alice Springs.
CAUTION: this blog may be a bit mean spirited. So forget the image of the perfect daisy picking Sarah I know you all have in your minds, and replace it with Lucifer- Sarah for just this one entry, then you can all go back to your image of the true heavenly Sarah. Deal? Deal.
I get on the train at about half past nine in the morning, and after I find my seat and settle in I see a family of 5 saunter on. Two girls, one very over-weight with a baby in her arms, and one who looks like she rolled around in a pile of grease and then decided to eat the grease. AKA- also very overweight and really dirty. (In fact I’m not sure any of them had showered in a good week.) Behind them was a man, (clearly the dad, and granddad) and a teenage boy. With my luck they sit down directly next to me and in front of me. Once I got a good look at the baby, my initial reaction was: WOAH!!! That is one UGLY baby. (I know, I know I’m going to hell). To me babies are usually precious and idyllic but not this one.
We made a stop at a town called Katherine for 4 hours. There isn’t really anything to do in Katherine, so I decided to stay on the train and read, and watch a flick on my computer. The Grandfather also stayed on the train with the baby while his three kids went on a 4 hour meander though Katherine. As the angelic girl I really am, (just not in this entry) I decide to say hello. Who knew saying hello would open up such a can of worms?? Some people just need to vent even if it is to a perfect stranger who frankly doesn’t want to listen. Lucky me I got to be that un-wanting stranger. He told me that overweight daughter number one is the mother who is 15 years old. Her mother skipped out on her and the family when she was 3 and since then daughter number 1 was never the same. She left home at 12, got into “dope, and then that turned into needles and whatever else” to quote the dad. “She then started having sex, and now here is Phoebe.” Apparently he has never even met the father. Whoa dude!! I just wanted to be polite and say hello. He went on and on and on, and I just sat and listened because it really seemed as though he just needed to vent to anyone who would listen. His other two kids 17 and 13 as I came to find out were all pretty fucked up in their own ways. I actually felt really bad for this guy. By the way, this girl DID NOT look 15. 18 maybe 19, but NOT 15. I have always looked young for my age, but I’m pretty sure at 14 & 15 I still had no need for a bra, had baby teeth, and thought boys had cooties.
I couldn’t help but observe the family dynamics for the remainder of the trip. Daughter #1 really didn’t do shit for the one month old baby. The grandfather took care of her almost the entire time. I fell asleep to him holding her, and woke up to him holding her in the morning while the mother slept on a seat all to herself stretch marks out for the world to see. What can one expect from a 15 year old though?? I think I only learned to tie my own shoes at 13, and stopped having my parents cut up my food for me at 16. Having a baby at 15 wasn’t even a possibility. Truly sad.
Anyhow- I got off the train at Alice Springs 24 hours later counting my lucky stars that my mom didn’t run off on me when I was 3, and wondering how this 15 year old could ever care for a baby. However my last thought as I got off the train, was “I really hope this baby grows out of her ugly stage”. Eek.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
SE Asia-isms
There are things that I have remembered the last few days from my 2 months in SE Asia that I do not quickly want to forget. These sentiments seem (for the most part) to be universal in that region. I call them SE Asia-isms.
-Even in a 3rd world country they know what the westerners want, and they know they need to make it simple for us to find it. That is why is in Siem Reap Cambodia everyone goes to “Pub Street”. In Saigon Vietnam people head to “Go 2 Bar”, and in Vang Veing Laos, you go to get your beach buckets filled with booze at none other than “Bucket Bar”.
-Vietnam is dirty. Trash is thrown everywhere. On the street, in the ocean, out the window, everywhere except the dump. It is cheaper to pay off the police for illegally dumping garbage, then to pay to dump it properly… That seems a bit fucked up huh? They are only thinking about the here and now, and not the future. I wish they would realize by doing this now, they are ruining chances of a future generation having a clean environment to live in.
-The Danish and the Dutch are the nicest of all the travelers I have met on a consistent basis.
- It doesn’t matter if you have a pair of sunglasses on already, it doesn’t matter if it is raining and cloudy, it doesn’t even matter if clearly you are blind, have a seeing eye dog with you, the vendors will try to sell you a pair of sunglasses. This goes for pretty much every item you can think of. If something can be sold, copied, ripped off, pirated, or stolen you can find it, and chances are someone will indeed buy it. It is when you say, “who would buy that piece of junk” when just then you see someone walk up to the vendor and actually, right before your very eyes, buy that exact piece of junk.
- “OK” is the most commonly used word by everyone in SE Asia. It is not used as a question, It is a statement. Example:
Me: “How much?”
Vendor: “$10”
Me: “$10?!?!? No way Ill give you $4”
Vendor: “ok, ok. $7. OK!”
Me: “no, not $7.”
Vendor: “$6 ok ok!”
Me: walk away while vendor still yells… “$5 ok ok.”
-I must be super special because everyone will give a “special discount just for me”. I know they say this to everyone, I know that everyday they sell the same shit for the same price but somehow I like to think that TODAY really is a discount day JUST for me.
-Some travelers must be huge idiots to pay the kind of outrageous prices things are sold for. Bargaining is the way of life. At least half the price of everything you are quoted.
- Sweetened condensed milk takes some getting used to. It is in your coffee, tea, on bread, pancakes, sandwiches, fruit, EVERYTHING. However, I am pretty sure there is some sort of crack in it, because I started craving that sweet messy goo. I needed my daily fix. I am currently going through withdrawal.
- You do things in Asia that would never be allowed/legal/or safe in any other place in the world. For example: feed crocodiles that are only a few feet away with no barrier between you, swim in the ocean next to a metal boat in the middle of a lightening storm, ride in the back of a pickup truck with no seatbelts for hours at a time, parasail strapped to a parachute with holes in it, and if you can dream it you can eat it, from fried crickets and scorpions, to dog, to the delicacy of fish eyeballs.
-Apparently all tuk tuk drivers think I need a taxi or a tuk tuk even if I only need to walk 100 ft.
-Bananas are all small. And fruit shakes are a daily staple.
-Two of the most insightful sayings I have ever heard I learned in SE Asia. I think they can be applied in a myriad of situations, and are wiser than they sound at first. These perceptive words of wisdom are: “Same, Same, But Different” and “Good for you, Good for me”.
-Pedestrians do not have the right of way EVER. However, if and when you choose to cross the street, don’t stop halfway through. Keep walking…slowly. The motorcycles know how to avoid you, but you must keep moving.
-It is not unlikely to see a family of 5 on one motorcyle, or a dead pig on the back of the bike, or a man surrounded by hundreds of some random object tied to every last space on the bike.
-It is amazing what women can do in skirts and high heels. I don’t know if it is a height complex or what, but all Asian women seem to wear heels ALL the time. Whether on a hike, on a bike (motor or peddle), on a bus, or just walking around town for the day, women wear heels.
-Careful when buying body lotion. Most of it is whitening, and the last thing I (or for that matter most westerners) want is to bleach away the tan I have been working oh so hard on.
I think that is it for now, I’m sure there are more ism’s that I can’t think of or remember at the moment, but if one comes to me, ill be sure to add it.
-Even in a 3rd world country they know what the westerners want, and they know they need to make it simple for us to find it. That is why is in Siem Reap Cambodia everyone goes to “Pub Street”. In Saigon Vietnam people head to “Go 2 Bar”, and in Vang Veing Laos, you go to get your beach buckets filled with booze at none other than “Bucket Bar”.
-Vietnam is dirty. Trash is thrown everywhere. On the street, in the ocean, out the window, everywhere except the dump. It is cheaper to pay off the police for illegally dumping garbage, then to pay to dump it properly… That seems a bit fucked up huh? They are only thinking about the here and now, and not the future. I wish they would realize by doing this now, they are ruining chances of a future generation having a clean environment to live in.
-The Danish and the Dutch are the nicest of all the travelers I have met on a consistent basis.
- It doesn’t matter if you have a pair of sunglasses on already, it doesn’t matter if it is raining and cloudy, it doesn’t even matter if clearly you are blind, have a seeing eye dog with you, the vendors will try to sell you a pair of sunglasses. This goes for pretty much every item you can think of. If something can be sold, copied, ripped off, pirated, or stolen you can find it, and chances are someone will indeed buy it. It is when you say, “who would buy that piece of junk” when just then you see someone walk up to the vendor and actually, right before your very eyes, buy that exact piece of junk.
- “OK” is the most commonly used word by everyone in SE Asia. It is not used as a question, It is a statement. Example:
Me: “How much?”
Vendor: “$10”
Me: “$10?!?!? No way Ill give you $4”
Vendor: “ok, ok. $7. OK!”
Me: “no, not $7.”
Vendor: “$6 ok ok!”
Me: walk away while vendor still yells… “$5 ok ok.”
-I must be super special because everyone will give a “special discount just for me”. I know they say this to everyone, I know that everyday they sell the same shit for the same price but somehow I like to think that TODAY really is a discount day JUST for me.
-Some travelers must be huge idiots to pay the kind of outrageous prices things are sold for. Bargaining is the way of life. At least half the price of everything you are quoted.
- Sweetened condensed milk takes some getting used to. It is in your coffee, tea, on bread, pancakes, sandwiches, fruit, EVERYTHING. However, I am pretty sure there is some sort of crack in it, because I started craving that sweet messy goo. I needed my daily fix. I am currently going through withdrawal.
- You do things in Asia that would never be allowed/legal/or safe in any other place in the world. For example: feed crocodiles that are only a few feet away with no barrier between you, swim in the ocean next to a metal boat in the middle of a lightening storm, ride in the back of a pickup truck with no seatbelts for hours at a time, parasail strapped to a parachute with holes in it, and if you can dream it you can eat it, from fried crickets and scorpions, to dog, to the delicacy of fish eyeballs.
-Apparently all tuk tuk drivers think I need a taxi or a tuk tuk even if I only need to walk 100 ft.
-Bananas are all small. And fruit shakes are a daily staple.
-Two of the most insightful sayings I have ever heard I learned in SE Asia. I think they can be applied in a myriad of situations, and are wiser than they sound at first. These perceptive words of wisdom are: “Same, Same, But Different” and “Good for you, Good for me”.
-Pedestrians do not have the right of way EVER. However, if and when you choose to cross the street, don’t stop halfway through. Keep walking…slowly. The motorcycles know how to avoid you, but you must keep moving.
-It is not unlikely to see a family of 5 on one motorcyle, or a dead pig on the back of the bike, or a man surrounded by hundreds of some random object tied to every last space on the bike.
-It is amazing what women can do in skirts and high heels. I don’t know if it is a height complex or what, but all Asian women seem to wear heels ALL the time. Whether on a hike, on a bike (motor or peddle), on a bus, or just walking around town for the day, women wear heels.
-Careful when buying body lotion. Most of it is whitening, and the last thing I (or for that matter most westerners) want is to bleach away the tan I have been working oh so hard on.
I think that is it for now, I’m sure there are more ism’s that I can’t think of or remember at the moment, but if one comes to me, ill be sure to add it.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
culture shock
I am back in Australia and I have been hit with the biggest wave of culture shock since my journey began. I was so looking forward to coming back to Australia, being able to brush my teeth without bottled water, having everyone speak english, and having an "easy" time again. While all the above things are true, I was still in culture shock coming back to Oz. I think I purposefully forgot how expensive it is here, and how it sucks to be in a room with 5 other strangers and making an effort to make zero noise. Not to mention how absolutely picturesque Asia was and even though Darwin is beautiful it just does not compare.
Let me backtrack to the rest of my time in SE Asia.
I got to Phuket and stayed there only for one night. Phuket, much like Bangkok, is a big city, not all that beautiful, lots of cars, traffic, noise, etc. Glad i only stayed for one night. My flight to Singapore was easy, and like the last 2 weeks of my trip in Thailand it rained. Luckily enough, It stopped long enough for myself and this english couple to head out to little india for some food, and to go to the night safari. The night safari was brilliant. The animals were really close to us, and not caged, there was lots of diversity among them, and it was most likely my favorite zoo experience. Singapore, was just as most people say, clean and expensive. The people were friendly, and it was truly a melting pot of cultures.
After only one night in Singapore I headed to Bali. Bali was HOT. It was gorgeous, and although I didn't know what I expected, it wasn't what I had in mind. It was incredibly touristy. I am sure this has to do with the fact that I stayed in Kuta Beach. I was only in Bali for 3 days, and I definitely could have used at least one week. My last day in Bali I found a man who would drive me around the island for the entire day for $25 American dollars. He took me to a traditional Balinese dance, the monkey forest, a volcano, rice terraces, a few temples, and a couple of beaches near dusk to watch some surfing. Bali was gorgeous, and there was so much more than Kuta beach, the touristy shops and whatnot. I would definitely like to go back.
My flight to Darwin from Bali was at 10:30 at night, meaning I didnt land in Australia until 2:30 am. Oh and by the way it costs $15 just to leave Indonesia. It only costs $10 to get in, and $15 to leave. Bizarre. Also I forgot to mention the intensity of Indonesia and the anti-drug policy there. When you land at the airport there are signs all over the place saying "the penalty for drug trafficking is death". They had drug sniffing dogs that smelled all of our belongings, as well as scanning everything and rubbing that odd cotton piece of paper along our bags. I still dont know what that does or what it detects. Anyhow- it was a pretty intense process. As far as a I know there is currently an Australian girl who claims someone planted drugs in her boogy board bag and has been charged with the death penalty. Who knows if they were really planted there, or if she tried to smuggle them in, but regardless death for drugs is a pretty severe penalty if you ask me.
By the time I got to my hostel in Darwin it was 4 am, and I got little sleep that night. I managed to be fairly productive the next day and booked a 3 day camping trip to the Kakadu National Park. This area is home to several different aboriginal tribes, and was absolutely stunning. For three days we did a few short treks, saw a few different art sights where the rock art the aboriginals did has been persevered, went on a billabong cruise to go croc spotting, (we saw 2), swam in several water holes, (which by the way all had fresh water crocs in them, but apparently its only the salt water crocs you need to watch out for) and hiked to a few waterfalls. At one of the waterfalls, this german girl on the trip started screaming in german and swimming away from me really fast. I had no idea what was going on, but in my experience, any time someone screams and starts swimming away from one general direction I think it is a good thing to follow. Luckily I did, because directly behind me on the rock wall was what the tour guide later told us was the most deadly snake in the world. Great! Thank god for screaming German girl. While on the trip we did traditional bush camping. That means we slept under the stars in swags. No tents, no protection from the elements, just us, the earth, and the stars. Oh, and lots, and lots of mozzies. I HATE MOZZIES!!! It was pretty great to camp under the stars though, even if I do have lots of mosquito bites.
It is just now the start of the dry season in Darwin and the surrounding area, so not everything is open up here. However, because it was just the wet season, everything in Kakadu was so so green. It was amazing how green it was. By far the most green I have seen anywhere in Australia.
Now, I am trying to figure out where to go next. I would like to be in Adelaide by May 1 to settle down for a bit, stay for a few months to work and save some cash. So I have about 10 days to get there, not positive where I will go in the next week and a half, but wherever I go I hope my Australian culture shock goes away.
Let me backtrack to the rest of my time in SE Asia.
I got to Phuket and stayed there only for one night. Phuket, much like Bangkok, is a big city, not all that beautiful, lots of cars, traffic, noise, etc. Glad i only stayed for one night. My flight to Singapore was easy, and like the last 2 weeks of my trip in Thailand it rained. Luckily enough, It stopped long enough for myself and this english couple to head out to little india for some food, and to go to the night safari. The night safari was brilliant. The animals were really close to us, and not caged, there was lots of diversity among them, and it was most likely my favorite zoo experience. Singapore, was just as most people say, clean and expensive. The people were friendly, and it was truly a melting pot of cultures.
After only one night in Singapore I headed to Bali. Bali was HOT. It was gorgeous, and although I didn't know what I expected, it wasn't what I had in mind. It was incredibly touristy. I am sure this has to do with the fact that I stayed in Kuta Beach. I was only in Bali for 3 days, and I definitely could have used at least one week. My last day in Bali I found a man who would drive me around the island for the entire day for $25 American dollars. He took me to a traditional Balinese dance, the monkey forest, a volcano, rice terraces, a few temples, and a couple of beaches near dusk to watch some surfing. Bali was gorgeous, and there was so much more than Kuta beach, the touristy shops and whatnot. I would definitely like to go back.
My flight to Darwin from Bali was at 10:30 at night, meaning I didnt land in Australia until 2:30 am. Oh and by the way it costs $15 just to leave Indonesia. It only costs $10 to get in, and $15 to leave. Bizarre. Also I forgot to mention the intensity of Indonesia and the anti-drug policy there. When you land at the airport there are signs all over the place saying "the penalty for drug trafficking is death". They had drug sniffing dogs that smelled all of our belongings, as well as scanning everything and rubbing that odd cotton piece of paper along our bags. I still dont know what that does or what it detects. Anyhow- it was a pretty intense process. As far as a I know there is currently an Australian girl who claims someone planted drugs in her boogy board bag and has been charged with the death penalty. Who knows if they were really planted there, or if she tried to smuggle them in, but regardless death for drugs is a pretty severe penalty if you ask me.
By the time I got to my hostel in Darwin it was 4 am, and I got little sleep that night. I managed to be fairly productive the next day and booked a 3 day camping trip to the Kakadu National Park. This area is home to several different aboriginal tribes, and was absolutely stunning. For three days we did a few short treks, saw a few different art sights where the rock art the aboriginals did has been persevered, went on a billabong cruise to go croc spotting, (we saw 2), swam in several water holes, (which by the way all had fresh water crocs in them, but apparently its only the salt water crocs you need to watch out for) and hiked to a few waterfalls. At one of the waterfalls, this german girl on the trip started screaming in german and swimming away from me really fast. I had no idea what was going on, but in my experience, any time someone screams and starts swimming away from one general direction I think it is a good thing to follow. Luckily I did, because directly behind me on the rock wall was what the tour guide later told us was the most deadly snake in the world. Great! Thank god for screaming German girl. While on the trip we did traditional bush camping. That means we slept under the stars in swags. No tents, no protection from the elements, just us, the earth, and the stars. Oh, and lots, and lots of mozzies. I HATE MOZZIES!!! It was pretty great to camp under the stars though, even if I do have lots of mosquito bites.
It is just now the start of the dry season in Darwin and the surrounding area, so not everything is open up here. However, because it was just the wet season, everything in Kakadu was so so green. It was amazing how green it was. By far the most green I have seen anywhere in Australia.
Now, I am trying to figure out where to go next. I would like to be in Adelaide by May 1 to settle down for a bit, stay for a few months to work and save some cash. So I have about 10 days to get there, not positive where I will go in the next week and a half, but wherever I go I hope my Australian culture shock goes away.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
island hoping in the rain
Since I left Bangkok I have been Island hoping around Thailand. I was slightly anxious to leave Heidi since we had been together for 6 weeks or so, and was a little nervous to be on my own again, but at the same time excited to see who I would meet and where I would go.
My first stop was Koh Tao. An overnight bus from Bangkok dropped everyone off at a town called Champon at about 5am. The ferry to the island didn’t leave until 7am. So after an 8 hour bus ride, 2 hours at the ferry pier, 2 and ½ hours on the boat I arrived on Koh Tao. It is a little island on the east coast of Thailand. It is known primarily as a diving island. There are dive schools all over, and many places will not accommodate you unless you are taking a dive course. Luckily I found a bungalow at a place called SeaShell and although it was expensive, it was only about 100 meters to the beach. I knew that there were two Danish girls on Koh Tao who I had met in Vietnam a few times, and again a couple times in Laos. We (luckily) ran into each other on the street and to make a long story short have been traveling together since (except one night on Koh Phangan).
Koh Tao was super chill and relaxing, and a beautiful island; incredible sunsets and lot of great restaurants, bars, and cafe’s. I left after two nights to hit up Koh Phangan. This island is primarily known to the backpacker crowd as the “full moon party island”. To non-backpackers it is known for its beauty on the northern side. I met 3 Canadians on the boat in the morning, and ended up just following them to where they were staying. The guy, Jevin, stayed here before, so I thought, “sweet he knows it to be a good place”… This was by far and away the most dirty, disgusting, horrible place I have ever stayed. There were holes in the walls, ceiling, and door. Bugs everywhere, spiders in my bed, cobwebs like crazy, the fan had no metal screen around it just the fins that spun, it was bad. I stayed there one night and shared the room with one of the 3 Canadians. In the morning I moved out as quickly as possible, which wasn’t all that quick because of the major rain storm.
It rained the entire time I was on Koh Phangan. The Danish girls, Camilla, and Maria, met up with me after one night there, and although we were staying at a MUCH nicer place directly on the beach with a pool, we couldn’t enjoy it because of the rain. Also, because of the rain it meant I couldn’t get to the other parts of the island because taxi’s could not get there. So I ended up staying in Hat Rin home of the full moon party. I was not there for one of these famous parties, however I was there for a half moon party. In the jungle of the island, thousands of people gathered, with glow sticks, trance and techno music, fire shows, dancing, drinking, neon paint, etc. It was a lot of fun, I can’t imagine how crazy the full moon party must get on the beach.
The theme of Koh Phangan was buckets (beach buckets filled with a mixed drink), fire shows, and lots and lots of rain.
We left Koh Phangan with the hope of finding sun on the west coast of Thailand. After another crazy long journey from Koh Phangan to Koh Phi Phi consisting on 2 boats, and 4 buses/minivans, we got to Koh Phi Phi. We were warned about the cost of how expensive this island has become but I was still shocked to find out that accommodation with only a fan in a dingy place would be $1200 baht for the 3 of us. We stayed in the dingy room one night and searched for a new place for the rest of the stay. Luckily we found a room with aircon and a TV for $1200 as well. Koh Phi Phi is HOT and rainy. Really rainy. The first day at the beach you could not even lay on the beach it was so hot. We ended up just sitting in the water the whole time. Kho Phi Phi’s beach is nice with rock cliffs jutting up from the sides, and really blue water. Gorgeous. One scene from the movie “The Beach” was filmed at the smaller of the two Phi Phi Islands, (phi phi lay) and we decided to take a half day sunset snorkel trip around the two islands. Clearly we didn’t check the weather forcast because it rained the ENTIRE time. Sunny when we left the pier, and about 15 mins into it a storm rolled on through. The snorkeling was pretty bad, (we also did a snorkel trip on Koh Tao that was good), the weather was shit. and Maya Bay where “the beach” was filmed was cold. However, the beach was still beautiful. If it had been sunny out it would have been post card perfect.
Today we went to the beach about 150 yards from our guesthouse to get as much sun as we could before the afternoon thunder storm that seems to come every day. The beach was hot as always, but great. We also went to the Tsunami Memorial site where they have a carving of all the names of those who died on Phi Phi during the Tsunami. One of the girls I have met here, Michelle from Holland, had a friend die here during the tsunami, so we found her stone, and layed down flowers. It was quite sad, but I am glad I saw it.
Oh yeah, as a side note, I got a tattoo on Koh Phi Phi last night. The tattoo is on my foot, and I am sad to say I am not 100% satisfied with it. I guess that teaches me to get a tattoo in Thailand. But I am confident I can get it to my liking once I get back home, or to a reliable artist in Australia to do a little touching up of it! (at least I really hope so! Eeek)
Tomorrow I head off to Phuket for one night before heading to Singapore, Bali, and beyond.
My first stop was Koh Tao. An overnight bus from Bangkok dropped everyone off at a town called Champon at about 5am. The ferry to the island didn’t leave until 7am. So after an 8 hour bus ride, 2 hours at the ferry pier, 2 and ½ hours on the boat I arrived on Koh Tao. It is a little island on the east coast of Thailand. It is known primarily as a diving island. There are dive schools all over, and many places will not accommodate you unless you are taking a dive course. Luckily I found a bungalow at a place called SeaShell and although it was expensive, it was only about 100 meters to the beach. I knew that there were two Danish girls on Koh Tao who I had met in Vietnam a few times, and again a couple times in Laos. We (luckily) ran into each other on the street and to make a long story short have been traveling together since (except one night on Koh Phangan).
Koh Tao was super chill and relaxing, and a beautiful island; incredible sunsets and lot of great restaurants, bars, and cafe’s. I left after two nights to hit up Koh Phangan. This island is primarily known to the backpacker crowd as the “full moon party island”. To non-backpackers it is known for its beauty on the northern side. I met 3 Canadians on the boat in the morning, and ended up just following them to where they were staying. The guy, Jevin, stayed here before, so I thought, “sweet he knows it to be a good place”… This was by far and away the most dirty, disgusting, horrible place I have ever stayed. There were holes in the walls, ceiling, and door. Bugs everywhere, spiders in my bed, cobwebs like crazy, the fan had no metal screen around it just the fins that spun, it was bad. I stayed there one night and shared the room with one of the 3 Canadians. In the morning I moved out as quickly as possible, which wasn’t all that quick because of the major rain storm.
It rained the entire time I was on Koh Phangan. The Danish girls, Camilla, and Maria, met up with me after one night there, and although we were staying at a MUCH nicer place directly on the beach with a pool, we couldn’t enjoy it because of the rain. Also, because of the rain it meant I couldn’t get to the other parts of the island because taxi’s could not get there. So I ended up staying in Hat Rin home of the full moon party. I was not there for one of these famous parties, however I was there for a half moon party. In the jungle of the island, thousands of people gathered, with glow sticks, trance and techno music, fire shows, dancing, drinking, neon paint, etc. It was a lot of fun, I can’t imagine how crazy the full moon party must get on the beach.
The theme of Koh Phangan was buckets (beach buckets filled with a mixed drink), fire shows, and lots and lots of rain.
We left Koh Phangan with the hope of finding sun on the west coast of Thailand. After another crazy long journey from Koh Phangan to Koh Phi Phi consisting on 2 boats, and 4 buses/minivans, we got to Koh Phi Phi. We were warned about the cost of how expensive this island has become but I was still shocked to find out that accommodation with only a fan in a dingy place would be $1200 baht for the 3 of us. We stayed in the dingy room one night and searched for a new place for the rest of the stay. Luckily we found a room with aircon and a TV for $1200 as well. Koh Phi Phi is HOT and rainy. Really rainy. The first day at the beach you could not even lay on the beach it was so hot. We ended up just sitting in the water the whole time. Kho Phi Phi’s beach is nice with rock cliffs jutting up from the sides, and really blue water. Gorgeous. One scene from the movie “The Beach” was filmed at the smaller of the two Phi Phi Islands, (phi phi lay) and we decided to take a half day sunset snorkel trip around the two islands. Clearly we didn’t check the weather forcast because it rained the ENTIRE time. Sunny when we left the pier, and about 15 mins into it a storm rolled on through. The snorkeling was pretty bad, (we also did a snorkel trip on Koh Tao that was good), the weather was shit. and Maya Bay where “the beach” was filmed was cold. However, the beach was still beautiful. If it had been sunny out it would have been post card perfect.
Today we went to the beach about 150 yards from our guesthouse to get as much sun as we could before the afternoon thunder storm that seems to come every day. The beach was hot as always, but great. We also went to the Tsunami Memorial site where they have a carving of all the names of those who died on Phi Phi during the Tsunami. One of the girls I have met here, Michelle from Holland, had a friend die here during the tsunami, so we found her stone, and layed down flowers. It was quite sad, but I am glad I saw it.
Oh yeah, as a side note, I got a tattoo on Koh Phi Phi last night. The tattoo is on my foot, and I am sad to say I am not 100% satisfied with it. I guess that teaches me to get a tattoo in Thailand. But I am confident I can get it to my liking once I get back home, or to a reliable artist in Australia to do a little touching up of it! (at least I really hope so! Eeek)
Tomorrow I head off to Phuket for one night before heading to Singapore, Bali, and beyond.
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