Although the beaches in Thailand dont have much rich culture and you feel like you could be any where in the world, they are the perfect place to spend a true vacation. There are soooo many different islands and beaches to choose from, that at first we felt slightly overwhelmed by options. However, I am convinced now that we chose the best three spots there are: Railey beach, Ko Toa, and Ko Payam (not to be mistaken for Ko Phangan where the Full Moon Drunken Douchebags parties happen).
We first hit up this beach called Railey, which is next to the town of Krabi. You have to get to Railey via a small wooden long tailed boat run by engines they get from Jeeps (makes a super loud disturbing noise that the locals are currently trying to ban). Because it is only accessible via boat, there are no cars, which is so amazing. Railey beach itself is loaded with fancier resorts for the not so budget travelers. But right around the rocky shore (either accessible by walking in the water at low tide and almost getting all your shit wet or by sketchy trail-you pick), you get to Ton Sai beach. There you find the rock climbing outdoor-enthusiast osprey backpack sports bra wearing mecca. Home sweet home. This place is known for its beautiful giant limestone karst rocks that jet out of the ocean and hug the shores of the beach. Here, you will find "active bums" (as Zach and I started calling ourselves) staying months just climbing their hearts out on all the different routes. Everyone is really fit and beautiful too, which is a definite plus for all.
As per Zach's love for climbing and my growing abilities and diminishing fear of heights, we had a blast here. We initially came to Railey to do the Free Water Soloing because it is one of the only places in the world to do it. Free Water Soloing is where you climb up the limestone rock karsts in the ocean without any equipment or ropes. When you feel like jumping (or if you just slip and fall by accident) you just fall into the water below. Although this may sound simple and just like simple rock jumping, it is one of the most bad ass extreme sport things I have ever done. I was super nervous to do it, but Zach, being a good boyfriend and positive encourager (for better or for worst) convinced me to do it with him. We got shuttled out on a boat with our Italian dread lock chiller guide man, who looked like spiderman climbing all over the rocks. Wet hands and wet climbing shoes I slowly and cautiously climbed my way along the karsts. I am not much of a fan of jumping into water from high places (in fact I usually really hate the sensation so much it takes all the fun out of it), but I was very proud of myself and was able to jump from around 20 feet. Zach obviously scurried his way along like a champ and jumped from really high. Some dumbass travels even went higher, which just seems stupid to me because if you hit the water wrong on your jump you are so screwed. All in all free water soloing is much harder than we thought- very fun, but humbling experience.
To satisfy our climbing bones even more we payed for a day of gear and a guide to take us to some top roping spots. I am definitely a beginner to the sport, but fell in love with it instantly. It is so nice to be outside making your way up rocks, puzzling through how your body is going to hold you on and support you. Zach is a natural at it and it was really fun watching him run up the karsts. Some day I want to buy my own gear and spend a month out there climbing. Great scene.
Coincidentally, while we were on Ton Sai beach, there was a Trash Pick Up Festival. The goal was to pick up trash on the beach during the days, and then to trash it again during the night with a large outdoor festival. Great concept. I got to satisfy the dance in me and danced for hours to live Thai Reggae and Thai-like Spice Girl group. Also, there was a fire spinning competition, in which some of the best fire spinners I had ever seen performed two nights in a row for us.
Because all the islands and beaches are less accessible all the food and drink are much more expensive. Zach and I are always talking about budgeting money and comparing prices, so it was hard for us to spend lots of money on food and beer there. We shopped around hard and compared dollars per weight/nutritional content of food. This landed us on the best discovering EVER! A loaf of banana bread. We would stuck up in the morning each day just in case the island stores would run out of it (as it was also popular with cheap travelers). Then each night after the days activities we would bucket shower in our $10/day bungalow, drink a large Chang beer (that we would get from the cheapest source on the island), play a game or two of backgamman, admire my shell collection, and eat banana bread. Such the life.
Great cheap filling breakfast: white rice, an overly fried fried fried omelet (maybe with some pieces of veggies in), hella ketchup, sweat and sour sauce, hot sauce, some soy sauce, and maybe a sprinkle of salt and pepper. I think Zach could have this everyday for the rest of his life and die happy. It is really amazing what condiments can do to enhance a meal.
We ate at the same restaurant four nights in a row and ordered the exact same thing every night. Green or Red Curry and Pineapple Tofu Pad Thai. For dessert: Hot Coconut Soup with cooked Bananas!!! Once we discovered a cheap delicious restaurant we convinced ourselves it was the best and we were too scared to every stray from it. Routine is good.
We also became obsessed with Thailand's sticky rice and mango combination.
My sister just told me that 100% of asians are lactose intolerant (which is one of the stupidest statistics ever because there has to be some asians who are not). However, it does prove that many are lactose intolerant and explain for the lack of milk products in the country and the constant use of condensed milk, soy milk, coconut milk. Being a recovering lactose intolerant, I really appreciate this. Like Thai Coffee, which is just instant coffee and loads of condensed milk. So good.
After Railey/Ton Sai beach, we headed to the popular island of Ko Tao. To get there we had to spend a night sleeping on an overnight boat, which was definitely a first for both of us. Kinda like being the second class citizens on the Titanic (except without the sinking part). When we arrived to Ko Toa there were barely any rooms left to stay at because it was Thailand's high season AND a couple of days before the full moon when thousands (apparently 30,000!) people flock to a nearby island to party. Because of the shortage of rooms we were forced to share a room with another couple for $2000 bhat ($63). So much more than our usual $10-$20 a night rooms. This was the first time on our whole trip we shared a room too, otherwise Zach and I always shared a private double room. Anyways, once we got settled the next day in a cheaper spot we hunkered down for a few days and explored all corners of Ko Tao.
Ko Tao is known for its cheap dive classes and amazing snorkeling. Since its been three years since I took my last dive to get my PADI cert and since Zach does not dive, we opted for the cheaper activity of snorkeling. Just as amazing if you ask me. Each day I hopped on the back of our janky moto as Zach drove us up and down the crazy dirt roads to all the different snorkel spots. All we needed was a $6/day moto, $1.50 rented snorkel set and some water. Each spot we went to our eyes were stimulated with amazing vibrant colors of fish and corals, sharks, jelly fish, and puffer fish. The first time I saw the shark I had no idea where Zach was and freaked out. I also freaked out later that week when I mistook a water bottle floating in the water as a fish trying to eat me. One of my favorite snorkel moments was when Zach called me over to look at this amazing fish on the surface of the ocean. He dove down to take a better look and it turned out to be a large leaf. Love me some leaf and water bottle fish.
After longs days motoing around and snorkeling, we were always super worn out and deserving of some delicious dinner. One night we ate at an all you can eat buffet for $5 (great deal). Buffets are the demise of me. I love them and hate them all at the same time. All you can eat pork buns, different meats and shrimp we cooked in front of us, dumplings, noodles, etc. My tastes buds were happy, but my stomach the next few days was not at all.
Zach got his hairs cut from a lady boy on Ko Tao. His hair was becoming quite lion-like and just way too hot to have on the beaches. After being rejected by many hair cutting places in Cambodia (probably cause no one wanted to touch his dreads), we figured a lady boy would know what she was doing. It was the first professional hair cut Zach has had in years...took a year to grow, and no more than 10 minutes to cut off.
If I have learned anything remotely of importance on this two month travel, it is that I like coconut and bobo tapioca drinks now.
We bought the most amazing foldable mats ever. They have really revolutionized our lives, especially our beach going experience. These mats are great for beach, picnics, laying out your backpacking gear in the parking lot, parks, sleeping near hot springs when you dont want to sleep in your car, and yoga.
The last place we went on our island hopping journey was Ko Payam. Barely written about in Lonely Planet, we were told to go by this nice Norwegian lady we ate lunch with one day on Ton Sai beach. We trusted every word she said and were sooooo glad we went. When we arrived a long haired islanded out thai man greeted us with, "welcome to paradise." And this really was paradise. Not yet overrun by tourism, you can find quiet white sand beaches with bungalows lining the sand and beautiful sunsets. We stayed in a bungalow for $3 each right up from Buffalo Beach. Jungle noises at night, giant lizards hugged the thatched roof and falling apart porch, no locks on the doors, cats crawled through our open windows to join us in bed in the morning, monkeys hopping on rocks in the ocean, beautiful hornbill birds, long runs on the giant beach, early morning yoga to start the days. With a moto for rent we had the wheels to get where ever we wanted. We hopped around the island discovering new spots of beaches and racing to catch the sunsets before hitting up our favorite restaurant we went to each night.
Since going to Ko Payam I have realized that Zach and I are really bad at just sitting still. We would go to a beach in attempt to lay out on our mats, read, and relax. However, we end up reading one page, getting antsy and having to run around, practice our kung fu moves or jump in the water. Zach is especially bad at this and unless he is not sleeping, eating seed weed or watermelon for snack, or drinking a beer, he is running around the beach doing hand stands, trying to catch crabs or walking up and down the beach. It was good practice for us to learn how to slow down for a moment and just relax without having to have constant activity.
As we were enjoying a moment of quietness staring out over the ocean, two sorry looking travels came walking down the beach wearing their heavy looking backpacks in the heat of the day. I was reminiscing to myself about how Zach and I were in a similar position a couple of days ago wandering around looking for a place to stay, when I gave them a triple take. It was my friends Moment and Jasmine from Santa Cruz. Such a lovely coincidence on a random small island in Thailand. Love when things like that happen in life. We got to hang out with them for a day or so, took them to our favorite restaurant curry spot, and introduced them to the bakery with home made wheat bread and meringues. Good fun all around.
We had a really memorable night on Ko Payam where we laid on the beach at night starring up at the stars, swimming in the calm ocean waves, and running up and down being ridiculous and silly. Zach is always so much fun to be goofy with-we got to be such great friends. Once you know all the little things that can piss the other person off, then you know that you are best friends. We definitely got to that point.
So to end our journey together and make a lasting memory I decided to ink myself (or as my mom says: scar myself for life) up in Bangkok the last day of our trip. It is definitely a thing to get tattoos in Thailand as they are known to be cheap and good quality. So I chose a clean looking place with not too many scary pictures of scary tattoos hung on the walls and just did it. Outline of the world map on my left side. Squeezed the living hell out of Zach's hand during the half hour of pain, but now super pleased with it and will love it forever.
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,
Strong and content I travel the open road.
And as for the trip back home: Bangkok to Jordan to Tel Aviv to Los Angeles to San Francisco. Thank Buddha I made it back all in one piece and not too jet lagged. Went the opposite way around the world and flew through a million time zones than what most people do from Bangkok to SF, but despite my giant carbon foot print, it was actually quite a pleasant journey. What made it really amazing was the fact that the airlines Royal Jordanian hooked us up with a five star airport hotel during our 11 hour layover in Amman, Jordan. We were blown away by the service and raged on two giant middle eastern buffets and slept in a king size bed with white sheets and loads of pillows. Way beyond our normal backpacker budget. Then back to the airport we went for a twenty minute flight to Tel Aviv (dont even think we reached cruising altitude on that flight). Why Royal Jordanian could not just fly us an extra 20 minutes straight from Thailand to Israel is beyond me, but we were quite happy with our full bellies and Jordanian entry stamp. After the insane Israeli costumes and border patrol I got to spend one more night and day in Israel stuffing my face with too much hummus and a 15 pound falafel that I ate at 11:30 pm delirious in the airport and for breakfast the next day. Being shuttled away on public transit to the airport I said my final good byes to Zach who is staying in Israel for another two weeks. Bizarre feeling leaving him after spending almost every second of every day for two months straight with him. Now, on my own I venture back to spring time in the Bay Area, Ferrolitos carne asada burritos, bike rides into the hills, and temperpidic mattresses.
Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for the next adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail.
Much love,
Kate
