Chapter 43: Deja-view
Trip Start
Oct 01, 2003
1
43
56
Trip End
Nov 2004
Cameron Highlands,
Malaysia
Monday, July 12, 2004
On Saturday (June 26) Jonas and I took the ferry from Big Buddha Beach (so-named for the giant gold Buddha statue perched nearby) on Koh Samui to Had Rin, the backpacker mecca on Koh Phangan. The small-but-vibrant town of Had Rin is spread out over a narrow peninsula, and there's a "quiet" side (Had Rin Nai, or Sunset Beach), and a "loud" side, where the Full Moon Party takes place (Had Rin Nok, or Sunrise Beach). We found a nice bungalow for 600bt at Rin Bay View on the quiet beach, and settled in for a week of sun and relaxation leading up to the party on July 1st.
We spent the days sleeping late, eating breakfast at our guesthouse, reading and playing the Gameboy, hitting the beach in the afternoon, and eating, drinking, and watching bootleg movies in the restaurants at night
01 Backpackers disembarking on Koh Phangan
. There was plenty of eye-candy at the beach and around town, as Had Rin is full of young tanned backpackers (and is largely devoid of the chunky package tourists that plague Samui), and we had fun watching the beach volleyball tournaments in the late afternoon. We based our dining choices on which restaurant was showing a movie we wanted to see, so during our stay we caught "School of Rock" (funny and charming), "Shrek 2" (funny and charming but with garbled sound that marred the experience), "Van Helsing" (terrible), and "Kill Bill 2" (brilliant - especially the black mamba and "eye" bits). The food was surprisingly decent for a backpacker ghetto... we had some amazing Mexican, good Italian, and killer chicken schnitzel sandwiches.The beach scene at night was pretty cool: all the bars set up tables and pillows or chairs in the sand and played music, and people clustered around candles drinking cheap "buckets" (literally kiddie buckets filled with a small liquor bottle, a soda can, maybe some energy drink, ice, and a few straws - a great idea that I can't believe isn't more popular elsewhere). There were also fire dancers and guys walking around with exotic animals like iguanas and monkeys hoping to get tourists to pay for photos; I held a pretty Burmese python for a while until the guy realized I had no intention of shelling out for a pic.
02 Jonas on Had Rin Nok Beach
I went for a dive trip on July 1st - the day of the party, and the 9-month mark for my travels. Jonas was going to come along to go snorkelling, but unfortunately after we took the 7am half-hour sawngthaew ride to the dive shop in Thong Sala, they informed us that the water would be too choppy for good snorkelling, so I was on my own for the day. Luckily the other divers on the boat were friendly, and the two dives we did at Sail Rock were pleasant, so it was a good time. I practiced taking underwater photos, so hopefully I'll get some of the pics posted here before too long. I returned from diving around 4, and we napped for the rest of the afternoon to save energy for the party. At 7 we went for a big pizza dinner, figuring the carbs & fat would be good to soak up all the upcoming alcohol, and then we went back to sleep until 11:30.
We guzzled some Red Bull to shake off the drowsiness, and then made our way across town to Had Rin Nok. The party was just getting into full swing (supposedly it peaks between 2 & 4am), and there were thousands of people hanging out in the sand, wandering around drunkenly, or dancing in front of the speaker stacks set up by the bars. We started at Paradise Bungalows (where the FMP began years ago, and where New Order's "Crystal" was blasting), and made our way up the beach
03 Floating restaurant and boats - Koh Phangan
. Techno played from most of the sound systems, people were already peeing in the ocean, taxi boats were ferrying loads of people in from other beaches or islands, and Jonas got offerend ecstasy from a local dealer. We opted instead for a bucket of Smirnoff, Coke, and Red Bull, and brought it down to the sand where we hung out and chatted with some friendly English girls. Several buckets, chicken schnitzel sandwiches, and bathroom trips later, we were faced at 5:45am with the decision of whether to stay up for the sunrise or head back and crash. Of course, there was no decision to be made, really; we plunked ourselves down in the sand with two last drinks, watched the sun come up, and went back to Rin Bay View around 7. All in all the party was a lot tamer than I expected (not much evidence of drug use, no tragic accidents, hardly any sex/nudity, and very little vomit), but that's not necessarily a bad thing, as we still had a great night. Somehow (probably due to careful alcohol selection and much water guzzling) we weren't even that hung over when we woke up at 12:30 and ventured out for food.
By July 3rd (we needed one recovery day) we'd had more than enough of the islands, so we took the ferry back to Surat Thani, and then got a minivan to Khao Sok National Park
04 Our bungalow row on Kooh Phangan
. Time to get back to nature... Khao Sok is a jungle park not unlike Taman Negara in Malaysia. We found a simple but clean room (clean except for the resident bathroom frogs) for 250bt at Khao Sok Jungle Huts, about 1/2 km from the park entrance, and spent three nights there.We meant to wake up early on the first full day so we could get in and out of the park before the daily afternoon rain came... but naturally that didn't happen and we found ourselves eating breakfast at 11:30. By 12:40 we'd paid our 200bt entrance fee and were walking along the one lonely trail in the park that wasn't closed due to the rainy season. We walked 4.5 km into the jungle and back in about 5 hours, and saw some monkeys, a cool crested lizard, and THREE snakes! One was a tiny green keelback, another was a red-tailed ratsnake (I think) with an attitude, and the last one was maybe a bronzeback or another kind of keelback. Hard to tell. Anyway, the latter two posed for photos, and I was thrilled. I think it's a new record for me: 3 wild snakes in one hour! To make the day even more perfect, we didn't have any leech encounters, despite several warnings from other unfortunate guests.
On Monday the 5th both of us came down with some kind of cold/illness, so we cancelled our plans to go jungle trekking again, and just relaxed in our room by reading, napping, and playing games. I motivated just enough to find a place that did same-day laundry, and I tried to check e-mail on an ancient computer with a stop-n-go internet connection. It didn't happen.
Tuesday morning we both felt marginally better, so we took a minivan to Krabi at 8:30am and booked into K Guesthouse, a friendly place across town from where I stayed a few months ago
05 Main Street, Koh Phangan. 7-11 is global!
. By this point I was fully committed to scrapping my Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur flight on the 15th and just flying from KL to Istanbul on the 16th, as I knew I'd have more fun revisiting a few spots with Jonas than I would staying on the Thai islands for two more weeks alone. So I found myself in Krabi again, and it was kind of cool returning to a place I was familiar with along with someone experiencing it for the first time. We did the same Railay Beach / Ao Nang boat trip that I made last time, and that definitely gave me a sense of deja-vu. It also made me realize that I've gotten a little jaded about the sights, because the awesome cliffs and beaches didn't stun me the same way they did the first time. The day was fun because I was with a friend, and it felt great to recognize that I had so much more self confidence getting around this time, but I think if I'd been alone I would have questioned the point of returning. That's an important lesson for me, I think, as I often get nostalgic for places (Fiji, New Zealand, Australia) that I visited earlier on my trip, and sometimes think of going back.July 7th was a long but nice travel day. We took a minivan to Hat Yai, and then switched to a different minivan that took us across the border to Malaysia and then down to Georgetown via the Butterworth ferry. Two English travelers (Louise and Simon) were with us the whole way, and they were good fun to chat with. They had all kinds of questions for me about Malaysia, and I felt relieved when they (and Jonas) found Love Lane Inn (where I stayed last time) to be an acceptable place to sleep. The proprietor of the guesthouse even remembered me when I walked in, which was a nice feeling. The four of us went out for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, and then went to celebrate Simon's birthday with some more drinks at a cool new tattoo parlor / restaurant called Ecco
06 Relaxing, Koh Phangan-style
. The place only had a couple of driftwood tables, was dimly lit, played spooky world music, and was decorated (read: covered) in random artifacts that the owner had collected from all over the world (masks, weapons, paintings, dolls, instruments... you name it). They baked a mean brownie, too.Jonas and I spent two full days in Georgetown, and I felt ill again for most of the stay. I took care of random errands (officially cancelled my BKK-KL flight, bought cold medicine and toiletries, browsed used bookshops, etc.) and spent lots of time at Prangin Mall in the Komtar Center. The bootleg DVDs had somehow dropped in price since my last visit, so it was now possible to get them for under US$1 each; I went overboard after the past few weeks of shopping withdrawal, but at least I'll have some mindless entertainment to keep me occupied after Jonas and I split. *sniff*
Saturday we took a bus to the Cameron Highlands - a place I wished I'd spent more time in a few months ago. The 6-hour ride passed quickly thanks to the cold medicine and the "Mean Girls" DVD I'd picked up, which we both thought was really funny. We're staying in the same guesthouse I did last time (the Cameronian Inn), and yesterday we took their free guided jungle walk with an Irish couple named Kieran and Jane
07 Dive shot near Sail Rock
. Our guide's name was Yen, and he started off a little strangely, by telling us not to expect much besides a walk, and by badmouthing the Highlands. After a few minutes, though, he warmed up and became very friendly and engaging. He was incredibly knowledgeable about the country, and he was environmentally conscious as well. We learned about all kinds of things, from the Chinese/Indian/Malay racial issues here, to the history of the area, to how to make small animal traps, to the story of Jim Thompson, the American silk industry giant who mysteriously vanished here in the 60's. After the tour, which came out 5km up the road in the town of Brinchang, the four of us took a taxi up into the hills to the BOH tea plantation. The tea trees covering the hills were beautiful, but the rest of the experience was a bust. The "tour" lasted 5 minutes and half of it took place in the gift shop, the informational video couldn't be heard over the din of the cafe, and it started pouring soon after we got there. The killer was trying to find a ride back, though... we were miles from town, it was raining, and none of the (mostly empty) tour buses would give us a lift back to the main road - even though we offered to pay! We dejectedly walked 1km back towards the entrance, and then got trapped in a shelter when a deluge hit. Luckily Jane stuck her thumb out half-heartedly just as two cars full of Malaysian students drove by; amazingly they stopped, made room, and drove us back to town
08 Diving at Sail Rock
! Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers, because the rain didn't let up until well after dark!Today Jonas and I took a four hour walk through the hills, and tomorrow we're moving on to KL for our last few days together. It'll be hard saying "goodbye," because after 10+ weeks of doing everything together, we've become very close friends, and neither of us is eager to strike out on our own again. I'm simultaneously trying to prepare myself for Turkey and an entire new continent! The big question is: how do I fit in all of Europe before it starts getting slightly chilly? Any ideas? Hope everything is good in your world, and I'll write soon from Istanbul... probably.
-Tim
