Exploring an island, part 2
Trip Start
Jun 07, 2004
1
21
50
Trip End
Nov 27, 2004
Ko Phangan,
Thailand
Friday, September 3, 2004
Sadly, I find that there is no accommodation available. That of the simple beach facing ' junglelow ' Infact, the way it works here is that visitors sleep on the beach in a kind of queuing system until a cabin is vacated. I am shown a room in a house beside a pool of stagnant water far away from the beach, ideal for mosquito lovers. A centrally positioned upscale resort has one room spare but I stick to my guns and resist the easy path into impulsive over spending. By now a kind of bidding war has broken out among the other new arrivals.
And so it is that I begin to walk the rough track out of Bottle Beach which climbs over a tall hill forming the next headland. Beyond it will be Ao Thong Nai Pan Noi and its neighbour Ao Thong Nai Pan Yai. The road twists up the steep side of this gigantic bloody hill and the terrain is loose and coarse. Making it easy to slip. I stop for a few moments to get my breath back and hear the continuous scratching sound of a million cicadas. Like radio static jamming my mind. The daytime heat feels like I am breathing while locked inside a sauna. And like a twat, I've left my Tibetan sunglasses behind, down at Bottle Beach. Which is where they will stay.
The deep green jungle all around me prevents me seeing out. I resolutely march onwards with my bag slung over shoulder and shoes kicking up the dust. Some hours later, an Australian couple pass me on a rented moped aiming in the other direction, quite lost. The path begins to descend and there are intermittent glimpses of the sea. I reach a badly rutted road which falls down to the first of the Ao Thong Nai Pans and check into a triangular roofed dwelling at Star Huts resort. It seems very nice. Cold beer is served and I feel I've earned it. Furthermore there's a burger stall nearby called Handsome Sandwiches and the name does not lie. It is rare to find such a good burger.
The road south reaches an entrance to a wooded trail which a Lonely Planet map shows as a dotted line ( footpath ) leading further down to the next area along the coast known as Tien Sadet. However, this path passes only some curious lumberjacks before taking me onto rocks where I am faced with the crashing waves of the sea. I am out of drinking water. I contemplate whether to try to signal a passing boat to hitch a ride but either he won't see me or else it's too dangerous for a boat to approach these rocks. Why would he, after all ? If he does see me, he'll soon be laughing his tits off at the sight of another crazy falang.
Next ; Exploring an island, part 3
