Cheap internet 3
Trip Start
Sep 03, 2008
1
7
117
Trip End
??? ??, 2009
Chiang Mai,
Thailand
Friday, September 19, 2008
tues 9 sept...
right so we wake up... and it is late. can't quite remember the time but the early rise thais would not be happy with us and think we were ill. well we might have been after a few drinks the night before. who knows? i can't remember. anyway so i leave sean in bed and go down to the beach to read. glorious sunshine, absolutely baking hot, happy looking out to sea with my fruit shake, one of very, very many to come. after a while, and before i send out a search party for him, 'skanky' comes down for breakfast on the beach. nice and western. after breakfast, we go back to our lil shack on legs, to get tanked up to go for a swim in the sea. and i have to say i didn't feel as comfortable as i usually do back in mudeford taking my clothes off to go for a dip. thai women don't seem to have big boobs so i think mine may have been a bit of a novelty for some of them men. that or they were deeply offended by a woman getting semi-clad. god i hate the politics of being abroad. don't get me started on some of the rules! so in for a dip and the water is absolutely beautiful. it is so warm, i think we might have even said it feels like someone's pee-ed in it! and i think it was at that moment, in the middle of baking waters, that me and sean decided, drunk on ko samet living already after less than 24 hours, that we would stay another night. this is the same moment that our plans all started to be pushed back, and writing this days and days later, i finally appreciate what sean's mate bran said about no travel plans ever staying the same. anyway after not long in the sea, the first raindrops fall, and before we know it, we're right in the middle of a tropical storm in the sea. all i can remember thinking is how if you were back in england, this would be the time you run for cover, but us and three thai kids, who were laughing and running about down the shallow end, and chucking their arms up in the air, stayed out to see how long we could go before it became unbearable. and after a while, i came to understand what forrest gump meant by rain that comes up from underneath you! after a lil divering about after coming out of the water, finding our clothes absolutely soaked, and having to make the offensive walk of shame through back to our hut, we went for dinner and drinks. dinner was bad, very bland, and this is saying something but maybe even worse than i could make. drinks were had in the lamp bar, which looked like a fairy kingdom with all it's fairy lights, and then later back to the corfu-esque lady boy disco for more there. and bed. by this time, by the way, my legs would probably have been bitten to shit and left me feeling like the favourite dish on an all-you-can-eat menu!
weds 10 sept...
all i have written down for this day in my notebook is breakfast, swim, dinner, drinks so maybe it wasn't the most action-packed day, but then ko samet was only ever meant as a chance to get away from bangkok. and although i think i'm probably a freak for loving it more than most hippyish, drug-fuelled, ratty dreadlocked, tye-dye clad traveller, it was nice to get away from the tuk tuk drivers etc etc, and step onto an island with a tree-topped hilly backdrop, with palm trees on the beach, white sands, and clear seas. and just forget that the other side of ko samet is tacky bungalow resorts selling burger and chips, cheap eateries showing recent movies and expensive beer, and lots and lots of neon lights.
thurs 11 sept...
ok so with only a day left on ko samet, today as the day that we finally did some exploring outside of tub tim bay, and further from the tacky resorts for the westerners. we wanted to go properly into the jungles for a trek, but somehow we ended up just strolling along yet more white beaches, past some of the most exotic resorts on the island, which i'd imagine were aimed at thais only, because there were very few foreigners around when we walked through. here the bungalows were not surrounded by neon advertising, or look like designer log cabins, and certainly not like our shack on stilts, but rather like mini homes from home. they were nice. and each had a view of it's own private bay. there were terracota models of thai children and the bushes were shaped like animals. yes my friends, one day, i hope to be a capitalist monster, if only so i can go back there and lord it up with the great and the good thai folk. anyway after i'd gotten over my jealousy, we walked on and oddly found more tacky resort, so it seems wherever you go in thailand, us foreigners are taking over and destroying things. we ate lunch at the next resort, not even worth mentioning, and strolled home. in the evening we decided to try for a posher restaurant on the beach, rather than the tackier, cheaper, crapper places on the beach, and we were not disappointed. we had a mix of stir-fry, noodles, rice etc, on proper plates rather than the plastic ones we'd found before, and it was divine. no surprises, nothing bland, it was lovely. even watching from hell, although not the most obvious choice to watch while eating, wasn't bad. it seemed like ko samet was just another in a long line of places i've been to, which don't really get what foreigners want when they get away from home. apparently we want chips, lots of beer, and lots of english. and yes, as much as i am craving beans on toast, surely the whole point of getting away is to try something different, otherwise you may as well just go for a cheap flight to spain? anyway the meal was amazing except for the waitresses starting to clear the other tables away before we and the other remaining couple had even finished, and one of them suddenly appearing for sean to pay the bill, before he'd even taken his last spoonful. anyway, after dinner, we said we'd have just one last drink in the corfu-esque bar, but after they started pumping out the cheesy pop, i'm afraid my love for all things tat came out and we just had to stay. yes i'm afraid in hindsight, after now experiencing a couple of nights when the familiar tunes have come out, that is one way the thais get you to stay around for more drinks. play what you know and you will not go. anyway before finally getting up to go home, we got to see a couple of chavs get into a scrape in the street. eventually the dj decided to stop the music altogether as we were all just watching the fight, which then caused the men to realise they had an audience and walk away. oh how i love the english!
fri 12 sept...
friday saw us getting up early for breakfast and getting packed up to go back to bangkok. i was sad to say goodbye to ko samet as i realised it would probably be the last time for a long time that i got to see the sea and think of being back home, but it was nice to get away just for a few days and see one of the islands. we were never going to do the usual tourist thing of going to ko pan gnang and ko samui, but maybe we will after cambodia. we will see. back at the riverline guesthouse, after another treacherous sawngthaew ride, boat trip, which i believe almost saw us capsize and our luggage go into the sea, and boring bus home, we were back in the cafe on the corner of our street, eating hot and spicy soups and watching the traffic race by, before stepping back into the riverline guesthouse, where our dicky tummies suddenly hit! but that's for later! as for ko samet, grievances include too much sand getting absolutely everywhere, mosquitos biting me, being angry that you can't take your clothes off without thinking you're offending half of southeast asia, tacky tourism taking over everywhere, missing out on the kayaking through lack of time and those blasted showers making it too unsafe anyway, and very, very expensive internet. loves include those ladyboys having the absolute best time, grinding up and down poles to everyone's amusement, tiny kids running around in the water, and knowing that even though bad tourism looks like absolute crap, at least it will serve you up a reasonably good fried breakfast if you need one!
Comments
Great stuff
Enjoy reading your blog immensely. If you're still in Chiang Mai call by The Writers Club--I'd like to invite you and Sean to a pitcher of wine and a chat.
Bob Tilley,
The Writers Club Cjhiang Mai