January 16-19, Pak Bara and Ko Lipe

On Wednesday, January 16 we left Cameron Highlands and Malaysia for the much anticipated THAILAND. We wanted to begin our Thai experience by sunbathing on one of the 50+ islands in Ko Tarutao National Marine Park. The gateway city to Ko Tarutao is Pak Bara, so that became our destination city for that long day of traveling...

Our morning began easily enough, we boarded an 8:00 am bus to Ipoh. We were told that the bus ride would take about 1.5 hours but since the bus made local stops the ride lasted closer to 2.5 hours. But we rolled with the punches and once reaching Ipoh boarded a bus to Alor Star, a city in northern Malaysia. We were told that in Alor Star we could take a bus across the Thai border to Hat Yai, a crappy border town known for it's prostitutes. Prostitutes weren't very appealing, especially with the hot, sticky weather, but we desperately wanted to make it across the border that day so we climbed aboard and rode the 3 hours to Alor Star. In Alor Star we discovered that no buses cross the border to Thailand, we needed to rent a taxi to drive us to the border. Ok... So we hired a driver and were delivered at the border about 45 minutes later. I think this was my first time walking across a country border, what fun!

On the other side we exchanged our money and looked into how best to continue our journey. Ultimately we decided to hire a taxi driver to take us all the way to Pak Bara (a 4 hour drive) from where we could take the ferry to Ko Tarutao NP the next day. The ride was fairly expensive but the car was new and air conditioned, plus driving to PB meant that we could avoid the Hat Yai prositiutes. We were lucky to hire a very nice driver who helped us practice our Thai and pointed out sites in the rural landscape. We also took that time to work on my Spanish--since Lindsay is fluent, she makes a perfect practice partner. Since the beginning of the trip Lindsay's taken to speaking to me in Spanish when we are being hassled by cab drivers, hotel staff, etc., and we need to consult one another without being bothered. We arrived in PB that evening, ate some very spicy green curry, and then checked into a hotel recommended to us by some German tourists.

Thursday morning we woke up to rain but figured that the clouds would lift by noon time. We purchased speedboat tickets to Ko Lipe: a small island contained in the national park that is open to private development but, rumor has it, remains fairly pristine. We figured, why take the two hour slowboat when we can get there in one hour on the speedboat? Boarding the speedboat proved to be fairly chaotic in the rain. The boat handlers crammed 50+ wet and sulking German, French, Italian and English tourists (plus packs) onto one unimpressive speedboat. This load was definitely beyond capacity and because it was raining no one was sitting out on the sundeck. Instead, everyone was crammed into the sitting/standing room in the center and onto the pitiful benches along the sides (that's where Lindsay and I were) .

Let's just say that it was a bad boat ride, very...Gilligan's Isle. The rain never let up and everyone got soaked despite wearing rain coats and using umbrellas in the boat. Rain was pouring in through the canvas roof, waves were constantly splashing inside and the boat seemed to be dangerously off kilter (too much weight on the port side I'd say). Of course there were absolutely no life jackets in sight. Two rusty poles held up the canvas and there must have been at least 10 people gripping each pole, everytime the boat swayed it looked like the poles were going to snap off. And to top it off the girl sitting beside me began vomitting about 45 minutes into the journey. The hellish boat ride lasted a little over 2 hours but overall it was a fun experience I guess...

Eventually our speed boat pulled up to a large boat anchored off the coast of Ko Lipe. Without the help of the crew we moved off the "speedboat of death" and onto this other vessel. From there we gathered that we were supposed to collect our packs and get them onto one of the feverishly bobbing "longtail boats." A longtail boat is a wooden boat about 20-30 feet in length that sits very low in the water and uses a automotive (or lawnmower?) engine for power. The propeller is located at the end of a five to six foot pole that extends into the water and can be swiveled around by the driver. Lindsay located our luggage and quickly threw it on to the first departing longtail boat. We clamored into the boat with the help of our fellow depressed tourists and puttered off towards the island, joined in our boat by a group of bickering, smoking Italians. Setting off in the loud longtail boat made me feel like we were some of the privelaged few fleeing on a lifeboat from the sinking Titanic, everyone we left behind on the anchored boat was staring at us looking wet, limp and sad.

Our boat ride to Ko Lipe's main beach called Pattaya took about 20 minutes. That doesn't sound long but it was. The smoking Italians took all of the covered seats so the pelting rain was coming down hard on our heads and packs. The driver stopped the boat about a quarter mile off shore and told us that the ride cost 50 Baht per person. The Italians started arguing some more but eventually we all paid up so that the driver would stop holding us hostage and f-ing drive to shore!

After all that we touched down on the beautiful white sands of Ko Lipe. Wet and bedraggled Lindsay and I checked into the overpriced Bundhaya Resort (never shop for accommodation when you are wet and tired...it's like grocery shopping when you are starving). We unpacked our wet clothes, ate lunch at the hotel restaurant and then headed off for Thai massages. Many people told me that I had to get a Thai massage but I still wasn't sure what to expect, except for maybe a happy ending? We settled on a beachside massage parlor (as in we were lying on a platform on the beach) that was providing traditional Thai massages for 300 B per hour (about $10). My massage was great! Actually I found it more reminiscent to a yoga class than to a massage. I'm not sure that all of the positions were great for my alignment but my back and joints didn't feel out of whack the next day, so I guess it was ok. My massage lasted closer to 1.5 hours and really put me at ease after the hectic day.

That night we decided it was an appropriate time to spend money on booze. Period. We situated ourselves at a little place called the Beachside Bar where the friendly Thai hippies happily served us drinks. Soon enough we fell into conversation with two travelers sitting across the way, Marcus and JC. Marcus is an American that has been living/traveling in New Zealand and Asia for the past ten years working as a freelance photographer. JC is a ridiculousluy hyper (but well-intentioned) Bangkok-based French model/swimsuit designer that has been staying on Ko Lipe for over a month. Soon enough JC had us all drinking Sang Som (Thai rum) and cokes and ordering freshly grilled seafood. Marcus and JC elected for kilos of squid while Lindsay and I selected the grouper (my favorite fish). After eating we all decided to move to another hippy bar called "Peace and Love" to meet up with some of their German friends. I had a grand 'ole time at Peace and Love, mingling with the locals and chatting it up with the friendly Germans, Inga and Meekesh. There were some fire twirlers/eaters that performed for us on the beach and this gave me a proper introduction to the "lady boy" of Thailand. At risk of sounding like a prude, the lady boy fire show was bizarre and I hope to never see one again (too much deep throating of the firey batons...). Needless to say Lindsay and I left the crowd drinking buckets of Sang Som at 2 am...

I woke up Friday morning very hung over. Lindsay had made plans for us to go snorkeling with Tong, a friendly Thai guy we met the night before (one of the flame throwers but not the lady boy one). I immediately backed out of those plans and opted for more restful activities: reading under a shady palm tree, swimming in the ocean (really it was just floating), eating greasy noodles with Marcus and JC and (talking about) playing frisbee. I met up with Tong and Lindsay in the late afternoon and we headed to Sunset Beach to watch the sunset (obviously) and then went inland for dinner. One of Ko Lipe's best attributes is the lack of automotive traffic on the island--pedestrians criss-cross the island via a series of circuitous dirt paths. Tong led us to the Banana Tree where we ate the best green curry (ever!), drank fruit shakes, and reclined to watch a screening of Woody Allen's "Matchpoint". After dinner Lindsay and I immediately passed out in our hotel room.

On Saturday morning Tong, Lindsay and I hired a longtail boat and set off for some snorkeling areas off the island. Many of the fish were familiar (parrot, surgeon, clown, needle fish; sea urchins and anemones) but the coral was tinted absolutely brilliant shades of red, fuscia and magenta. Really stunning colors that I had never seen on previous snorkeling excursions. We stopped at several spots to snorkel about and then parked on the shores of Ko Adang to eat lunch and hang on the beach. Overall it was a great day! We wrapped things up with a mellow dinner at our hotel, then Lindsay went down to Peace and Love (Tong was working there that night) to say thanks for tour guiding while I finished up reading Angela's Ashes.

On Sunday morning we boarded a longtail boat at 8:45 am to be taken to our Pak Bara speedboat (oy...). After making a few circles and getting thoroughly wet, we made it to the boat and secured the best seats (a two-seater in the covered section next to the driver). The boat was packed to capacity again but this time it didn't feel quite as cramped because people were able to sit on the deck. The sun was shining and everything seemed alright but the 15-year-old driver proved to be a bit speedy for my taste. The boat kept crashing around on the waves for the first hour--the sound of crunching metal when we came down hard on the water was jarring to say the least. The sadist, I mean boat captian, mellowed out after a while...we made it back to Pak Bara fairly quickly and in one piece.

Next stop Krabi...