Following the Dream

Christian November 22nd, 2008

     We arrived Tueday afternoon to Ao Nang after waking up at 5:45am to catch a series of 2 flights, and a shuttle to reach our destination. Once out of the airport we were greeted to blue skies and hot and humid weather. We didn’t know where we were staying and ended up in our 2nd choice and decided to pay the extra $6 to have air conditioning. We were also happy to have a mini fridge and HBO (our only channel) in our room. We each took a quick shower and by now it was after 2pm and we had yet to have a meal so we happily hit up the local McDonald’s. We then walked around town checking out all the tour agencies for the cheapest price on an island tour.

We finally settled on one that was a little pricey but took us where we wanted to go with the fewest amount of people on our boat. Tired by all of the walking and the heat we found a 2 for 1 happy hour and enjoyed drinks and food for the next couple hours. We passed out while watching some HBO.
     The next morning we packed up our sunscreen and towels and got picked up across from our hotel around 8:30am. Our “pick-up” involved a guy walking us down to the beach where we waited another half hour for the rest of our group to arrive. Around 9 am twenty of us jumped on board the speedboat and we were off. About 40 minutes later we arrived at Bamboo Island where we had about 45 minutes to explore the island and relax in the sun. We were one of the first people off the boat and quickly snapped some pictures before everyone else could get in the way. The scenery was beautiful with white sand beaches, clear water, and filled with trees making the center of the island a lush green. Once onboard our next stop was snorkeling. We jumped in the warm water and enjoyed seeing a variety of fish. Of course we are a little jaded by our time at the Great Barrier Reef, but we did see some clown fish, a moorish idol, parrotfish, and wrasse. After 30 minutes in the water we were once again off to our next destination. We then arrived at “Monkey Island” for a quick stop to see some beach monkies. Some tours had brought bananas and were feeding the monkies. We had been warned that they would snatch anything we left of the beach, and we did see a monkey steal someone’s water and drink it. I managed to find a dropped banana laying on the beach and fed it to one of the little guys. 

Next stop was lunch at Phi Phi Island. We enjoyed a buffet of chicken, rice, fish sticks, and pasta. We then had about an hour to explore the town. It was very built up and developed, since everything had to be rebuilt since the Tsumani. We were disapointed to discover the beach crowded with boats, and the streets full of touts offering tours and boat rides. This was not the tropical paradise we had imagined. It was also very hot just wondering around the town, and we were ready to see more. After a drive by of “Viking Cave” where chinese pirates once hid, and another snorkle, we finally arrived a the crown jewel of beaches, Maya Beach, which had been filmed in the movie “The Beach”. It is exactly what you would expect of Thailand from pictures you see, the softest white sand you have ever felt, warm clear water, surrounded by jagged limestone cliffs. Luckily, we had a whole hour here, and after a few pictures just relaxed in the water and people watched. There were tons of people on the beach, easily 150 or more, but since it is such a large beach, there is plenty of room for everyone. We did notice as we were leaving it seemed like tons more people were arriving, so we go lucky.

We enjoyed a snack of watermelon and pineapple on the boat ride back to town. We really enjoyed the day, but were happy to shower and relax in the air conditioning. Unfortunately, it started to pour rain as we were getting ready to leave for dinner and once it slowed down we realized many shops were without power. So we enjoyed our dinner by candlelight. About halfway through dinner power came back on but when we returned to our hotel, it was still black inside. So we headed out to stroll around town and bought some drinks from 7-11 and sat on a bench to people watch. There were many older white men with young thai girls.  Where there are tons of tourists, you have tons to see. After noticing that Casey’s wine cooler turned her lips, tongue, and teeth bright blue, we walked back to our room, where we found the electricity was back on and watched some TV.
     The next day we took a 15 minute ride on a longtail boat to Railay Beach. We had heard all good things about this beach and saw some nice pictures so we were excited for a nice day in the sun. We arrived around 11am and it was hot in the sun. The beach was long and had warm green torquoise waters with cliffs on both sides. It was very nice and peaceful minus the touts trying to sell you massages, bracelets, blankets, and food. We read and slept on the beach for about 2 hours and then noticed that the clouds started to roll in and sure enough 40 minutes later it started to drizzle. The boat drivers were yelling for us to get onboard to go back to town.  By then in was a full downpour and we were soaking wet. We hung out inside for the rest of the day as the rain continued. We then went out to check our email and look into a tour for the next day. We were both craving pizza so hit up a cheap pizza joint before walking around town for a little. We then stopped at the street vendors, and enjoyed a “pancake” (more like a crepe) with nutella on top. We really enjoy the night life and food of Ao Nang.

     The next morning we were excited to go on another tour. We woke up to the sun peaking out from behind the clouds and hoped the clouds would burn off as it got later. We had booked a “longboat tour” thinking it would only be 9-12 people on a small longboat. We soon found out that it would be closer to 30 people packed onto a huge “longtail” whose engine was so loud you were deaf if you sat to close to it. (like we did) Even though our pick-up was at 9am it was closer to 10am by the time we got going. By now it was cloudy and soon it was drizzling again, Our first stop was at Tub Island which has a sandbar at low tide to connect 2 islands together. We walked along and enjoyed the beautiful scenery the best we could while being lightly rained on. You could tell that on a sunny day the place would be great. The water was completely clear and you could walk out for 50 feet in the shallow waters. We soon headed back to the boat to go to our next spot which was open sea snorkeling. We decided to stay in the boat since we had already snorkeled and knew what to expect. Besides we wanted to stay dry for once. Next was lunch at Poda Island. Once again it would of been a beautiful place had the weather been nicer. As soon as we sat down to our lunch of chicken and rice, it started to rain again. We did not let it hamper our visit to Poda though.  We saw some wild monkeys, played in the sand, took a dip in the water, and collected sea shells while it drizzled on and off.  Our final stop was Hat Phra Nang beach, which had a very interesting cave.  Inside the cave there was a shrine, but also hundreds of painted wooden penises of all sizes.  We had no clue why they were there and were not given an explaination, we were thinking fertility.  I thought it made a great photo.

     The beach was very nice and you could wade through the water under the overhang to access a pathway that lead to Railay beach.  The rain began to fall pretty steadily so Casey and I took refuge underneath a tree.  After the final beach, we returned to Ao Nang.  We ate dinner at a street stall ran by a tranny.  The following day the rain continued to fall, so we took care of some errands and enjoyed $3 meals at some of the larger food stalls on the main strip.  We prepared to head to the other side of Thailand, Koh samui.  We are hoping for better weather on the otherside, however are not very confident as there have been rumors of a big monsoon passing by.

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