Ah, the tropical islands! Sun, swimming, reading, lounging, and eating. Conversation. And very little else.
But first we had to get there. We booked a bus from Bangkok to Koh Lanta for about $9 each. It will be a long ride. We will start at 6 PM, and arrive mid-afternoon the next day. We have been warned about scams, so we first look at the pictures of the bus. There are nice, big air-conditioned coaches.
At the appointed hour, we head for the station. We check in, but nothing seems to happen for about an hour. The bus is parked. We just wait, and eventually board and head off. The seats are comfortable, and we get a little sleep. There is a movie on the bus, but the sound is turned too low to hear. We doze a little. Periodically, the bus stops at roadside cafes. Presumably, the driver gets a kickback. We brought our own food and water, so we just sit around at each stop. The bus slowly speeds down the long peninsula. During the middle of the night, we pull into a small stop and folks headed to one destination are told to get on a different bus, and we stay on ours. By morning we have stopped several times.
Eventually we stop and are all told to get off. We are not sure where we are, but the bus the drives off. Gradually, other vehicles come by asking for the passengers going to different destinations. One group piles into the back of a pickup truck. Fortunately, the Koh Lanta passengers load into a mini-van and we are off again. Not understanding Thai, few passengers really know exactly what is going on, but just trust the drivers. It seems to work.
At about 11 AM we stop in Krabi, where a ferry will take us to Koh Lanta. The next ferry is not due for a couple of hours, so we are told to return at 1 PM for the short ride, and we wander around. A few people are late getting back, and we head off to the ferry at about 1:15. I notice that we are heading east, while the ferry is southwest. The driver stops at a few other pickup places, which is likely the reason. But the ferry leaves at 1:30 and it is getting very close. The driver continues heading east. I pull out a map, and notice an alternate route to the island. Instead of taking the two-hour ferry, there is a road around to the other east side with two short ferry rides. I guess that that is where we are headed. Watching the road signs and topography, I feel comfortable that we are on that route.
The passengers who were late begin to get nervous behind us. One young man assumes that the driver cannot understand English, and makes several condescending comments. He even mocks the sound of Thai as childish babble. He is very rude. I hope that the driver cannot understand, and feel very embarrassed by the other traveler. The other passengers get more nervous as the time moves from 1:30 to 1:45. I show them the map, and where I think we are. They presume I have a compass. While I was reading the direction fine from the sun and the topography, I do pop my compass out of my pocket and show them on the map. We soon reach an intersection that confirms that we are taking the alternate route. Everyone settles in for the ride.
Did the driver swindle us, pocketing the money intended for the ferry? Or did the late passengers make it so that we missed the ferry and the driver did us a huge favor? Or was this the plan all along? I have no idea. And it really doesn't matter. The time and the price to go across the ferry and to go around by the road is the same. We arrived as promised. Part of the adventure of the trip is to learn and grow personally, and developing patience and trust when we really cannot understand is part of that. Of course, it also sure helped that I had the map and knew about the alternate route!
Anyway, so much for the drive. On to the island!
There is no time here. Nothing happens in the future to plan for or fret about. The past is gone. There is just the present and it moves along very slowly.
We found a very convivial set of nine bungalows right on the beach. We arranged to rent a space for the tent, and get access to water, toilets and showers for $0.75 a night each. Initially, we thought we might cook some of our own meals, but it is cheap to eat out. We settle into a very simple life. We each read several books. Rob Stewart had met us in Tokyo for a nice evening with tips on Hong Kong, and had given us a great little book, "Shopping for Buddha". We each read it and several others. (Thanks Rob!) Rod swims in the warm ocean. And swims. We just lounge around. We take morning walks. We talk with others, and think about what we might do that day. We are so relaxed. Time just moves from day to day. No one seems to know what day it is, and no one cares.
We are staying at the Bee Bee bungalows. Many of the guests have been here before, and come for weeks or even months at a time. Most of the people are from Germany, with some Austrians, British, Australian, Japanese and Canadian. Life could be worse" becomes a common refrain.
We rent a motorbike for the day. (Oops, Mom delete that last sentence!) We explore the whole island. The roads are pot holed, or just dirt, so we crawl along at 20-40 km/h (12-24 mph). The wind in the face feels good. We find an incredible view on the east side of the island. High on a cliff over a jungle is an open-air restaurant. You can just look out across the forest canopy to the sea. The Koh Lanta Islands include about 15 different islands, and they are sprinkled out in the ocean. Some have white beaches; others have cliffs and rocky shores. We down some shakes and take in the view.
On the east side of the island we find a really charming little village. It has almost no tourism, and is just the native Muslim population. Everyone is outside, and everyone says "hello", especially the children with their big grins. The houses are built on stilts out over the water. The people seem so friendly and happy. The houses are quite destitute, but that doesn't seem to matter.
We hike up to a waterfall in the woods. The waterfall is small, but the hike is lovely. We stop many times to see birds, squirrels and other animals. On one of our morning hikes, we saw monkeys playing in the trees.
We used the motorbike (Mom, ignore that) to head to the town and shop. We also headed to a Reggae party and danced. A few people tried to play the conga drums, but the DJ music was too loud. Still, a nice party.
Electrical power to the island comes and goes. We talk occasionally about where we plan to go next. We talk about checking email, but don't get around to it. We read another book, take another swim. The days just slip by gracefully.
We do appreciate all the emails from home. We have broken so many roots. We really have no physical connection. We have given away or sold our stuff, and sold the house. We do not know whether to call Los Angeles or Portland home. It feels good to be free. All we keep are our friends. So we really appreciate the emails. Thanks especially to Sue for the most informative ones!
"Life could be worse".
