Category: Thailand

My gruelling kayak trip turned out to be about as laid-back as any of the other adventures I’ve signed up for this past week. We basically kayaked around a fairly small island, then just chilled out on a few beaches for the rest of the day. Our tour guides even insisted on doing most of the paddling.

The sad thing about the tour was the lack of tourists. This region is so hard up for tourists right now (in what should be their peak tourist season) that they insisted on running this trip with only two customers. The two of us had a big 45-passenger boat (to get us to our kayaking area) and seven crew members at our disposal. We only paid about US$33 for the all-day tour (including lunch). It was really quite ridiculous.

The trip around the island in the kayaks was quite interesting. The island consisted of huge limestone cliffs that fell straight down to ocean waters or skinny little beaches. There were a number of caves around the island that were being harvested for swallow bird nests. The nests are a delicacy in China, where they are the main ingredient in “bird nest soup” and worth about US$750 a kilo. Needless to say, the caves were off limits to us, and the harvesters working in them required special permits from the Thai government.

In the middle of the island lay a fabulous secret lagoon with a narrow entrance passage between two cliff faces. Actually, I can’t say it was secret because there was an endless entourage of motorised tour boats zipping in and out of it. At least those of us in kayaks could venture deep into the mangrove section of it to explore the shallow waters.

Our tour guides seemed to have the usual happy-go-lucky attitude you find in Thais. They were very friendly and liked to clown around. They insisted on doubling up on our kayaks so they could do most of the work and run a fishing line off the back to catch squid. They mentioned that Thailand was having trouble selling its seafood lately because so many people around the world falsely believed the fish Thais were catching had fed off the corpses of the dead from the tsunami.

On the way back into port, we passed one of the gleaming palaces of the king of Thailand, up on a hill overlooking the sea. The royal family here also has another retreat on top of the mountain I cycled down outside of Chiang Mai. Thais hold their king in very high regard. In fact, the King and I (and the movie Anna and the King) have been banned here for years because they find it deeply offensive. I did come across a reference to Anna in the National Museum in Bangkok, so she did exist as an English teacher. She just never romanced the king…

I just have a few days left before I fly back up to Bangkok, so I thought I would enrol in one of the many cooking classes they offer in Thailand. I know several people who have done them, and they said they were great. We’ll see how it goes.

I’ve spent the past few days trying to squeeze in as much as possible in my rapidly dwindling days of leave. I signed up for three tours in the area, including speedboat trips to beautiful islands, hot-spring soaks, sea-kayaking excursions, snorkelling, swimming, beach time, and a visit to a forest temple.

I’ve decided that the town of Krabi, where I’ve based myself for the week, is probably better and cheaper than most of the alternatives. Unlike the ugly, sterile resort towns I’ve come across in the area, Krabi retains much of its pre-tourist flavour and has lots of great street-side food stalls and markets to snoop around in the evenings.

I took my first tour yesterday, where a local company whisks tourists out on a speedboat to famous beaches and snorkelling spots around islands in the area. It used an itinerary that had been in place for several years, but modifications have been necessary since the tsunami hit here on December 26th. Most of the deserted beaches (including “The Beach” beach) and superb snorkelling spots we visited are probably the same as they were before. They all have crystal-clear water, long, white, sandy beaches, and spectacularly huge karst limestone cliffs that rise from the water and line the coastlines.

On the other hand, the coastline was clearly lined with a demolished seawall, and some of the islands with developments we were supposed to visit remained closed to visitors because they were so devastated.

On Ko Phi Phi Island, where we were originally scheduled to have lunch, we now just cruised the boat up close to gawk at the destruction. It is estimated that between 750 and 6000 people died there alone. All that’s left is a long line of demolished beach shacks and lots of demolition taking place — with backhoes loading the debris onto ocean barges.

It seems as though everyone around here has a story to tell about the tsunami. Our tour group leader was on one of the beaches we visited where he held onto a palm tree with one arm and his wife with the other to prevent being swept out to sea. They said there were three waves that came in. The first was small and kind of cool, but the second and third were the large, devastating ones. Fortunately, the initial small wave scared many people into seeking safer, higher ground.

Today I did a tour that I thought was going to be a jungle trek that circled by some hot springs, cool crystal-clear pools, and a famous forest temple. Unfortunately, we just seemed to drive from one destination to the next, so I didn’t get the workout I’d been hoping for. I guess the tour company is trying to maximise its potential client base by opening its trips to anyone (including the chronically inactive).

The forest temple was really pretty cool. I actually visited the place a few days beforehand to scale up the 1237 (!) steps to the top of one of these huge limestone cliffs you find all over the place around here. It was really gruelling, as you can imagine, but the views from the top were really quite amazing.

The Buddhists seem to like to position temples on top of high hills, but this had to be one of the highest I’ve come across. It was almost as difficult walking back down again, using different muscles. My legs were complete rubber by the time I got back down to the ground. I spent a few hours up there, just relaxing, recuperating, and enjoying the views. Other visitors seemed to act as if they sprinted up there every day.

When we visited this temple today, we didn’t bother scaling the steps on our inactive tour. Instead, we visited some other interesting parts of the temple, including a secret valley positioned between several of the cliffs. Monks were living in shacks and caves all over the grounds. It’s a pretty neat place to explore.

Tomorrow I’m heading off on a kayak trip around a local island, where I will also have time for more snorkelling, swimming, and beach time. I think I will finally get the active day I’ve been looking for.

Ah yes, another country, another election. Today is Thailand’s big election day, which I think only comes up every four or five years. Alcohol sales have been banned since 6 PM last night. Sounds like Pennsylvania!

I’m now in Krabi, which isn’t all that far from Phuket and the December tsunami-hit areas. I just flew down here from Sukhothai and Bangkok last night. My first impression is that it really is a beautiful area. The air seems much cleaner than it was up north, and there are huge karst limestone rock formations jutting out of the land and sea.

Like the rest of Thailand, the people here seem very relaxed and friendly. Thai people cause minimal hassle—especially compared to the hustlers I encountered in India and Egypt. Thailand is proving to be a great place to just cool your heels and hang out.

I will spend my day running some personal errands and looking for some adventurous excursions. It seems tourism is still reeling from the tsunami’s aftermath, and occupancy levels are very low around here.

I have the nicest hotel room here on my trip. For the first time since I left the U.S., I actually have a shower that is not on the wall above the toilet. In fact, I even have a shower curtain! And a colour TV so I can try to watch the Philadelphia Eagles play in the Super Bowl tomorrow morning (if I can find it on here).