Koh Mah Jungle Bungalow Visitors included many geckos, two large spiders, a bat, and a scorpion. Thank goodness for mosquito nets!
The Beach
12 June 2003
Where does one begin when describing Thailand? And how does the writer of a travel log describe such beautiful idylic beaches without it beginning to sound like gloating?! I´ll keep it brief.
The first beach was Koh Ma where I had the treat of seeing my old friends Stew and Tricia from Jersey. Jason and I met them two years ago in Nepal, and they continue to be just about the sweetest people on earth. They had come to Koh Mah with several other people who had been on a 10 day Budhist retreat.
Doi Suthep Beautiful temple in northern Thailand.
Koh Mah is only a hundred meters across, and is seperated from the larger island of Koh Pha Ngon by a large sandbar that disappears at high tide. Watching the sunset on my first night, I noticed a guy with headphones dancing on this stretch of sand. Not just idylling swaying with the music, but full-on foot-stomping hands-raised-and-flailing dancing. Everyone so often some salsa moves would creep in, and when the dogs came out he'd squat down --knees still moving-- and dance to them. This was obviously some strung-out 20-something Norwiegen getting a head start on the Full Moon party. But when I woke up early the next morning for snorkelling he was out again, dancing to the sunrise. And again at sunset. And again the next day! Finally it came out that he'd been at the retreat with the others, and in fact he was a german guy; totally drug-free and 54 years old. He just likes to dance, he explained.
Beautiful Thong Nai Pan This wide beach is perfect for playing frisbee all day long.
From there I headed once again to beautiful Thong Nai Pan, where I organized some games of Ultimate frisbee. And then I headed over to the west coast to vist the beaches of Krabi province, world-renouned for thier impressive shear limestone cliffs. These cliffs also make the area something of a climber's Mecca.
Otherworldly Krabi This is the place for rock climbing. Probably the best in the world.
Thailand's beaches are a world unto themselves. It's not without reason that all experienced travelers recommend that you put those beautiful islands at the end of your travels. I met quite a few people who had spent four or more months on the same island, or even on the same beach. It took epic resolve for me just to move from one beach to the other, and it took a visit from my friends Jason and Shannon to get me back to Bangkok!