phuket, like street food, was hard for me to digest. thankfully, i'm rinsing my palette and taking in koh phi phi as an aperitif.
uncannily, i beat the wake up call by 53 seconds and shoved my belongings into jay's pack. the bus was a whole 15 minutes late and i was given the coveted front seat again. it was relatively easy, even if it did take 45 minutes to get across the island, but traffic is truly a different beast over in s.e.a. groggily, i walk to the 'cruising boat' and realized i was following my friend gabi, who i met at the full moon party. small world indeed. she had a different perception of patong, but then again, she didn't venture down the strip at night.
i always find time flies when i'm chatting with someone, especially when they provide interesting content/stories. for those of you who know me, i can be a bit of a chatterbox at times (understatement, i'm sure). we cruise across the ocean and hover around some kohs, but the weather isn't smiling on us. it doesn't mute the beauty of the islands though, fortunately. by the time we arrive, it's amidst a torrential downpour and people are getting antsy to disembark, like cattle they are pushing and shoving to get nowhere. i find my resort's sign, say tchau to gabi and wait for 10 minutes for the greeter to ensure no one else needs transportation. i get a private water taxi, (long tail boat), all to myself.
the resort is pretty nice, maybe not exactly the honeymoon suite i got in samui, but cozy none the less:
i can't stay 2 nights with my flight standing, so i called bangkok airways and it was surprisingly easy (and free!) to change my flight. as i walk from my beach, (long beach, they call it), towards the second beach (loh dalum), i see a couple of dive companies between tattoo parlors restaurants. i choose viking divers because they seem really knowledgeable and friendly and their mascot is a viking! i then walk around on dalum taking in the majestic view of a shallow bay with mountains hugging the coastline. you can literally walk out 2 miles and still not be up to your waist in water. the beach scene is pretty chill at 2pm, so i took a hike up to the lookout points, which lived up to the description in lonely planet. after the climb to the lookout point hike in ang thong national park, i really won't ever complain about a 'hike' again. the viewpoint is beautiful and showcases both beaches, giving me a scene similar to the 'trombolo effect' i saw in kauai, where you can lie in a spot and have waves crash on both sides of you.
i'm accosted by monkeys on the way down the hill. at first they seem friendly, but then one starts shrieking and running at me like that movie outbreak. for a diversionary tactic, i throw some peanut candy in the opposite direction and rush down the stairs and head back to the hotel to drop off gear. my beach is flush with speedboats and longtail boats, not quite as pristine for beach lounging like loh dalum.
i meet my friend todd from florida for the second time on the beach and plot my night. there's a bar run by 'a' who i met while he was playing a horribly tuned guitar, it's called carpe diem, (appropriately) and then some clubs on dalum.
i make it out to carpe diem, which is absolutely dead; carpe diem, indeed. i enjoy a strong tropical drink and sit looking out into the darkness and the sound of the surf, as my drink diminishes. i get up and head to dalum, and find myself in the middle of monsoon rain. i take cover at a bucket stand and meet some aussies who are looking into street drink specials. we meander down the strip to the bars on the beach, which seem to aspire to the full moon party.
i bid my new friends farewell, and made my way back across the narrow strip back to my bungalow for the night. tomorrow, i will dive near the famous beach from the film 'the beach'!
uncannily, i beat the wake up call by 53 seconds and shoved my belongings into jay's pack. the bus was a whole 15 minutes late and i was given the coveted front seat again. it was relatively easy, even if it did take 45 minutes to get across the island, but traffic is truly a different beast over in s.e.a. groggily, i walk to the 'cruising boat' and realized i was following my friend gabi, who i met at the full moon party. small world indeed. she had a different perception of patong, but then again, she didn't venture down the strip at night.
i always find time flies when i'm chatting with someone, especially when they provide interesting content/stories. for those of you who know me, i can be a bit of a chatterbox at times (understatement, i'm sure). we cruise across the ocean and hover around some kohs, but the weather isn't smiling on us. it doesn't mute the beauty of the islands though, fortunately. by the time we arrive, it's amidst a torrential downpour and people are getting antsy to disembark, like cattle they are pushing and shoving to get nowhere. i find my resort's sign, say tchau to gabi and wait for 10 minutes for the greeter to ensure no one else needs transportation. i get a private water taxi, (long tail boat), all to myself.
the resort is pretty nice, maybe not exactly the honeymoon suite i got in samui, but cozy none the less:
i can't stay 2 nights with my flight standing, so i called bangkok airways and it was surprisingly easy (and free!) to change my flight. as i walk from my beach, (long beach, they call it), towards the second beach (loh dalum), i see a couple of dive companies between tattoo parlors restaurants. i choose viking divers because they seem really knowledgeable and friendly and their mascot is a viking! i then walk around on dalum taking in the majestic view of a shallow bay with mountains hugging the coastline. you can literally walk out 2 miles and still not be up to your waist in water. the beach scene is pretty chill at 2pm, so i took a hike up to the lookout points, which lived up to the description in lonely planet. after the climb to the lookout point hike in ang thong national park, i really won't ever complain about a 'hike' again. the viewpoint is beautiful and showcases both beaches, giving me a scene similar to the 'trombolo effect' i saw in kauai, where you can lie in a spot and have waves crash on both sides of you.
i'm accosted by monkeys on the way down the hill. at first they seem friendly, but then one starts shrieking and running at me like that movie outbreak. for a diversionary tactic, i throw some peanut candy in the opposite direction and rush down the stairs and head back to the hotel to drop off gear. my beach is flush with speedboats and longtail boats, not quite as pristine for beach lounging like loh dalum.
i meet my friend todd from florida for the second time on the beach and plot my night. there's a bar run by 'a' who i met while he was playing a horribly tuned guitar, it's called carpe diem, (appropriately) and then some clubs on dalum.
i make it out to carpe diem, which is absolutely dead; carpe diem, indeed. i enjoy a strong tropical drink and sit looking out into the darkness and the sound of the surf, as my drink diminishes. i get up and head to dalum, and find myself in the middle of monsoon rain. i take cover at a bucket stand and meet some aussies who are looking into street drink specials. we meander down the strip to the bars on the beach, which seem to aspire to the full moon party.
i bid my new friends farewell, and made my way back across the narrow strip back to my bungalow for the night. tomorrow, i will dive near the famous beach from the film 'the beach'!
