Krabi To Koh Phi Phi, Repeat

Krabi to Koh Phi Phi

I was split on my next move; Koh Tao or Koh Phi Phi. I didn’t rally want to make the decision but when I got left off at the bus station I chose the bus going to Krabi. Koh Phi Phi is an hour and one half away by boat. The bus took around six hours to the station conveniently located out of town, but have no fear, they created a taxi service industry out of this economically wise decision. They did the same thing in Luang Prabang, Lao. The boat used to let you off right at the rivers edge of town where there is a road and a dock. Now the boat lets you off up stream maybe 6 kilometers out of town so you have to pay for a taxi truck to take you in. Anyway, I pulled into the Krabi Grand Towers, 300 Baht/night for a few nights and sort out Phi Phi for some diving. I don’t much like Koh Phi Phi due to how built up it is but I heard good things about the diving and I did manage to meet some awesome people.

I like Krabi Town, it’s close to many islands on both sides, the Andaman and the Gulf, it seems to be a cheaper town all the way around, room prices are cheap, food is good and cheap and it’s rather calm in relation to Phi Phi or Koh Tao. I hadn’t plugged in very often lately so I thought I’d sort out some emails and maybe put in a blog or two. Nice room with a fridge, tv, and a fifth floor view of the street corner below and over the fences to usually a few dusty bags of

rubbish hiding in the brush. And there’s a pool table up the street, good to know.

I got my ticket from the in house travel agency over looking the street corner and a couple ATMs. They picked me up at 8 am and off we went to the ferry dock for Koh Phi Phi. A couple hours later I was talking to John, a South African scuba instructor/guide for Island Divers. www.islanddiverspp.com. He asked if I needed any information. As a matter of fact I did and we sat for a few minutes but I couldn’t get his accent; some words were Aussie, some Brit, maybe a Kiwi, they talk funny. I had to ask. So we talked about South Africa and hiking trails and dive sites worth exploring. John mentioned a place called Sodwana Bay and that ‘Mile 7’ is a MUST dive. I had already booked a couple dives with PP Scuba. www.ppscuba.com. I told him I would dive with them the day after and we got down to booking me in and paying a deposit. Jon pointed up the road and gave me simple directions to K House where I got a rather expensive room, 700Baht/night and got what I get in Krabi for 300 Baht/night. I get it, it’s an island and all but still. I really wasn’t into the nightlife so much but definitely into the diving. I had heard some great things and wanted to check it out. I was pleasantly surprised on all three nights.

I took a quick shower and took off sort of wandering to the far end of the beach and back. Lots of changes are going on here. There seems to be a rush to build, that goes for Koh Tao, Koh Samui, almost all of them are bolstering infrastructure as if new legislation was being written up or a ‘halt, cease and desist’ order was on the horizon. There were a lot of people, more than I had seen in awhile, and walking on the pathways usually means a lot of dodging, swerving, slowing, then pick up the pace and pass. Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat . . . . 

After dinner I ventured out into the thick of it. Beer pong splashes and laughter erupted out of one bar, people walked around looking at knick-knack merchandise, sarongs, t-shirts, jewelry, tattoos, massage, pizza by the slice shops, ice cream shops, food carts, food stalls, restaurants, bars, tech stores, 7-11, Bars, beer pong tables, and people watching or people meeting.

The fire show on the beach in front of Slinkys was good and big, I think I counted 8 fire dancers at one time with different utensils or equipment to make the fire dance. It was going to be an early night anyway with a couple early morning dives. On my way home I watched the Live Bar where a 3 man Thai band was playing and the crowd was along for the ride dancing, drinking, laughing and singing the songs they all seemed to know. This might have been the first time I heard many of them but people would rolled their eyes and join in the chorus with a smile.

PP Scuba is a rather big dive center painted brightly in Yellow; their boats are also painted in bright yellow, you can’t miss them. They had already sized me up and I chose no wet suit wisely. The water is 28-30 C. It is warm and unfortunately the visibility under water wasn’t so good, maybe 7 meters. The guide Lou was great and she lead three of us around both of the small islands away from Phi Phi called, Pida Nok and Malong Bay. We saw a few eels, lots of fish and lots of coral fans, all nice.

I decided the Live Bar would be a good venue for some live music, open to the outside street and Banana Bar is just up the alley, lots of foot traffic and people watching. I pulled in as the 3 man band was taking over from a solo Thai woman guitarist who could sing. The boys geared up and off they went. A couple from I think the east coast of the US rose to the call and began singing with the band and his girl friend knew all the chorus lines, ten others sang along. This continued for a while before I noticed two young ladies from the US standing in the alley watching, singing, and slightly moving to the beat. I offered the extra seats and they came and sat down and knew every song the band played, I of course, knew none of them let alone sing them. The girls were from the states and eager to travel and see as much as they could before leaving this part of the world. It turned out to be Dana’s birthday softening the transition from beer to Margaritas. I gave them some travel ideas to think about and the night progressed passed midnight and I had 3 more dives later in the day, so we said good-byes and I left. Happy Birthday Dana. J

Island Divers at 730 am, I was up and ready by 6, all I needed was a cup of tea to get the ball rolling. My teapot is not cooperating so it may have found a new home. It’s just become to demanding. The British plug, with adapters to the wall socket configuration needs to be held in such a way that my effort is thwarted time and time again with the slightest movement. I don’t want any drama; we’re just growing apart and I think it’s for the best. Honestly, I’m happy to get rid of something right now. There’s more on the list. At Island Divers I was met by 5 women, the guide and three of her high school friends, they all were from ‘Southern’ Ohio, I didn’t know that was possible. They all joined up for a reunion of sorts and just hang with their friend. The last gal was a young Hungarian mother with a 5 year old off playing with dad somewhere else for part of a day, very polite. These other four girls had stories together over the years for three of them, the cousin was a later addition that fit right in, beautiful smile, brown eyes and a witty sense of humor. We had some good dives but again the visibility wasn’t great, it was better and we were doing three dives so we had a chance to see a lot of stuff non-the-less. Our first dive was a shipwreck and again, none of the other boats had arrived so again we had it on our own. There were lots of Stone Fish, Lion Fish, you know, things that will kill you. The Lion Fish is a beautiful testimony for evolution.

We parted at the Island Dive shop and thought we might cross paths at the Live Bar. I went home for a well-deserved nap. I imagine the diving could be better but it just wasn’t the right time. I’ll have to try again when it’s not been so windy. The surprise was meeting people in the evenings. So they all ventured passed and said hello but were bound for the Banana Bar. Becky and Becky stopped in for one and then one of the girls went to spend the last night with the dive instructor/guide and one remained with a bucket in hand and ready for the night. The music was good, the crowd great, and the intermittent conversation with complete strangers was off the charts. Most of them are still strangers but a few trickle through the cracks and send an email or make contact through FB or some other way. It’s a good feeling when you might have gotten through to someone and they are off and running with a memory, a person, and a place to connect it all to then look in to the future. It’s a strange existence pin balling around the globe, ricocheting off other travelers with minor altering affects on each other, a word, a phrase, a look, a smile, a laugh, a spirit, comfortable.

I hopped on the 1030 ferry back to Ao Nang, the pier town for Krabi. I was expecting to see the 3 Ohio girls get on board with their guide/friend waving them off but this ferry was full and we departed. They got on the second boat for Krabi maybe an hour later. Ladies, have fun in the Chinese Restaurant, in Australia, and don’t serve shark fin soup. I paid 200 Baht to get to Ao Nang long tail boat ticket office and book a ticket over to Ton Sai before it got late. I was considering going back to Krabi but the beach and the atmosphere on Ton Sai sucked me in without objection. This is one of my favorite places in Thailand and worth stopping in for 2 weeks or more. Just full stop.

www.davidcdagley.com

North To Koh Chang

North to Koh Chang.

I woke early and stood out by the road and waited for the 720 Chompon Bus to go by. I waved and they stopped. My destination was Ranong to hop a long-tail or speed boat to Koh Chang on the Andaman Sea, not to be confused with the big island of Chang bordering Cambodia. I had been to the one near Cambodia many times before and as the years went it became too commercial and more difficult to find quiet places to chill out. They exist but it’s not on White Sand Beach anymore. This Koh Chang on the Andaman side is like a throw back to how Thailand was 20 years ago, the power is off during the day, there is limited WiFi, and limited cell service. This is where you go if you want to unplug and seriously relax. It took me four hours from Khao Lak to Ranong and then an hour break before boarding a taxi van to the harbor where I hopped on a speedboat to Koh Chang.

Ranong is a rather big harbor town bordering Burma. Ranong population I am told by locals is about 50% Burmese and 50% Thai, maybe more Burmese than that from other sources. Many Burmese can be found all over Thailand working as carpenters, maids, kitchen staff, waiters and waitresses and even hotel management all looking for higher wages, enough to start a nest egg to buy a house or a piece of property needed to start a family. The Burmese people are hopeful with the election of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the NLD and yet the process is moving slowly with the military not willingly giving up the economic power they have been enjoying while the people and their country are being sold off in many forms through military management; the hardwood forests have been and continue to be sold off, minerals mined, precious gems extracted and all proceeds end up in a relative of a previous military officer’s hands. The military children go to school abroad while the Burmese people are being left with nothing but the scraps. The military still make money off the opium trade. Anyway, I’ve met many Burmese in fishing industry and they say they rarely leave the boat and are paid slave wages but still better than what they would make in Burma. Dynamite fishing still exists in the Burmese waters along with Cyanide fishing that doesn’t just stun the fish for live capture but kills the coral and any life it touches.

People in both Burma and Nepal are being subjected to humanitarian crimes everyday such as slavery, prostitution, child labor, forced labor. Both countries are for the most part 3^rd world and when a catastrophe strikes such as an earthquake, tsunami, or war, their neighbors are not compassionate in fact they appear quite the opposite by taking people and reducing them to slaves in countries where they don’t know the language, money values, and live in poor conditions. In Nepal after the earthquake, their new constitution was signed and India didn’t like the outcome so they cut off the oil supply to Nepal for both petrol and cooking oil pressuring Nepal to change the constitution so that India can have more influence through the Deshi and other Indian speaking Nepali.

The boat was almost full but only two of us got off at Koh Chang, the others were heading to another island Pranyam (sp?) that is being commercially built up and I’ve heard losing it’s charm. I had never been here so I really don’t know one guesthouse or bungalow outfit from another. I followed Frank, from Southern California to the main beach and just pulled into a very nice bungalow group called ‘Sawasdee’. Frank went on to Crocodile Rock Bungalows 500 Baht/night. Sawasdee’s was a little more expensive at 950 Baht/night. I was only staying 3 nights so settled in. It looked really nice with a well-maintained garden and looking right at the beach and sea. My bungalow was 20 meters from the waters edge at high tide. The bungalows are set back behind tree line but not by much.

A steady on shore breeze picked up the sea one foot allowing small waves to rhythmically calm you into sleep. All my windows and vents were open the entire time and I never once used the mosquito net. The temperature was comfortable enough to sleep with just a sheet or a sarong. The power is off basically 7 am to 7 pm but water runs and the kitchen puts out some amazing food dishes. I saw Barracuda on the specials list and asked where it was caught and by who? The woman responded with a nod, our own fisherman goes out in a small boat so it’s caught local and on ice, it’s fresh, it was caught yesterday afternoon. The point of asking where what you’re eating might be of concern, some fish are caught illegally or under unhealthy conditions that you pay for versus a transparent system. This would equate to a major drop in illegal fishing all leading to over fishing not allowing the fish recover eventually depleting a food source species from their waters for an extended time. If they don’t know where the fish was caught, you shouldn’t eat it. Then again the bigger fish have absorbed more mercury in their systems than the smaller ones as nature has shown us so eloquently.

The beach had very few walkers at 3 pm, a few in the water trying to figure out if theirs anything to see and there isn’t at the moment due to recent high winds stirring up the ocean floor and leaving the water rather murky but refreshing enough to go in and enjoy a good swim. There were some wooden lounge chairs, hammocks and a concrete wall with intermittent stairs to the beach below about four steps. The wall is there to slow erosion off the sand bank. There’s a respirating tidal flat and mangrove trees lining the tidal waters edge when high tide. The days melted together into one still moment of true calm.

There are a number of guest houses even some other small beach communities spaciously seeded on bits of sandy beaches bordered by rock and stone pock marked and dimpled by water and scars from extracted shells imbedded in the rock. The rock and some of the sand look volcanic. 

I should have planned for longer but I don’t really make plans, things have a tendency to turn me in one direction and not in another. Three nights wasn’t enough but for a taste of tranquility in an otherwise busy world.

www.davidcdagley.com