A Journey to Thailand and Japan: Day Six
May 23rd, 2008My friends Siam and Meow went off to Bangkok to get married. A group of us decided to go to the ceremony and get a chance to see a part of the world we’d never been before. So, we bought the plane tickets and set off on our grand adventure!
SWIMMING WITH THE FISHES
We wake up around 7 and meet up at the hotel’s free breakfast. The breakfast is good, and we’re the only ones there. Apparently people here like to sleep in.
Good news! The rain and clouds from the day before are gone, and it’s a beautiful day. After a little discussion, we decide charter a boat trip to go around the islands. We all pile into a boat and take off.
The waters are a little choppy at points, and we’re getting all getting a kick out of the boat jumping up and crashing down back to the water. Well, all of us except for Meow, who is in a life vest and hanging on for dear life to the edge of the boat. Every time we hit the water, she lets out a little scream, which amuses us even more. Even the driver is laughing.
Our first stop is a picture-perfect cove. We’re surrounded by mountains and the water is clear. I start singing the theme to Jurassic Park. We lay anchor in the middle of the cove and start snorkeling. It’s really quite an experience! The boat driver tosses some bread in the water near us, and the next thing you know, we’re surrounded by fish. I’m not exactly sure what type they are — they’re striped green and yellow, and they love bread. I’ll call them breadfish. We snorkel and swim around for a while. We’re the only ones in the cove, and it’s really peaceful. The boat driver signals that it’s time for the next stop of the tour, so we all pile back in.
Next up is Ma Ya Bay, which is a really cool island with a really nice beach. In fact, I’m googling this right now, and apparently the movie ‘The Beach’ was filmed at Ma Ya Bay! I guess I should watch that sometime. Anyway, the beach is really crowded with white people. We hang out on the beach for a bit, and then explore the island. It’s got one path that leads to toilets, a private house, and to the beach on the other side. That beach is not nearly as pretty, but we’re the only ones there, so that’s nice. We walk back, swim for a bit, and we’re back on the boat.
We stop for more snorkeling. This time, there’s some really nice coral to view, along with the fish. The current is also pretty strong. I look up after a couple minutes of snorkeling, and the boat is about a hundred feet away. I swim back toward the boat. Once I get there, I see Alex far away, and he looks concerned. He’s having a small panic attack and asks for a life vest. Jon swims out to him with the vest, and the driver moves the boat toward him. He gets back on the boat with little trouble — crisis averted!
After that excitement, we decide to head back to the main island. We have lunch and hang out by the pool until it’s time for the ferry back to Phuket. The trip back is much nicer than the one earlier — no annoying Britons on this one!
Note meets us back on Phuket. She works for her family’s travel agency, and we go to their office, which is in the lobby of the hotel where we’re staying tonight. We check in, and then take a walk to Patong Beach. This is a huge beach — it reminds me a lot of Acapulco. The surf feels good on my bare feet. We take a long stroll — it’s relaxing and it’s nice to see locals hanging out and playing, not just tourists.
Dinner time! Note has something special in store for us. She knows of a restaurant that serves dinner ‘Phuket-style’. It used to be a house, but it’s been converted to a restaurant. We arrive, and the atmosphere is really cool. It almost has a feel of a Southern plantation, complete with Victrola in the corner. The woman cooking for us comes out and has me taste the curry to see if it’s too hot for my sensitive American tongue. I tell her to make it hotter. Thai people don’t think we can handle any spice!
The meal is good — what else would you expect at this point? I’m really starting to get into Thai food. When I first started the trip, I thought I’d be craving a cheeseburger after a few days, but I could eat this food forever! In fact, the last thing I want to eat at this point is American food.
After the meal, it’s time for some fun — karaoke! We go to a really nice karaoke bar and walk into our room. If you’re familiar with the movie Lost in Translation, you realize they do karaoke different in Asia. You rent a private room and sing with your friends — not in front of everyone. It’s more fun this way. We order a bottle of whiskey (see a pattern here?) and start singing. We all get into it, thanks to the liquid courage being served up by our waitress, a Thai girl in schoolgirl outfit. It’s especially fun to see Note and Meow sing Thai songs. Some of those songs are catchy!
We head back to the hotel — it’s pretty late by this point, and we’re all a little inebriated. Thailand is fun!