November 8, 2011
I took the long tail from Railey back to Krabi and checked into a much better guesthouse in Krabi town. Most travelers don't spend much time here, but this clean little town has grown on me. It is a nice introduction to the Thailand beyond the tourist beaches. I've enjoyed urban hiking taking in the street stalls, markets, food, fish, and traffic. Everyone I have encountered have been so helpful and honest I can understand why they call this place the land of smiles. I went back to the vegetarian restaurant and got another giant plate of rice and vegetables for under a dollar. I did a few more errands, bought a hammock, changed some money, and bought some toiletries at the expensive western pharmacy. Then I had my first traditional Thai message. Amazing and cheap and how the body should feel. Then I went back to the Special market and ate spicy BBQ chicken, noodles, and fresh banana bread. I'm resisting the urge to do it all right now, the beauty of solo travel is the pace. I'm enjoying just taking time to wonder, write, people watch, sleep, and let my stuff explode in my gust room. Personal space both physical and emotional is a beautiful thing and the point of this sabbatical.
Smiles,
Amanda Mar
Karabi town, Thailand
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Railey, Thailand
November 6, 2011
I started the day with a delicious coffee and fruit breakfast (the Thais thanks to the French) have perfected the art of coffee. From sweet Thai ice coffees and teas to the perfect cappuccino coffee is everywhere here. I caught a long tail from the pier at Krabi to the peninsula of Railey. Long tails are the local water taxies. The planked wooden short keeled boats rock back and forth with every weight change or boat wake. They are named for their odd outboard engine configuration. A dry exhaust outboard with out a housing is attached to a 6-10 foot shaft with a propellor at the end. The shaft shoots aft and the propellor is only a few inches under water. This allows the driver to menuver in shallow water and to make sharp turned by pulling the shaft out of the water and placing it left or right to move the bow. The 40 minuet ride along the mangroves was beautiful, but constantly disrupted by floating trash and the traces of humans. We arrived at the beach at low tide so I had to wade in shin deep water with my backpack strapped to my back. I am thankful again for choosing such a small bag.
I chose a basic bungalow set on a hillside surrounded by high limestone cliffs. The rooms were nicer at the guesthouse next door, but the character and front porch of the bamboo thatched huts is better. You can hear monkeys in the background and as cocktail hour begins the staff are lighting campfires and playing dub reggae. Thankfully it is still shoulder season and there isn't much of a draw tonight.
After waking up at 3 last night I decided to tire myself out to beat the jet lag. I spent two hours kayaking around cliffs and escaping the hordes of beach goers in a water logged double kayak. 10 dollars well spent for the views, solitude, and promise of sleep. Some pictures of the cliffs and my bungalow for you....
Riley is too crowded and too tourist centric for me. There are plenty of young people ready to party, but the result is a slightly dirty and disheveled bit of paradise. So many sunburt white bodies everywhere. Unless it charms me this evening I think I'll spend one more night here and head back to Karabi to book a boat to a much less developed island. I'm planning a sunrise hike to Pra Nang cove to beat the hordes.
Smiles,
Amanda Mar
Railay Beach East, Thailand
November 7, 2011
I woke up to roasters crowing around 5:30. After falling asleep quickly and early after dinner my body was wide awake and ready to explore before most of the beach awoke from their holiday commas. I walked to Pra Nang cove where I kayaked yesterday. I shared the beach with one other tourist and a man hauling away yesterdays loads of plastic water bottles. In the quiet of early morning before the first long tail engines broke the silence this spit of calm gave herself to me. The towering and intricate limestone cliffs shoot out of the sea towards the sky. The water is clear and becalmed at day break like so many bodies of water I have witnessed before. I took a nice swim along the rock cliffs which reveal lots of caves and coves to explore. In the distance islands with similar jetting rock cliffs appear as ghosts on the horizon. There is reason to worry about the sustainability of this place and it's easy to fantasize about what it was like before eroding concrete pathways, speed boats, and the high end resort which attempts to dominate the beach. A story told over and over again of warm places along the sea. People, plastic, development make me feel a great sense of loss. In a few short days in Thailand I'm beginning to consider what kind of traveler I am and how that will alter my path during these next days. I will keep reminding myself of my bias and to stop judging. Even in simple holiday beach paradise I am thinking constantly. The good news is two nights in a thatched aluminum roofed bungalow and my pace and priorities are slowing down to an appropriate chill.
This afternoon I hiked to Ton Si, the much more laid back backpacker rock climbing side of the island. The hike was short and steep. There were monkeys in the tres and bobby trapped communication
wires across the trail. Ton Si is thick with bungalows, low laying lounges, and hippie beach side bars. I had a late lunch of shrimp curry and a tall beer beach side and people watchers. Rock climbers lead climb on the beach, blinding hippie toddlers play in the sand and a old man with a guitar plays to the see. Long tail engines give the place a rhythm and young people create a slow pace of life. But still I'm choosing not to linger here. Tomorrow I'm going to take another early morning swim and catch a long tail back to Karabi for a day to regroup and book a boat to Ko Jam. Ko jam is a quiet and underdeveloped fishing island with a handful of bungalows. I think for now I want to disappear ago write, hike, swim and enjoy some solitude.
I started the day with a delicious coffee and fruit breakfast (the Thais thanks to the French) have perfected the art of coffee. From sweet Thai ice coffees and teas to the perfect cappuccino coffee is everywhere here. I caught a long tail from the pier at Krabi to the peninsula of Railey. Long tails are the local water taxies. The planked wooden short keeled boats rock back and forth with every weight change or boat wake. They are named for their odd outboard engine configuration. A dry exhaust outboard with out a housing is attached to a 6-10 foot shaft with a propellor at the end. The shaft shoots aft and the propellor is only a few inches under water. This allows the driver to menuver in shallow water and to make sharp turned by pulling the shaft out of the water and placing it left or right to move the bow. The 40 minuet ride along the mangroves was beautiful, but constantly disrupted by floating trash and the traces of humans. We arrived at the beach at low tide so I had to wade in shin deep water with my backpack strapped to my back. I am thankful again for choosing such a small bag.
I chose a basic bungalow set on a hillside surrounded by high limestone cliffs. The rooms were nicer at the guesthouse next door, but the character and front porch of the bamboo thatched huts is better. You can hear monkeys in the background and as cocktail hour begins the staff are lighting campfires and playing dub reggae. Thankfully it is still shoulder season and there isn't much of a draw tonight.
After waking up at 3 last night I decided to tire myself out to beat the jet lag. I spent two hours kayaking around cliffs and escaping the hordes of beach goers in a water logged double kayak. 10 dollars well spent for the views, solitude, and promise of sleep. Some pictures of the cliffs and my bungalow for you....
Riley is too crowded and too tourist centric for me. There are plenty of young people ready to party, but the result is a slightly dirty and disheveled bit of paradise. So many sunburt white bodies everywhere. Unless it charms me this evening I think I'll spend one more night here and head back to Karabi to book a boat to a much less developed island. I'm planning a sunrise hike to Pra Nang cove to beat the hordes.
Smiles,
Amanda Mar
Railay Beach East, Thailand
November 7, 2011
I woke up to roasters crowing around 5:30. After falling asleep quickly and early after dinner my body was wide awake and ready to explore before most of the beach awoke from their holiday commas. I walked to Pra Nang cove where I kayaked yesterday. I shared the beach with one other tourist and a man hauling away yesterdays loads of plastic water bottles. In the quiet of early morning before the first long tail engines broke the silence this spit of calm gave herself to me. The towering and intricate limestone cliffs shoot out of the sea towards the sky. The water is clear and becalmed at day break like so many bodies of water I have witnessed before. I took a nice swim along the rock cliffs which reveal lots of caves and coves to explore. In the distance islands with similar jetting rock cliffs appear as ghosts on the horizon. There is reason to worry about the sustainability of this place and it's easy to fantasize about what it was like before eroding concrete pathways, speed boats, and the high end resort which attempts to dominate the beach. A story told over and over again of warm places along the sea. People, plastic, development make me feel a great sense of loss. In a few short days in Thailand I'm beginning to consider what kind of traveler I am and how that will alter my path during these next days. I will keep reminding myself of my bias and to stop judging. Even in simple holiday beach paradise I am thinking constantly. The good news is two nights in a thatched aluminum roofed bungalow and my pace and priorities are slowing down to an appropriate chill.
This afternoon I hiked to Ton Si, the much more laid back backpacker rock climbing side of the island. The hike was short and steep. There were monkeys in the tres and bobby trapped communication
wires across the trail. Ton Si is thick with bungalows, low laying lounges, and hippie beach side bars. I had a late lunch of shrimp curry and a tall beer beach side and people watchers. Rock climbers lead climb on the beach, blinding hippie toddlers play in the sand and a old man with a guitar plays to the see. Long tail engines give the place a rhythm and young people create a slow pace of life. But still I'm choosing not to linger here. Tomorrow I'm going to take another early morning swim and catch a long tail back to Karabi for a day to regroup and book a boat to Ko Jam. Ko jam is a quiet and underdeveloped fishing island with a handful of bungalows. I think for now I want to disappear ago write, hike, swim and enjoy some solitude.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
In Karabi
november 5, 2011
Day two in Thailand. Im feeling at ease and settled after two days in Karabi sleeping and wondering. The act of traveling is much easier then I anticipated. In the tourist center so many people speak english and the goods and services to help you move from one place to another are endless. I walked around town today with a women I met on my flight from Bangkok who has been to Karabi many times. She took me to a delicious vegetarian lunch for under a dollar. We walked along the estuary and though a pathway in some mangroves. The water is brown and muddy from the rainy season. We spotted monkeys fishing for crab under the mangroves. This afternoon I sat in a cafe and sipped sweet Thai ice coffee and thought about my next steps and wrote in my journal. This evening we went to a night market in town for a week on account of a holiday I didn't catch the name of. With its mixed religious background and social lifestyle Holidays spot the calendar. Families, couples, and groups of friends flood the street stalls selling all varieties of food, trinkets, and clothing. I ate a grilled squid on a stick whose center offered a surprising yet tasty texture. Then I got a egg battered pancake filled with mussels and dipped in sweet chili sauce, delicious and filling. Socializing and shopping appear to be a huge part of the everyday Thai experience. The streets of the special market were full, but just around the corner was the regular weekend market with more people shopping, eating, drinking, and listening to a sequined dancing singer belt out pop songs over an electronic beat. The weekend market collided with the nightly fruit market where we bought a pampino (oversized sweet grapefruit).
My two days in Karabi town were an easy introduction filled with sleep and small excursions. Tomorrow morning I am taking a longtail boat to Railay beach. It is a tourist peninsula only accessible by water known for its stellar limestone rock climbing cliffs. I'm excited to be in a hill side bungalow with a beach within walking distance. Over all its been a good first two days in Thailand and I'm ready for lots more.
Amanda Mar
Krabi Town, Thailand
Day two in Thailand. Im feeling at ease and settled after two days in Karabi sleeping and wondering. The act of traveling is much easier then I anticipated. In the tourist center so many people speak english and the goods and services to help you move from one place to another are endless. I walked around town today with a women I met on my flight from Bangkok who has been to Karabi many times. She took me to a delicious vegetarian lunch for under a dollar. We walked along the estuary and though a pathway in some mangroves. The water is brown and muddy from the rainy season. We spotted monkeys fishing for crab under the mangroves. This afternoon I sat in a cafe and sipped sweet Thai ice coffee and thought about my next steps and wrote in my journal. This evening we went to a night market in town for a week on account of a holiday I didn't catch the name of. With its mixed religious background and social lifestyle Holidays spot the calendar. Families, couples, and groups of friends flood the street stalls selling all varieties of food, trinkets, and clothing. I ate a grilled squid on a stick whose center offered a surprising yet tasty texture. Then I got a egg battered pancake filled with mussels and dipped in sweet chili sauce, delicious and filling. Socializing and shopping appear to be a huge part of the everyday Thai experience. The streets of the special market were full, but just around the corner was the regular weekend market with more people shopping, eating, drinking, and listening to a sequined dancing singer belt out pop songs over an electronic beat. The weekend market collided with the nightly fruit market where we bought a pampino (oversized sweet grapefruit).
My two days in Karabi town were an easy introduction filled with sleep and small excursions. Tomorrow morning I am taking a longtail boat to Railay beach. It is a tourist peninsula only accessible by water known for its stellar limestone rock climbing cliffs. I'm excited to be in a hill side bungalow with a beach within walking distance. Over all its been a good first two days in Thailand and I'm ready for lots more.
Amanda Mar
Krabi Town, Thailand
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Flood Thoughts
october 26, 2011
Day 26 of freedom, sabbatical, and voluntary unemployment. I'm currently in New Albany, IN after 3 weeks on the midcoast of Maine and a long weekend in Cincinnati, OH. Bangkok is flooding and on my mind as my trip approaches rapidly I'm trying to weigh my options. Do I fly into the city and try to stay for a few days and take ground transportation north like I planned. This is the denial option and is not viable. My airline may extend a waiver so I could postpone and reschedule my trip for free, but currently my travel dates are not included and the change would cost $250. The most promising option will put me through the most brutal travel day of my life. Fly to Bangkok including a 19 hour non-stop flight to Bangkok, a 6 hour layover in the Bangkok airport and a commuter flight to Karbi in the south to fall into a bed and decide which island will be the first on my hop.
I've been scheming this adventure for 2 years and planning it for 6 months. I am so ready to be there, but as with so many situations these days mother nature is saying no. My slight incontinent wakeup call could in another country could be death of a loved one from flooding, hurricane, or earthquake. I recently went to a lecture by the founder of 350.org who explained the direct connection between carbon impact and these widespread global flooding and warming. It's so obvious this is a result of human choices. For now I'm waiting to make a choice and start the next big step in my sabbatical.
Amanda mar
Indiana,USA
Day 26 of freedom, sabbatical, and voluntary unemployment. I'm currently in New Albany, IN after 3 weeks on the midcoast of Maine and a long weekend in Cincinnati, OH. Bangkok is flooding and on my mind as my trip approaches rapidly I'm trying to weigh my options. Do I fly into the city and try to stay for a few days and take ground transportation north like I planned. This is the denial option and is not viable. My airline may extend a waiver so I could postpone and reschedule my trip for free, but currently my travel dates are not included and the change would cost $250. The most promising option will put me through the most brutal travel day of my life. Fly to Bangkok including a 19 hour non-stop flight to Bangkok, a 6 hour layover in the Bangkok airport and a commuter flight to Karbi in the south to fall into a bed and decide which island will be the first on my hop.
I've been scheming this adventure for 2 years and planning it for 6 months. I am so ready to be there, but as with so many situations these days mother nature is saying no. My slight incontinent wakeup call could in another country could be death of a loved one from flooding, hurricane, or earthquake. I recently went to a lecture by the founder of 350.org who explained the direct connection between carbon impact and these widespread global flooding and warming. It's so obvious this is a result of human choices. For now I'm waiting to make a choice and start the next big step in my sabbatical.
Amanda mar
Indiana,USA
Monday, October 10, 2011
Pitcher Pond
My body is laid out on an old bath towel that has begun to fray at the edges. The planks of the dock make small imprints on my arms. It is October in Maine and the sun is giving me another weekend on another lake. I plunge into the water which pushes needle like spines into my exposed legs. I last for about ten seconds. Gasping for air I climb the ladder and seek refuge laughing on the same towel. It is fall and the lake will make a fool of my bikini, and baking here feels like I’m steeling something. I close my eyes to the beating sun and give my silent thanks. Thankful that I keep finding myself among friendly people in beautiful places. Thankful that I am young and mobile and able to absorb each day with fresh eye and held judgment. Thankful for companionship, books, and words flowing through my brain asking me to describe this place and share it with all those who aren’t experiencing this moment with me.
For those of you reading know that this Sunday I spent a day in the sun by a quiet little pond reading, writing, and thinking. Exercising the grand power of space, simplicity, and the power of an idol mind. I am 10 days off board and the transformations of my attitude and thoughts are enormous. Freedom found tastes so sweet. I will be in Maine between Portland and the Midcoast until October 21st then I’m off to Cincinnati and the midwest until the 29th. Then to St. Petersburg Florida before making my leap to Asia on November 2nd. I’ll try to share more of the little details that are making freedom so excellent here.
Smiles,
Amanda Mar
Camden, ME
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Thialand
It’s done! I’ve booked my ticket to Thailand for November 2, 2011. I’ve been daydreaming and scheming a sabbatical for about a year and now it’s really in motion! I’m headed to Asia with a loose plan. I’m hoping to rent a house for a two months once I find the right community. Who has some Thailand contacts? Please send them my way. I’m thinking about heading to the Northeast golf coast, but am very open for suggestions, stories, and warnings.
After two years on Magic I’m ready to own my time and travel on my own terms. But I am also looking for a space to stretch my leg. I’m ready to nest in to a rustic bungalow. Enjoy my privacy, write, spend days in silence, make new friends, dance the night away, be changed, and challenge myself. I’m looking at the trip as an extension of my education and a sabbatical for mind and body.
For now it’s a sunny day in Southwest Harbor, ME and I’m ready to jump into echo lake and let the gifts of summer give all they can. I have a mini adventure planned over Labor Day. I’m headed to San Francisco to drive with my Uncle Dennis, Brother, and cousin Madelyn to Yosemite National Park for three days of Bluegrass and nature in Yosemite National Park. Insanely fun! There will be laughing dancing, and cruising down the highway in a VW. Beautiful things ahead of me and all is good right now.
Amanda
Southwest Harbor, ME
After two years on Magic I’m ready to own my time and travel on my own terms. But I am also looking for a space to stretch my leg. I’m ready to nest in to a rustic bungalow. Enjoy my privacy, write, spend days in silence, make new friends, dance the night away, be changed, and challenge myself. I’m looking at the trip as an extension of my education and a sabbatical for mind and body.
For now it’s a sunny day in Southwest Harbor, ME and I’m ready to jump into echo lake and let the gifts of summer give all they can. I have a mini adventure planned over Labor Day. I’m headed to San Francisco to drive with my Uncle Dennis, Brother, and cousin Madelyn to Yosemite National Park for three days of Bluegrass and nature in Yosemite National Park. Insanely fun! There will be laughing dancing, and cruising down the highway in a VW. Beautiful things ahead of me and all is good right now.
Amanda
Southwest Harbor, ME
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