Bus ride recovery

I left Koh Payam on the 9am speedboat filled with Thais, a few tourists, and two very small fluffy dogs. One was a western, well groomed, but collarless maltese. The pet of two Midwestern retires. He wore brown leather Velcro New Balances and above his red face and gray hair a ball cap embroidered with the Oldsmobile logo. She wore circulation pantyhose, Dr. Shoals slipons and black, embroidered, TJ-max capri pants. The man I assumed to be their son was slightly alternative, bearded, black cap, thick rimmed glasses, and heavy leather sandals. His Thai wife linked arms with him and petted the dog in his lap, she wore rubber sandals with Bambi Characters on them. The other scrawny puppy sat shivering in a half toothless Thai mans lap next to me. His curly hair and small frame reminded me of a new born cow. This is just an example of my people watching, an act that consumes most of my travel days. A hundred bits of fiction could start from the truth you seek in people sitting across from you on public transportation. My writing mind is training me to take notice of little details. I could describe the characters on the bus ride and the high pitched pop music that made my ears feel like bleeding through my ear plugs on my 6 hour bus ride to Krabi. But maybe you had to there..... But I would like to express my public gratitude for Steve Jobs and his grand devices that pump music into earbuds at extraordinary volumes.

I arrived in the rain, but in this country there is always an English speaker making small commissions with a cellphone. A door to door taxi appears for $1.50 in less then ten minuets. After checking into my familiar guest house I wondered to a massage parlor to try to recoup from the days travel. I choose the competition of the one I went to last time, and quickly found out this massage would be a completely different animal then my, "it's my first time" massage I got a month ago. The first half hour was a pleasant foot massage with nice stretches and lotions, but as she worked her way up my body pulling, stretching, and twisting I was far from relaxed. My mind wondered to all kinds of life tasks....bills paid, dollars converted, presents to buy....as a distraction from kneading fingers and stretching muscles. Little alerts of pain and feet and hands placed in pockets of bent limbs and pelvic bones kept my mind alert during the 90 minuets. I felt great afterwards. A lot of water, some street food at the night market, and an early night helped me recover from my recovery.

Smiles,
Amanda Mar
Krabi Town, Thailand

Coffee Observations

Good Morning

Blog December 7, 2011

The varnish on the weathered teak table is soft and worn away completely around big knots in the boards. The simple thick table legs sink a few inches into the sand, but keep their shin. An equally weathered aluminum expresso pot holds rich Italian coffee, a novelty reserved for tourist in this tea drinking culture. I pour this rich dark gift into a small pyrex cup with a clear handle and mix in steamed milk and big brown sugar crystals. My morning begins by the sea with my heart beating under the power of the caffeine injection.

A tire-swing hangs from a fraying nylon rope attached to a low hanging cashew tree whose roots cling to the sandy earth as its trunk and branches reach towards the sea at an unnatural angle. Orchids make their home in the branch joints. The table sits a few feet above the tide thanks to a sea wall built from limestone boulders set in concrete. A half moon bay of sandy beach transitions from mangroves to a thin strip of rocky shoreline that slopes up to rainforest where sea eagles hover like watchful guardians. Miles away beyond the bay and the thin maritime boarder mountainous Berma sits like a ghost in the low hanging morning haze.

The resort restaurant sits beneath stunted caesarian pines. A neatly thatched roof is suspended from concrete pillars molded and painted to mimic the trunks of trees and driftwood branches spring out from the columns to add to the facade. A simple mosaic of pebbles and flat slate stones is set into the uneven concrete floor. Well fashioned teak tables with high backed chairs bring order and hints of class to the beach side eatery. Lightbulbs disguised in bamboo lanterns come on with the generator between 6-10pm.

A pack of short legged dogs with gray bandanas tided around their scruffy necks patrol the beach and grounds. An aging British couple laugh and fall into the water for a blissful morning swim. German murmuring quickly turns into jovial breakfast laughter at the next table. A middle aged women from the resort next-door rolls around in the shallow water like a sensual child. I wonder if she is she hoping, like so many beach goers, to be cured by the sea, sun, salt, and sand? A tan, fit, european man wearing kaki cargo shorts, a neo green sleeveless shirt, and a fanny pack marches up and down the beach with music blaring in his ears and red wraparound sunglasses shielding his eyes. He marches and dances unselfconsciously up and down the beach several times a day. A bald speedo clad German carries a kayak to the water and vigorously sets out for his ritual aerobic morning paddle. The rest of the resort characters willfully retreat to the row of beach chairs shaded by juvenile palms and give into easy fiction.

In a moment the restaurant is on its feet pointing as a family of sea otters dips and surface as they hunt for breakfast. I count six of the slick creatures methodically fishing and moving as a unite towards the north end of Buffalo Bay. I retreat back to my Bungalow in the trees to spend a few hours writing. On the path I encounter three different types of butterfly. I've set up a nice little writing studio for myself with a low table, pillows, shade, and a view of the bay. My restless spell is passing and I've put off making any big leaps and booked four more days at this bungalow. My friend Chris has expressed interest in coming with me to Cambodia around the first of the year, and the offer of a big, manly, well traveled companion on this more difficult leg of travel is hard to resist. So for now I'm spending four focused days of writing before I decide.

Smiles,
Amanda Mar
Koh Payam, Ranong Province, Thailand

Lazy day

November 5, 2011

Day five on Koh Payam. This half gray lazy day has made me feel a little lonely. I woke up early and shared breakfast with two women I met the night before and our easy conversation over espresso on the beach was a good start to the day. I moved down the beach to a nicer bungalow with a sociable restaurant where I've been taking most of my meals. The bungalow is spacious with a massive bed and a huge balcony with a lounging area and private views of the sea. A stone indoor/outdoor shower lets you see the bay as you cringe under the relief off a cold shower. White sheets and bolster pillows add to the love nest in the trees vibe. Why am I here alone in this place of peace and beauty? Of corse all my reasons for paradise solitude are warranted, but walking into the bungalow today and napping to the sounds of the waves I had to question why the other side of my room-sized bed is vacant.

So what will cure my romantic blues? A trip to the killing fields in Panam Pen, Cambodia and sweaty days of temple touring at Angkor Wat of corse. As early as Wendesday I plan to take a ferry and a bus to the North\south transition town of Champon to book transportation through Bangkok and on to Cambodia. For now it's time for me to shake up my beach side meditation and follow the well beaten backpacker path. I'm feeling compelled to seek out a more cultural experience and meet the crowd of fellow travelers away from the beachside holiday destinations in the south of Thailand. I could be retreating back here indefinitely in ten days or my itchy feet could carry me to Chang Mai for New Years and on to Loas. As always I'm playing my hand as it comes.

For now I'm at a beautiful resort on a white sand beach with a very large beer in front of me as the sun sets into a strip of rainforest.

Amanda Mar
Koh Payam, Ranong Province, Thailand

Build and they will come

Koh payam is waiting in dread and anticipation for a big mainstream tourist boom to happen. A short gangly bar tender behind a wooden bamboo and drift wood bar brought it up in the first five minuets of conversation today. Locals fear the power grid will open the gates. His tangled hair is knotted on top of his head, he wears a red, yellow and green zip up hoodie and tattered cut off jeans. His eyes are slightly bloodshot from last nights drink and the mornings smoke remedy. The roofs is thatched and tribute paintings and prints of Bob Marley hang in every direction. I've encountered bars like this across southern Thailand, this one is called Rasta Baby. I'm not sure how I feel about them. For the most part there is a tired sound track and while the drift wood is authentic the rasta colors ring like a false gimmick. I'm sure there are moments of music and celebration which make these lost reggae bars come to life, but in the light of day the bar just makes me pine for islanders instead of Thais and friends instead of fat Germans in speedos.

Before my conversation with the Thai want-to-be rasta I already felt and saw the vibrations of development everywhere. There are several concrete midrange resorts under construction on the beach where I'm staying. For this island the age of the bamboo hut for 6 dollars a night is being threatened. Though its not here yet the residuals from boom time interest gives this place a build and they will come attitude. For now the resorts are half full at best and I chose a clean, well constructed wooden bungalow with a tiled bathroom and soft bed for $13 over the molding bamboo options. Maybe I'm one of those flash packers they have been waiting for, because yesterdays I stopped into one of the new midrange places and enjoyed some wifi, a clean delicious meal, and beer was still just $1.50. I sat down at a similar place weeks ago in Railey and got up and left after a glance at the prices. For now Koh Payam is a bargain and on the cusp of the main stream.

Today I kayaked a beautiful stretch of relatively untouched rock coast where rainforest meets the sea. I watched sea eagles soar over head and swoop down to catch their lunch. I could see small schools of reef fish along the rocks. The rain came down and the waves and current were at my back and life felt very right. I fear more development on my own island of Abaco I fear for Koh Payam. How far will she be stretched? It seems the Thais are aware of the value of theae natural resources and they have wide expanses of national parka. But on islands like Koh Payam with wide white beaches and little regulation it is possible to be gobbled whole by the beast of burden, the tourist dollar.

Amanda Mar
Koh Payam, Ranong Province, Thailand

Payam day 2

December 3, 2011
Day two on Koh Payam. I hiked to the other side of the island for a coffee at the Eco lodge on the island. After reading abut it I thought about staying the, but today I found it with negative vibrations, but I found a little cove with no buildings on it to spend a few hours listening to music and writing. Then I wondered along the coast towards the village. I passed a small temple built on a pier and several large scale statues of Buddah. There were two shirtless monks shoveling sand and listening to scratchy pop music on an old school radio. I wondered through a past town to what appeared to be an upscale resort. But this is Thailand, so beer and lunch still coast 10 dollars even in breezy cushioned comfort. I'm still trying to work out the snorkeling trip, I think we are six people and they are waiting for ten, so maybe in the next days. I think I'll rent a kayak for the day tomorrow and get a different prospective on the island.

Ive been looking at the colander a lot today thinking about the next two months and feeling my feet itch to see, do, and go. I'm thinking about taking a trip to Angkor Wat in Cambodia before Christmas. This probably means a bus to bangkok and then a flight. It's something I'm feeling more compelled to see and I'm worried if I out it off to January I won't find a week to do it. I'm still planning on beaching it up here for the next four or five days, but I might make a bigger hop after that.

Smiles,
Amanda Mar
Koh Payam, Ranong Province, Thailand

Koh Payam

December 1, 2011
I made the hop from Koh Chang to Koh Payam this morning. It is a similar island, but it has a few more people and I'm hoping it will be a little more social. I'm getting a little bored with beach life (did you ever think I would say that) after almost a month in Southern Thailand. I'm asking myself what else I want to get out of this first leg of my trip. There is a snorkeling trip I'm trying to book from here that goes over night to a national park and takes you to several protective reefs. I'm not a diver, but I don't think I should leave the islands without seeing some reef. So I'm here on another quiet beach with my thoughts, books and notebooks. Meeting people, thinking, writing, and beginning to feel a little lonely. I can't help imagining my family, friends, or Sean here with me. Wondering how the experience would be different with a partner, but mostly enjoying my solitude and contemplation. The beach in Koh Payam is white and the water is crystal and the jungle is ringing with birds and monkeys. It is a bit of paradise unattainable in North America but found so cheaply and easily here in Thailand.

Know that I am safe and happy and sleeping in a bright and clean bungalow by the sea. Living each day as it comes and approaching the half way point in my sabbatical and remembering the friends, spaces, and places I've already loved and enjoyed so much.

Smiles,
Amanda Mar

Koh Chang

November 29, 2011

I spent another day on Koh Chang. I switched bungalows this morning to a place called Sawadee (hello). It the same price and a much better bungalow that can be locked and has electricity from 6pm - 10pm. I gave up the views and a rustic thatched roof for a few more comforts. Plus it is beach side and has a very beautiful restaurant under a giant tree and so far the food is exceptional. Last night I came here for dinner and devoured a whole steamed red snapper in a sweet and savory tarragon sauce. It was one of the most beautifully prepared fish I've ever eaten. Sadly I didn't have my camera and will live with the memory or order it again tomorrow night and relive the bliss. I spent the day on a thatched platform by the sea on a comfy mat with my notebook and kindle. This resort is spilling with good vibrations and I'm feeling much more upbeat after the relocation. I went for a sunset walk and drank sweet lechey juice as toucans squawked over head. I'm planning to spend another night here and then take a water taxi to a neighboring island called Koh Phayam. It's a little more populated then Koh Chang and also has a national park with rain forests and a good two day snorkeling trip I'm thinking about taking. I think it's one of those places on the brink of exploding into a full force tourist island. There is also a very cool ecolodge I might splurge a little and stay in for a night or two.

Amanda Mar
Koh Chang, Ranong Province, Thailand