Coming back to Khao-Lak

So after I made my escape from the skyscrapers and mammoth shopping malls of Phuket, I got back to Khao Lak's peace and took a deep breath. Nyi Nyi of course greeted me with a smile and said my room was still there for me.

Next was also waiting for the proof of life (ie, surviving Phuket) and I then made all my travel arrangements with him for returning to Bangkok and going on the 'James Bond' tour that my German friends Stefan and Christoph had given thumbs up on. Next worked his magic and got me on a fantastic tour...

costing less than most advertised ones at 1700 baht, I was collected promptly at the promised time outside my 'hotel' by Albert, a most informative multilingual guide, and 2 other German couples. We of course hit the island known as James Bond island, owing to the filming of 'The Man with the Golden Gun' there, and wouldn't you know, you can even get a copy. Following this was the sea canoe - I had one with a guide to myself, and it wasn't long before we rowed off that he broke into a round of 'Hotel California' and we were off; Oasis, Joan Jett, 'Proud Mary' and many others. It garnered some attention from the other groups in the sea canoes who were doing the standard sightseeing to watch us row by belting out tune after tune.

I would have liked more time in the Muslim sea village at which we ate a fantastic lunch (being on a tight budget my food largely consisted of 25 baht noodle soop from street stalls so I was in culinary heaven), but in compensation we had more time at the cave temple, with monkeys cavorting in front of it, myself drawing a most unfortunate fortune (tho really most things in it were not applicable) and attempting to undo it by having myself blessed by a monk.

All in all, a success and I would recommend for sure booking with Khao Lak Asia Tours, and try to get Albert as your guide. He proved to be a real cracker of a person, having done the Southeast Asia route, and knowing many people in town he turned up at this (rather unfortunate) night in the Happy Snapper, sitting in his seat and dancing the night away (I may also add, I estimated Albert to be in his 60's..chronologically anyway!). Next and I were at it again with the Singha, trying to promise to take it easy for my last night celebration the following night, but yuhhhh.....

However it was not a mere hangover that took me down the next day. Rather, an extremely nasty stomach bug manifested itself early evening, and even a trip to the pharmacy proved futile (and if that is the case in Thailand you know you have problems). Next took one look at me the following day and off to the clinic it was. it took 3 injections, very strong antibiotics and about 5 other medications to put me right again. One also knows its bad when the doctor asks if you have insurance! Thankfully, I do!

What is even worse is being told, in a Thai seaside town - that you cannot eat 1) fried foods. 2) spicy foods. 3) seafood. throw in the fact I know lactose does you no favours in these situations, and Nyi Nyi telling me to stay away from fruit.. I was literally on a bread and water diet. Tho oddly seemed to have gained weight as was asked before massage yesterday if I were pregnant. again! (flashback: Istanbul's Grand Bazaar).

2 days later I managed it though (with a bus showing up bizarrely 15 minutes early, sending Nyi Nyi and a random taxi driver into Olympic sprint mode as the bus barrelled past, my luggage in tow!). All in all, Khao Lak is unfortunately going the way of many places in thailand with the development and I fear will soon be not much different than its neighbor Phuket. Gone are the simple beach huts, and post-Tsunami production included only pricey bungalows. But in the meantime, I definitely can recommend the following:

1. Noi Travel (of course I am biased here since that is where Next works, but at least you can know he will give you a fair price and do his best, and was stellar with all my arrangements and has gone out of his way for other guests).

2. The rooms behind the southernmost 7-11 - I believe the company is actually called 'Khao Lak Tour Company'. simple, clean functional rooms at a very reasonable price in a good location.

3. Khao Lak Asia Tour company - for the James Bond tours, and most likely others

4. Medsye - I did my Similan islands trip with them. Very well organized, as they should be - they are the original operator to the beautiful Similans.

Japanese Songs, Latin Dance, 'Wir Sprechen Deutsch'..must be Thailand..

Sawatdi Kha from Khao Lak! Thus far loving life here and enjoying ample amounts of sun and sea. Managed to find one of the few remaining cheap and simple rooms run by a nice family (my place doesn't even have a name, i just know I reside behind 7-11). It seems a few more of these establishments exist, but unfortunately the beach is now lined with the more upmarket bungalows which were the ones to be built up after the Tsunami.

And after many years, got to spend some time with 'Next', a Thai friend from Phi Phi, back in the day. we took off on the moped for the beach, and a market where we grabbed a few Thai snacks to eat on the terrace of his travel shop. and being as evil as he is, booked me on the boat trip to the Similan Islands, and took me drinking the night before. We hit the Singha beer with a vengeance, first taking in some Thai live music and then heading to the more raucous 'farang' bar, also with live music. and just as i was about to say..this is THE last beer, another round was on teh table. uff. We danced, we sang, and en route out of the toilets I was grabbed by a random Mexican (who had previously sung 'La Bamba' on stage) and flung into some variation of Salsa , or whatever it was, on the stage (!), and enough to have him saying 'you are really a dancer!' and it took numerous minutes after to convince him there is NO latin in me (Canadian, Japense, Scottish, Norwegian....yuh) and that I actually dont even like latin dance (no surprise, i take issue with the whole man must lead thingie)...adding to my randomness which he couldnt get his head around I got a skewed face for the fact I dive and do yoga. Ended up semi-drunkenly going into the tree pose, as in no way was i doing a sun salutation on a bar floor...

made for a rough start as i lugged my bag into Next's shop in the morning and headed out to the Similans. Which, I must say are the most beautiful islands I've seen here. Its been kept pretty basic and I had a little tent to call home for the night with the sounds of the sea to lull me to sleep. Unfortunately though, as package tourists start to invade even this little corner, the group..well, they kinda sucked. And it IS an expensive trip. Basically what I did was what they call this open ended tour/ticket - it costs 2000 baht. one can take a regular boat for this price and then have to pay the 400 baht park fee. Whereas by doing this tour you get to stop at snorkelling sites, viewpoints, a lunch and the fee is included. the tent goes fora whopping 570 baht, but the bungalows far more. you could do the 2 day tour, but this is considerably more expensive..4200 baht which gets you an afternoon boat tour with dinner and a morning one with breakfast and lunch. i preferred my option which gave me the chance to explore the island on my own. i think these trips are also more expensive from Phuket..

and again..teh company..ehhh...save for a cool finnish lad, and 2 germans, Stefan and Christoph. I still had a wonderful time though, exploring on my own, snorkeling in crystal clear waters with an array of tropical fish chasing each other, and hiking up to the viewpoint which apparently few seem to know about - meant i was on my own for the entire thing and I found one of the best meditation spots yet. Of course I took advantage and it was a beautiful start to the day.

Had a rather fun evening back in Khao Lak last night with Next and the German lads, in a low key little thai place - the ones I miss, built with bamboo, lined with fairy lights and where you sit on the floor sipping your mai tai. They also had some live music and Next..I thought he was joking. We made an agreement that if he went up and sang a Thai song, I would go up and do a Japanese one (as its pretty sad, i'm not sure i know any english ones start to finish!). And lo and behold..he was up there singing it, so next I had to keep up my end of the bargain. had a quick run through with the guitarist and he got the tune..too bad I couldnt sing in tune but at least there were no Japanese about so if I stuffed up the words no one would know. hah! so again my rendition of 'Ashita ga Aru sa' went off alright and the barmaid even thanked me after for it..though presumably she was thanking me for leaving the stage (!).

So getting into the groove here, and enjoying life simply..waking smiling each day, and starting the day by either practising yoga or running on the beach, then breakfasting outside whilst watching the world go by. It's like I've been sleeping for years, and I'm finally waking up!