Bali Highs

 

Ubud, Bali

September 14th-19th

After only five days, both we are in love with Bali. Despite only having visited one village as of yet, it will probably go down as a favorite stop on our three month journey. The allure of Bali cannot be pinned on any one thing; it is the total package—an idyllic paradise setting, a smiley and welcoming people, and a fascinating and accessible culture. This is probably why millions of tourists visit this small Indonesian island each year and why parts of it have begun to succumb to the mighty tourist dollar. Luckily, there are still places here that have somehow found the balance between economics and tradition. Ubud, a smallish village in the heart of Bali is one of those places.

 

Unlike the more famous beaches of Bali it is located in the foothills of central valley. The town is cooler than other parts of Bali and is dominated by rice paddies, rivers and ravines. It is also one of the spiritual and artistic hubs of the island with many temples, yoga centers, traditional craft centers, and art galleries. There is also a well organized and surprisingly authentic series of live shows that rotate and take place each night (more on this later) In addition, due to a thriving expat community, Ubud has an especially tasty foodie scene. Traditional food is readily available of course, but so is French, Belgian, Italian,  and American gourmet at the fraction of the cost.

 

We arrived to the Denspasar Airport from Singapore late at night.  Based on our very ambiguous e-mail communications we could not tell if we were going to be picked up by the hotel we had booked.  Luckily we were met by a nice Balinese guy named “Wayan” and a tall Dutch guy named Jon.  So they drove us from the airport to Ubud and the ride took about one and half hours.  We could only see a little in the dark but one of the first things we noticed was the unique architecture.  Among the hovels and buildings there were fairly frequent stone sculptures and gates.  All the sculptures were of different sizes and depicted either Hindu gods (Bali is the single Hindu-dominate country in Indonesia) or other figures in Indonesian folklore.  One was a a towering giant warrior about 30 feet high fighting a sea dragon.  Also every town or village is marked in entrance and exit with a prominent gate demarcating the boundaries.  Both the gates and the sculptures were beautiful and very unique in style.

 

We arrived at our hotel called Inda Lodge (and yes many jokes about being “In Da Lodge” we made by Pearce).  We had gotten an unexpected upgrade in rooms due to some booking issue and were given a bungalow suite with a four poster bed.  This hotel was set up on a hill overlooking a small rice paddy and in among an irrigation canal.  The room was beautiful and the view was great.  We settled in quickly and this was a good thing because in Singapore, I (Pearce) had become fairly sick and this continued into Ubud.  So on the first full day I rested and Allyson did a walking and scouting tour of Ubud.

 

 

The next day, feeling a little better, we did a walking tour of a bigger rice paddy just across the street from our hotel.  This was a large field that was only slightly sloped and terraced.  There was a very narrow walking trail between the paddies.  Despite the small caliber of the trail it had the occasional tourist, Balinese woman toting large buckets of dirt balanced on their heads and too frequent rogue motor bikes who were shuttled all sorts of construction materials back and forth to a remote site.  The field itself was beautiful with almost an unnatural green.  With a significant breeze the tops of the rice stalks would sway with hypnotic rhythm mixed with soft ringing of Balinese whirligigs to ward off birds.  Allyson described it as one of the most beautiful scenes in our entire trip.  I was feeling drained during the walk, so I stopped in at a restaurant called Sari Organic in the middle of the field that is regionally famous for its organic juices and fare.  I cooled off with some mixture of fresh juices while Allyson adventured further on through the countryside admiring the local ducks skirting in and out of the tall rice.On a tip from a local, she ventured off the literal beaten path and found a deep jungle ravine with a small river with a questionable bamboo bridge that crossed it. Despite her adventurous spirit, she only made it halfway.

 

 

That night we did our first show.  Again in Ubud they have done something very clever: they have incorporated a series of shows dedicated towards tourists, but have maintained the traditional graces without pandering or cheesiness.  You really believe the people are in touch with and have a passion for their ancient culture.  (For example as opposed to a “traditional” Mayan dance we saw in an all inclusive in Mexico that bordered on comedy)  There are probably a list of ten to twelve different shows that occur on a rotating schedule but every night there are at least three to four to choose from.  I think the best part is the proceeds of the show goes to the temple the show is held in.  We went to one that was recommended called the “Kecak Fire Dance.”  This one was held in a beautiful temple with traditional architecture and stone work with the jungle barely maintained among the walls.  It was dark and chairs were set up around a small stone plaza and at the base of the stone steps of the temple.  In the middle there was a tall golden and ornate torch with candles set in concentric circles. 

 

When the show started about 100 Balinese men dressed in traditional checkerboard sarongs and sat in concentric circles around the torch.  They would chant in very brief strong grunts sounding like “ke -chack.”  Each part of the circle had different cadences with only two elders leading the transitions and actual singing.  In addition, the chanters provided an ever-moving ring around the “stage”. They would slap their hands, waving them around, move around, and basically acts a props to move the story along. In the stage elaborately dressed actors would come down and do traditional dances depicting the Hindu story of Ramayana. There was a evil villain, two huntresses hunting a dear, a monkey king and an old wizard.  At the end of the show an elder came out dressed as a horse and, while in a trance, would walk over burning embers of coconut shells.  All the while the men in the circle were constantly chanting.  It was a mesmerizing show and one of the best we have ever seen.  We felt very grateful to have seen this side of the Balinese culture.  After the show we went to a restaurant called Murni’s that was recommended for its pork ribs.  It was only meters down the road and overlooked a large jungle ravine.  The service there was very friendly and the food was excellent.

 

We went to bed early because we had signed ourselves up for an early morning adventure tour of one of the Batur Volcano.  We had hired the driver from the lodge and he would be taking us for a sunrise on the volcano.  Because the sun rises so early and the drive is so long we had to wake up at 3:30 am.  It was hard getting up, but we were off in a suped up Volkswagen Thing!  We arrived in the dark and met our walking guide.  Armed with flashlights and water we started the long dark climb up the volcano.  The journey was complicated by my illness which by now had to be a wicked respiratory infection because I was liable to terrible fits of coughing and fever.  This added to the alternately jagged and loose lava basalt made for a harder than it should be climb.  But we made it to the summit, had some breakfast our guide carried up and settled in to watch the sunrise. It was well worth it.  We watched the sunrise over the ocean and next to another volcano in the foreground.  We bought two cups of hot chocolate (it was cold at elevation) and enjoyed the view.  After the sunrise we walked just behind where we had been sitting and saw the deep and active caldera. Our guide pointed out active sulfur steams coming from the ground in the very active volcano. Interestingly, you also saw many flower offerings near many of the vents as well. Our guide said that many Balinese trek up the mountain to pray.  Luckily, the walk down was much easier. Our ride back in the actual daylight was very pretty. You pass a large lake, a remnant of a past rupture, and then climb up and out of the volcanic area with great views and chilly breezes. The rest of the trip is a slow downhill for about an hour or so passing villages, jungle and rice paddies.

 

 

After the early morning tour, we both took a nap and later strolled some more of Ubud. For a small town, it is heavily congested with both road and foot traffic. We felt bad for the day-trippers who would visit and only see the main drag of store and restaurants. Little did they know that just behind the store front was an endless green landscape.That evening we went to a French restaurant that was recommended and we had amazing food.  I had a steak for the first time in a long time.  Later that night we went to our second show.  This one was known for being an all women’s troupe.  It was only recently that women were allowed to partake in the shows at all after a council of elders decided that they should be able to show their skills. This one was held in a different temple and was more enclosed than the last one making for a more traditional stage. There were musicians on either side plating a variety of traditional instruments like drums, flutes and xylophones.  There were about five different traditional dances they performed including one involving a giant dragon costume that needed two people to operate.  The dancing was very different than any I or Allyson have seen.  The women dancers had incredible control over their bodies, isolating certain parts of their body (eyes, fingers, feet) at the same time. It reminded me of when you try to pat your head and rub your stomach. Additionally, they would act with very dramatic facial expressions that would  that would oscilate between stern, surprised, then sweet. Naturally, we have been uses these with each other in jest; we are terrible at it. 

On our last full day in Ubud we walked around the rice paddies again trying to find a certain path, but we got pleasantly lost and reentered the main drag near the Monkey Forest.  Ubud is known, in part, for this preserve of monkeys.  For example, the main drag is named Monkey Forest Road.  We did not have too much interest in going to this for fear of it being a tourist trap, but since we were in the area we decided to go in.  It was a nice park of sidewalk and temple in the midst of outright jungle.  The place was packed with two things:  monkeys and tourists.  We are still not sure which was more unruly.  People can and do pay to feed the monkeys bananas and so there are several tourists bravely (or stupidly) handing out food.  This was not a zoo and there are no cages therefore no separation of man and animal.  This is great for the monkeys but a little disconcerting for people like myself.  We had heard from our friends Katelyn and Gordon that they had witnessed someone getting bit while trying to feed the monkeys.  This was not surprising to me after watching several people trying asinine things with the feeding.  Here is a tip: never tease a monkey.  After about an hour of watching monkeys run around, climb and make tourists scream we left the forest.

 

We spent the rest of the day wandering the streets and shopping, including the local sprawling tourist market. We also stopped in a few totally legit DVD/music stores to see what the kids are interested in these days.  Later that night we went to a restaurant called Ibu Rai.  Allyson had a seafood avocado curry that she contends was her number one meal in Asia.  After that night we had to sadly leave Ubud and head to a port town on East side of the island to make for our next destination.  We took a personal driver there, the most common way of getting around Bali, and were able to see more of Bali’s beautiful countryside. Amed is a much less charming town then Ubud, but to be fair we did not have as much time there.  We needed a place to stay and we did not book ahead.  The coastal town had no central area as far as I could tell and was lined from North to South with many similar looking bungalow resorts on the ocean.  We found one on the second try within our budget and it had a pool over looking the ocean.  It was nice and we spent time at the pool most of the day.  That night we went to a restaurant called the Sail that would pick us up and drop us off from the resort.  We had some good food and a Bali microbrew called Storm beer under a stary sky.

The next day we headed for Amed’s version of a harbor which was a beach with a restaurant (and aggressive hawker children) and awaited our boat for our next destination….

 

 

Hint: you can almost see from this picture on the volcano

Singa-poor Pearce

Singapore Part 1: September 12th

We arrived in Singapore’s Woodlands Train station just after 6am for the first phase of our Singapore experience. We had slept some on the train, a lot compared to our two other brutal overnights, but Pearce was starting to feel sick. As we couldn’t check in to the Drop Inn Hostel we decided to head to the Hilton where we would stay our last night(ish) in Singapore. Our thought was we could consolidate our bags into one and store the other safely while we were at our final vacation destination. Plus it would allow Pearce the chance to rest in a comfortable environment.
Pearce and I were very impressed with the drive to the shopping district where the Hilton was located on Orchard Road. The highways all seemed landscaped, the cars drove in an orderly fashion and everything seemed shiny and brand new. Singapore is known for a whole host of Big-Brother-like rules. There is no smoking in public; jaywalking will earn you a $50 fine; and being gay is illegal?!? We were also told, but have not officially confirmed that you are not allowed to drive a car older than five years old. It certainly seemed like this was the case.
The themes of order and control were only reaffirmed as we walked around the Orchard area. There was no trash, people side-stepped out of your way and it was eerily quiet. Even in Singapore’s Chinatown which we visited in search of dim sum, everything was carefully crafted and staged, with the “real” Chinese element somehow left out of the equation. Another unique feature is that everyone speaks English in addition to a variety of other languages including Chinese, Malay and “Singlish”. We were no longer in an Asian city, but some strange Bizarro-world version of an Asian city. Not that we really minded. In fact, as quickly as Kuala Lumpur turned us off, we were lured in by the very different version of Asian city that is Singapore. There was only one problem. To spend any great amount of time here, also required you to spend a great amount of money. For instance, our hostel which is was in Little India, a 10-15 minutes subway ride from some of the main attractions, cost us just over $40. For that price we had a dingy, although private room with twin beds, shared bathroom and aircon that could only be used from 6pm to noon. We also got the bonus of hearing everything in the lounge area which seemed to be filled at all hours of the night. Hilton it was not. In fact, it was by far the most expensive place we had stayed in (and paid for ourselves) and probably the worst.
After Chinatown, Pearce was beginning to feel really bad. There was no way he could relax in our sketchy hostel without air-conditioning so our strategy was to hole up in a Borders we had seen earlier. He could possibly grab a cat nap and I could window shop through the endless floors of (I think there was 8?) the mall it was in. A sucker for sushi we (or I) got side tracked by a sushi place we passed on the way to the bookstore. It may have been the best sushi I have ever eater. Salmon, tuna, and scallop all melted in my mouth. Sated, we took off looking for Borders which ended up being a waste of time. It had closed months before. We did find another local bookstore where Pearce settled in for the few hours that remained before the aircon at the hostel would be turned on. I powerwalked through the mall, happy to get some exercise and being a cheapy, I was able to easily resist the ridiculous prices. I almost caved to an adorable pair of shoes, but I couldn’t justify the $49 “sale” price. I would rather keep eating sushi.

We spent the rest of the evening holed up in our room watching Season Two of Justified and resting for our flight the next day. For the last hurrah over our three month trip we decided on a place we (and many other people) had dreamed of going to, but wasn’t originally on our list as we thought it was too far. Apparently, it isn’t because here I sit on the plane.

I’ll give you a few hints:
It is an island.
It is located in Indonesia.
There is a song with its name in South Pacific (That one's for you Grana!)

Malaisia

September 9th and 10th 2011

Thailand was the end of the road for us in Asia, with a layover in Germany to visit our good friends Kate and Jay (and Merril). At least that was the tentative plan. Delta had different plans for us. Unfortunately our return ticket via Beijing China was unchangeable, unrefundable, unbelievable. Sadly, with this news we gave up on seeing our friends and were unexpectedly presented with two full weeks of where to spend that time. We could extend our time in Thailand which we loved. Alas, they only have a 30 day Visa on arrival if flying (land crossing only allow 15 days). This necessitated us leaving the country, if we wanted to get back in. We thought, trip of a lifetime, maybe we should add a place to our list that wasn’t originally on it. Instead we added three new countries to wrap up our tour of Asia.
Our first destination, a city, that for most Americans (myself included) have only a vague awareness of and would be hard pressed to pinpoint it on a map. Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia a country that is divided into two sections, peninsular Malaysia just under Thailand and Borneo, an Island to the east. Its history is very interesting as in addition to its indigenous people, the Malay, there are also large groups of Chinese and Indians who moved (were brought) here during the English Colonial period. We were intrigued enough by this unique blend (and the really cheap tickets on Air Asia) to book tickets to see it for ourselves. Even better, as my dad secured us a stay at the 5 star Hilton Kuala Lumpur, we were going to be sleeping in luxury for our two night stay.
In our opinion, a really heavily skewed one due to the brevity of our trip, a traveler should not bother with KL unless in transit. We arrived to very gray sky which we learned were not due to a rain front, but from the burning of huge tracts of land in parts of Indonesia. The low cloud cover trapped in the heat and made you feel like you were in a sauna. The city, buildings, sidewalks, etc, also had a run down feel to them. We were told there were areas that were shiny and new, but we did not see them. In fact, the feel of the city made us feel, for the first time in our travels, unsafe.
We did venture out to visit Chinatown and the square where Malaysian Independence was declared. The latter was a small, but pretty collection of colonial buildings that surrounded a square with a large flag pole, supposedly the largest in the world. Chinatown was a series of streets that looked and felt like much of the other Chinatowns we had visited, but more expensive. We did have a chance encounter, an example of the connectedness of the world, where we ran into the visiting instructor at the Koh Tao Dive Shop (and crashed his bike bringing it to end). He was cutting through the main thoroughfare of China town and spotted us eyeing the various merchandise.




There were some highlights from our visit specific to KL. The Hilton is located right next to an area called Brookfields which in addition to a lot of blind masseuse, are a number of really good Indian restaurants. We settled on one called “The Gem” and it provided not one, but two incredible dinners for us during our stay. The highlights included mango lassies, chicken tikka masala and a mutton dish called rogan josh. We also enjoyed the close proximity of Kuala Lumpur Sentral, the train station. Practically, it provided easy access to and from Malaysia. As a bonus it had a great assortment of shops and restaurants and provided my first fix of a green tea latte since Shanghai. In the end, the hotel saved our trip to Kuala Lumpur (Thanks again Dad!). Since we were uninspired but our wanderings around the city, we decided to take advantage of our 5 star accommodation and live like the other half. For us, this included using the pool grotto, snuggling in our feather bed to watch movies, ordering room service and soaking in a giant bubble bath. Kuala Lumpur wasn’t so bad after all.

We decided to take one more train trip from KLL to our second to last destination. Fittingly, when we went to book our tickets there were only upright seats left for the overnight voyage. So with fear in our hearts we booked the tickets. Surprisingly, this trip was still more comfortable than both our China sleeper train and bus voyage in Vietnam* and got us safely to our next destination…SINGAPORE.

The Challenge

Here is the video footage of me, Pearce taking the Challenge.  Being very clever, we dubbed it Food vs. Man.  There are several videos to watch in sequence and I won’t give away the outcome.

DISCLAIMER: This is not my finest hour (or half-hour in this case).  As a physician this is an obscene amount of food that people should not consume in a single sitting.  I have a weird mixture of pride and shame.

Dedication:  Most people close to me would not want this dedicated to them, but there is at least one.  This was for you Ziggy.

Special Photo Blog: Under the Sea Edition

September 7th, 2011

SCUBA Dive – Koh Lanta, Thailand VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Dive information:

Location: Offshore from Koh Lanta, Thailand in island chain named Koh Ha (Five Islands)

Date: September 7th, 2011

Dive site names: 1. Island #6   2. Chimney (bonus between-dive snorkel in “The Lagoon”)

Dive company: SCUBAFISH

Dive Master/Guide: Magnus

Photographer: Vicki (Liquid Lens Company)

Dive boat name: Mosquito

The Luck of Lanta

Koh Lanta   08/31-09/09

    

We arrived to Koh Lanta via Krabi Town (the mainland port town) to beautiful weather, a refreshing change to the cloudy skies on Koh Tao. This was very surprising as we had read/heard it was monsoon season on this side of Thailand and had mentally prepared ourselves for rain and gale force winds. In fact, we only had a few nights of rain our whole nine day stretch. We chose Koh Lanta as opposed to the more popular Koh Phi Phi (the island tragically devastated in the 2004 tsunami) as we were told by our trustee advisors Katelyn and Gordon it was a really chill and undeveloped island: perfect for relaxing. I had been to Koh Phi Phi and had never been to Koh Lanta so it was going to be a new experience for both of us. We had attempted to book a place to stay, but plans had fallen through last second so we arrived to the island bungalow-less. We did know we should get as far South on the West coast of the island because it is where the beaches are the most beautiful this time of year. Further up North the beaches are trash strewn as the monsoonal winds blow debris in from deeper parts of the ocean. So sad. The Eastern side is dominated by mangrove swamps with only a smattering of Sea Gypsy villages along its edge. There are also rumored crocodiles in hiding out in these waters, but this has been adamantly denied by the people who live here.

At first glance on our drive down we were not impressed.  The buildings along the main highway looked run down and many were out right abandoned.  We worried we had made a mistake in coming. Our minivan driver finally made us and the remaining six passengers get out unceremoniously dumping our belongings on the side of the road. Seeing no taxis, or really any form of available transportation—they weren’t kidding about the low season— we strapped on our bags and started walking south. After ten minutes and one wrong turn, I decided to start hailing any car that drove by, which were far from frequent.  My flagging produced a non-descript black pick-up truck loaded with supplies.  As luck would have it the driver was the son of an owner of one of the resorts on one of the island’s beaches, Katiang Bay. This bay was voted Best Beach in ALL OF THAILAND.  His resort was called Lanta Marine View Resort. This was quite a fortunate coincident as, of the resorts on the island, this was the resort we had wanted to stay, but was quoted a ridiculous price online. I casually asked how much it was and it turned out to be half the online price including air conditioning, hot water, and an elevated bayside view. Jackpot! We arrived to the resort, were greeted by a friendly staff and shown to our perfect bungalow. Right then we knew that Koh Lanta was going to be great.

Having arrived early in the day, we unpacked our bags, dropped off our laundry (they do that too) and strolled around the little village right next to beach. First stop was lunch at Drunken Sailors in order to stop Pearce from being “man-gry”*. This place became a daily visit, whether for a delicious American or Thai meal or to use their ridiculously fast(er) internet.  If we lived on the island this place would become our regular place like Steinbeck’s in Atlanta.  We recommend the Banana pancakes (Pearce) and then Thai Iced Tea shake (Allyson). Comfortably full, but with some trepidation we headed next door to Scubafish, a local dive shop. Given our recent experience in Koh Tao we were not overly enthusiastic about diving again so soon.  Again our luck in Koh Lanta would continue in a windfall.  From the moment we stepped in the staff at Scubafish went over and above to make us happy customers, even before we were actual customers.  Fressa, a Swede who has been living in Thailand for ten years, told us in detail about their shop, what the dives were like, and thoroughly explained the cost breakdown. He then walked us through the shop showing us the equipment they used and having us try on a variety of sizes. It all looked so perfect hanging in neat rows, obviously well cared for…not a single hole in the wet suits. Although we had only been curious about doing a dive later in our vacation, we decided right then to do a dive with them the next day and most likely a three day package if things kept going well.

The next morning we met them at 7 Eleven at 7:11 and jumped into the back of the already loaded truck with another couple. Due to the season, we had to drive across the island to the Old Town pier for roughly 30 minutes. We hopped out there and started unloading the truck, only to be told politely that we needn’t worry, it would all be taken care of for us. We were quickly escorted to a longtail boat which brought us to a gorgeous single engine boat where we were told to hang out on the top covered deck while they unloaded all the gear and supplies. About five minutes later one of the dive crew popped up and laid out a breakfast of chocolate croissants, fruit juice, iced coffee and bananas and were informed of the all you can drink cooler stocked with water and cola. I mean are you kidding!? As we take off on our two hour voyage to Koh Haa (or Five Islands) we are briefed on the boat procedures and prepped for our dives for the day including routes, precautions and marine life. This is when we find out that all of our equipment will be set up for us, all we needed to do was put it on and to do our buddy checks (BWARF: inflate Buoyancy Control Device; Weight belt should be a right hand release; Air - do you have any? ; Releases for a quick escape; Fins and mask). Having nothing to do equipment-wise we hung out on the covered sundeck with the other divers swapping travel stories and enjoying the beautiful views.

Koh Haa, our dive site, is basically a ring of small Karst islands with a more shallow “lagoon” in their center. It is truly one of those “magical” (sorry George) places you feel privileged to see and belongs more in the movies or imagined paintings. Honestly, I think both Pearce and I would have been happy just swimming and snorkeling around the lagoon, but we had signed up for dives so we suited up, buddy checked and jumped in. AH-May-Zing. Okay people. If you have never done SCUBA diving, this place’s sheer existence on the planet demands to be added to your life list.  So go to your closest dive shop, get certified, than buy a ticket to Thailand and see it for yourself. The first thing we saw as we descended was, you guessed it… a purple starfish. We had arrived.

Both dives that day, and in fact all six of our dives, were incredible. During the first one we circled Ko Ha # 2 (the islands are numbered) and apparently someone had phoned ahead to make sure all of the animals were in their proper places as we floated passed. Everywhere we looked the ocean teamed with life: parrotfish, bannerfish, butterflyfish, clown fish, pufferfish, snapper, barracuda and a ton of other fish I haven’t a clue what their names were.  It was during this dive we also saw a school of poisonous lionfish hovering in an ominous formation, a giant squid and a jellyfish. We came up from our first dive on a high and I don’t believe from the nitrogen in our bodies. We dried off, with the warm towels provided by Scubafish, and then gathered again on the upper deck to eat the delicious Thai lunch that was also provided. About an hour later we hopped back in the water ready to see more.

Over the course of the rest of our dives we also saw lion-tailed seahorses, banded sea snakes, conchs, garden eels, moray eels, giant puffer fish and a camouflaged scorpion fish. Corals were just as abundant, with fire coral, fan coral, bubble coral and brain coral, to be found in all shapes in colors. We did have a few favorites: the purple starfish (of course); the seal face puffer which looked like a cross between a dog and a seal; the long fin banner fish that always swam in pairs; the baby black clownfish that hide in the anemones; and the troops of small squid the scoot around the water changing color in each new environment they encounter.

We were also able to visit a few other islands within the five (actually six) including the Cathedral which consisted of a number of huge, but shallow caves with swim trough's and the Chimney which was a chute that you swam down into, through a cave packed with fish and back out into the open blue. Every dive there was something novel to see and discover. There was one thing we missed out on seeing in our dives. Although not specifically a feeding or cleaning station, every now and then whale sharks are known to swim through Koh Ha. Unfortunately for us, one decided to visit on our day off, giving the divers the extra special treat of swimming with one of the largest animals on the planet.

We cannot say enough good things about the operation and the people involved at Scubafish, Koh Lanta.  The dive sites alone were astounding, but in addition the dive masters and other people employed by the company were top-notch and the treatment we had there was more than could be expected.  In our obvious appreciation for three days of great diving we walked to the Seven-Eleven and bought a twelve pack of Thailand’s finest, Singha Beer and shared them on the door step of the dive shop with the likes of Magnus, Frasce (spelling?), Rosie, Saffron, Kim and Jon.  We swapped stories, both dive and non-dive related and soaked up the post-dive aura.

On the days we weren’t diving, we explored the island via motor scooter. Our first time out we arranged for two scooters as we were both first-timers and nervous about being responsible for the other person.  It is not uncommon to see tourists with white bandages covering parts of their body from a face plant into the asphalt.  As we gained our confidence, we rented only one although it took awhile for Pearce to let me drive. We had no exact plan as the island has few roads and can be explored in its entirety very easily over the course of the day. In the course of our travels we saw a few Sea Gypsy communities on the Southeast corner of the island. These seafaring nomads are an ethnic minority in Thailand with their own distinct language and culture. We also passed a number of mosques and temples, as both Buddhist and Muslim Thais also live on the island.

A video taken by Allyson from the back of the scooter along the Western shore.

Further up the mangrove covered coast we visited Old Town, a small village which was founded as a Chinese port city. It was dominated by a series of colorful stilt houses that perch out over the water. It was there that we bought a traditionally woven hammock from a very nice woman at a cute little shop called Hammock Town. It was also on Old town we saw the most terrifying fish held hostage in a tank just larger than his enormous body. He was white-pink, with no scales, a huge bulbous forehead and no teeth. He looked like the world ugliest baby. What made him scary was when you approached the tank he would come at you with such aggression, trying to gum his way through the tank to attack you. I can’t say I really blame him as he led a pretty miserable existence in that tank. We regret not getting a picture, but I suppose that is okay because we still can’t get his freaky image out of our heads.

Another highlight of Koh Lanta was a self guided nature tour. Animals included troupes of roadside monkey gangs, goats, cows, horses, and gila monsters. We also saw hidden beaches, jungle forests, mangrove trails and cliffside views of the ocean. We avoided the inland caves as we had been warned in addition to having to crawl on your belly, there were giant glow in the dark spiders. Pass. We ended our tour at the Noon Bar, oddly named as it is an ideal and advertised location to view the sunset. We settled in to wait and actually didn’t have much hope to see the sunset, but to our delight it dipped below the clouds and gave us an amazing show.

Koh Lanta was also full of indulgences. We whiled away our time by reading out on our bungalow’s bay-view patio, rainy day napping and watching various shows we had burned to our hard drive including Entourage, Justified and Boardwalk Empire. And since we shared a beach with the only 5 star resort on the island (the Pimilai), one day we acted as casually as possible, strolled in, grabbed two lounge chairs by the infinity pool, and began ordering exotic cocktails including one with mango, mint and juniper. Because of the low season, we had the pool and the gorgeous view that came with it to ourselves all day long. Another day we worked up enough energy to go to the Serenity Spa on the North side of the island in the main town Sala Dan. There we had massages and foot treatments. For Pearce it was his first Thai massage and I believe he has mixed feelings about the experience. I am not sure if it was the woman elbowing him, contorting him into odd shapes or jumping on his back, that turned him off. It is definitely not for everyone. It can’t be denied that you feel like Jell-O afterwards so we recovered out on their back porch that overlooks the water, relaxing and drinking green tea. 

On the topic of Lanta and luck, Pearce even had the chance to play in a hush-hush game of locals only poker.  He spent one of the nights playing no-limit Texas Hold’em with some Thai and ex-pats alike sharing his bottle of Jameson whisky and making fast friends in the process.  He only lost $6 but had a really good time.  Of many culinary indulgences including the numerous tropical fruit smoothies and exotic versions of Western hamburgers we enjoyed a lot of really good Thai food.  We had curries of all types including Penang, which we had not yet had.  It is now one of Pearce’s favorites.  Drunken Sailors was obviously a favorite with its never changing, kind staff, open air bungalow feel complete with optional hammock seating and native cats wandering around.  Another favorite place, recommended by the ex-pat dive masters from SCUBAFISH was named after the bay, Kantiang.  It was a family operated joint, just inland to the main drag either a 8 minute walk or 3 minute scooter ride away.  Its menu featured almost all Thai staples with dirt cheap prices.

We, or I should say Pearce, did have one major challenge in Koh Lanta. We had heard from the dive instructors there was a restaurant called The Frog that offered up an eating challenge on each Sunday. It required for one person to eat a 12 inch baguette with various types of meat, cheese and accouterment in 30 minutes and they would get it for free (and I suppose have bragging rights). Pearce got it in his head to do it and who am I to stop a man from accomplishing his dreams! The sandwich was gi-normous. Pearce put on a really good show, tearing through most of the sandwich in the first 20 minutes, but his body started giving some major signs of struggle—profuse sweating, shaky hands, belching. I thought he was going to do it, but it came down to about 6 small pieces of steak left in two minutes and there was no way he could chew through it fast enough. Still I was proud. And grossed out.**

Towards the end of the our time on Koh Lanta we felt the bitter sweet of having to leave this lovely island, but also felt the excitement of the next journey.  On the last night we decided to visit one of the resorts around the corner from ours.  It had intrigued me as it looked quite different from the rest: it was done in modern minimalist style, decorated in acute angles and concrete instead of the omnipresent beach-side bungalow style.  It was a German owned and designed resort called the Houdon.  We went on a lark, but when we ascended the steps we beheld an amazing panorama of a fiery sunset just over the islands of Koh Ha, our dive site, on the horizon.  So it was there we shared some red wine and ate our last real, authentic Thai food.  I had some of the best Massaman curry, which was a mission of mine, and Pearce had some super spicy ground beef dish. 

A video cast from our last night in Koh Lanta and Thailand.

Koh Lanta was one of the longest single stay destinations for us, clocking in at nine days.  Although we were concerned on first impression, it quickly became one of our favorite places.  Our Thailand diving experience was redeemed, our stay was cheap and of high value and we got to spend time on the beach, in an infinity pool, watching sunsets and eating great Thai food.  It was a perfect way to leave Thailand.

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*Mangry (adj.) pronounced mang-gree – a negative mood or anger that results when a man really needs a meal pronto; otherwise he turns into the hulk; coined by Katelyn and Gordon

** A video account of Pearce taking the Challenge is forthcoming!