Paradise Lost. Paradise Found.

Sunday, Oct 15, 2006, Ko Lanta.
Eager to see the much acclaimed Thai islands with our own eyes, we left Bangkok for Krabi about 5 days ago. Krabi is a coastal town on the West coast of southern Thailand and a good jumping off point for the many island destinations in the Andaman Sea. When we arrived in Krabi, we took a taxi, then a sawngteaow (like a covered pick up truck with bench seats in the back, then a longtail boat to Railay island (famous for rock climbing). It was pouring. For days, the rainstorms persisted, dampening our spirits and slowly sapping our enthusiasm. On Railay, we spent about an hour walking around with our big packs, looking for a suitable hotel.
We quickly realized that the islands are not as affordable as other parts of Thailand. There was so much constuction on that tiny island it was a little of a buzzkill. (to be fair, this coast was hit pretty hard by the Tsunami.) Fatigued from the constant moving, our overwhelming desire was to find the perfect spot and stay there until we leave for Malaysia. Railay was not it so we took the ferry to Ko Phi Phi (Ko-Pee-Pee)the following morning. This is the island made famous from its cameo in that DeCaprio move, The Beach. We had not given up hope and were excited to see our next destination.
We arrived into a zoo of tour operators touting accomodations on the island. We settled on a place based mainly on price. The room itself was not bad, per se, but it wasn't worth the price. It was also probably the farthest possible spot from the pier, through construction sites, scores of massage shops, internet cafes, restaurants, bars and tour agencies. The island does not have a good drainage system so with the constant rains, muddy ankle deep, sometimes foul smelling rivulets dominate the streets. Water was coming out of pipes that spilled into the street and we weren't sure if it was pure rainwater or rainwater mixed in with a little sewage we were trudging through. Really glad for our Hep shots. Ko Phi Phi was turning out to be more like Ko Poo Poo.
The islands are breathtakingly beautiful but the unfortunate thing is that beauty is being trampled on and eaten alive by the greed and inconsideration of a booming tourist industry. Paradise Lost.

We are now on Ko Lanta. Paradise Found. This is exactly what we were looking for. A fairly large island, entirely undeveloped. There is a law here that forbids any building to be taller than the palm trees. We are staying at a great place and have rented a scooter to explore the island. Speaking of which, the sun is calling and we must go....until next time!


(Sorry, photos coming soon, it takes forever to load them, promise to do so soon.)

And They Drop Like Flies

Jenna was the first. Fever, headache, frequent trips to the bathroom. Then on the morning we were to fly to Bangkok, Michael wakes up with a high fever. We postpone our flight, Capos leave without us. Later that day, Angelo succumbs to same debilitating illness. We are stumped. What did it? The fruit plate at the temples? The supposedly safe bottled water? The 45 cent beers? Perhaps we were cocky, thinking ourselves impervious to a little bacteria in this not-third-world-anymore little oasis. But no, whatever it was beat the living crap out of these three. Val escapes narrowly with merely a bee sting on her cheek and a nasty fire ant bite on her foot. I'd take those any day over what these guys had. The night we spent alone in Cambodia was rough. Michael got better then were reminded that we'd picked the absolute noisiest place to stay, right under a rooftop bar and next to another one. When you're trying to sleep off a fever and relentless "angry ass" as Jenna calls it, the last thing you want it the relentless bass of one track pounding over the screaming melody of another. At least two sources of music barged into our room, mocking our walls and tightly closed windows, defying their existence. A rough night ensued but Mike's fever finally broke at around 4 in the morning. And by 8:30 we were at the airport waiting for our flight out of there to Bangkok.

We limped into Bangkok, Mike barely making the trip. Checked into our guesthouse and another full day of rest for the man, who was much much better but not entirely out of the woods. (Hooray, Cipro!) After a much needed nap, Val leaves him to the BBC and After School Specials while she takes her one and only chance to visit Chatuchak weekend market, the largest market in the world. You can buy ANYTHING you want there. And for cheap. Exhausted, Val makes it there 2 hours before the market closes.

Today, Oct 9, we take Michael to the hospital, just to see if he is alright. He claims it was the best hospital experience he's ever had. It was like a hotel when we entered, staff greeting us with their usual Thai hospitality. We were signed in and waiting to see a doctor within 5 minutes. A sign at the nurse's desk read. "If you have been waiting for longer than 15 minutes, please contact a nurse at the counter." Love this hospital. Blood tests were done while we waited and within an hour, we were on our way, with a diagnosis and more medication. Mike is back on his feet, ready to be on our way tomorrow morning to Krabi, our jumping off point to the islands.