Traveling Through Thailand, Part 2

    After our afternoon in Krabi, in which we go to the market and then back to the hotel to just lay around, and our evening, which consists of having a cocktail at sunset on the floating restaurant, we decide to beat it out to one of the local islands the next morning. We take a boat to a place about an hour away, and watch the shoreline pass away. There are so many islands here we are never out of sight of land, and we pass other boats on the way. Shortly before our beach, we encounter a huge rock sticking out of the water, seeming to be standing on its head like an egg. As we pass near it, we notice the beautiful colors in the water, warm aqua blue, very inviting. Then we actually pass underneath the rock, and this is an amazing sight as we look up and see the lime formations hanging down from it. It couldn't be nicer if it were designed by the best artist in the world, yet it is completely natural. How lucky we are to be able to travel and see places like this. What a world we live in.
     When we get to the beach, which is called Riley Beach, we jump out and run up to the first goup of bungalows we see. There are many establishments along the beach, all with bungalows for sleeping and a restaurant in the front. We want to get a decent price as well as a decent place here, and after looking at several rooms, we decide on a small one for 400 baht per night. This is quite a bit more than we usually pay, but it's the beach, so we'll pay it. The room is small, but we don't plan on spending much time in it anyway.
     Out on the beach, we see a lot of tourists from North America, Europe, Australia, and so on. In other words, lots of farangs. There are almost no Thai people, other than the people who work here. It feels like we're in Club Med, not in Thailand. But we can just enjoy the beauty of the place and not think about all the tourists.
     The beach itself is wonderful, with beautiful bluffs to frame it on both sides. The water is not only clear and beautiful, it's as warm as a bathtub. We can go snorkeling, swimming, and if we want, there is a diving boat that gives diving lessons. When we get tired of playing in the water, we can lie on the beach and read all those books we haven't had time to read - you did remember to bring a good book, didn't you? Okay, we're set. Want a beer? Coke? Pineapple smoothie? You got it. It's a little crowded, but it's nice.
     We spend a couple of days here lying around and doing as little as possible. At night the entertainment options are drinking, eating, and meeting other farangs. After a couple of days we've had our fill, so we take a boat back to Krabi. We're going to head even further south, to an island near the Malaysian border named Tarutao.
     Tarutao used to be a prison. During World War II, the prison officials and some of the inmates resorted to piracy of passing ships, because they were running low on food and medical supplies. A very interesting book was written about this, called The Pirates of Tarutao, by Paul Adirex. The author is especially good at getting inside the minds of Thai people, and describing how they perceive things. Now Tarutao is a national park, with camping, and other islands nearby.
     It takes about five hours by bus to get from Krabi to the nearest mainland town to Tarutao, which is called Pak Bara. On the boat ride over, it's easy to see how this place became a prison. The island seems formidable, not like the islands around Krabi. Even the waters seem unfriendly, deep, and with lot of space between islands. Certainly no one could escape from this island by swimming. The rocks in the cliffs are dark grey and ominous looking. If you are Thai, this is Alcatraz.
     On the island there are no farangs, in fact, very few people at all. We get a bungalow for a modest price, and spend the afternoon wandering around the beach. We make friends with some Thai college students, and they invite us to join them for a cookout on the beach. Later, they suggest we join them on a tour of the cave.
     There is a river which leads to this cave, and inside the cave are limestone formations. We take a boat tour up the river, twisting and turning, as we look at the banks lined with mangrove trees. The roots of these trees are so thick that it seems no one who swam there could climb out of the water. The river used to be inhabited by crocodiles, but they have been hunted to extinction by the Thais. At the cave, we get out and walk. Inside, it is cool, but a little musty and humid. There are many paths, and they twist and turn around the limestone.
     The interior of the island has some roads which we can use for hiking, but we must be careful about going long distances in the hot sun. The climate in this part of Thailand is always hot, and one or two hours is all we can take. We take plenty of water, and follow road into the jungle. After a couple of hours of walking in the heat, we turn around. We get back to camp, relax on the beach, and eat with our friends. We enjoy a fairly quiet couple of days here.
     After a couple of days of exploring this island we take the boat back to the mainland, and then get the bus back to Surat Thani. This time we visited the western shore Thailand, which faces the Andaman Sea. It is characterized by very clear blue-green water and beautiful beaches with rock formations. There is also the Gulf of Thailand side of the peninsula, and we can explore that another time.
     We arrive back in Surat and we notice, right across from our slightly run down hotel, in our completely Thai neighborhood, a sign that says "Bud's Ice Cream of San Francisco." How did this get here? Fortunately, we are relieved to find that the although the place has ice cream, it is still completely Thai: they serve Thai food, have Thai waitresses and customers, and they don't put very much chocolate sauce on my sundae. Thank goodness we're still in Thailand.
     We take the all-night bus back to Bangkok When we finally pull into the bus station, deficient in sleep but very satisfied, we know that we have at least scratched the surface of the south of Thailand.

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Want your quiz answers from Newsletter No. 9? Here they are..

1. The title denotes a professor or highly educated person.
2. They are away from home for the first time, they are surrounded by students they don't know, and they may have insecurities about their abilities to do the job required of them.
3. First guess, assume a motorbike accident.
4. Because it isn't moving fast enough.

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Next Issue: John's new house.