Da Beach - Koh Lanta

  Within minutes of boarding a ferry to Koh Lanta, Ryan, Vanessa and her mom stepped on deck, nixing the need for elaborate meet-up plans on the island. Good thing too, considering it took about five hours and a drive (on the bed of a rented pickup truck nonetheless) to the southernmost tip of the island in search of suitable accommodation for an ultimate beach experience. 

  The late hour and some rainy omens soon cured our indecisiveness, and we settled into cliff-side huts. 

  The morning greeted us with a gorgeous view right from our porch: black cliffs, fine sand beach, pristine water and the lush jungle of Bamboo Bay, all nearly deserted. How perfect. Our own little slice of paradise.

  It may sound like a repeat of our other beach getaways, but the limited accessibility of the place made it so much more. Once again, we soaked up the sun rays and frolicked and snorkeled in the clear water. 

  With fascination, we gazed at one of the most astounding sunsets ever, the colors turning deep red at the end. 

  We read books on our porch, once in a while raising our eyes to absorb the view. It touched us every time.

  We savored some great Thai food, with Muslim accents. 

 We watched a fire dancer work his magic, and a lucky lantern make its way to the sky. 

 We rode on the back of a pickup truck, local style, with beer in hand. 

  At night, we found the only bar willing to serve coffee, and sat with three Thai men, no English spoken but with workable sign language, while Ryan played the guitar. We even skinny dipped by moonlight. Just one of those memorable places.

  But like all good things, it came to an end all too quickly. Our Oregonians left for home, while we took a train back to Bangkok to obtain our visas to Myanmar (Burma). Now that was an adventure in itself.

The high life on Kata Beach

  After a long voyage South, though not as laborious as the reverse one from Koh Tao and with comfy sleeper berths, we landed on Kata Beach in Phuket. The town is packed to the brim with resorts and resort prices – not our usual backpacker standards. 

Home breakfast, a rarity these days

 But it was a nice change of pace, and we were only too glad to spend easy, languid days with Di and Andrew, catching up on news from home.

Welcome hug run

  The beach was beautiful, with clear, azure waters you'd imagine on a postcard. We could have easily spent all of our time soaking in the water, but decided to change it up. 

  We tuk-tuked to nearby Patong, or dirty Vegas, as Di would say. Patong attracts the rowdier types in search of wild nights and entertainment of the adult variety – sex tourism at its best (or worst, depending on the perspective). The main strip offers everything from ping pong shows (use your imagination, we tried not to) to drag queen lady boy pole dancing. Curious at first but not particularly amused, we fled with relief back to Kata.

  The next morning, we rented some scooters and cruised south around the coast. While in search of a secluded beach down some dirt back road, our fearless bike buddies took a spill, saving a bunny (wink wink Di) but getting banged up in the process. A roadside “doctor” lady took care of the scrapes with some iodine, and they continued the ride (mostly) unfazed.

 In the evening, we feasted on some phenomenal Thai food with live music (a hit or miss feat sometimes, surprisingly), courtesy of Di, our resident TripAdvisor queen. 

 We continued the revelries with a night cap or two at their beautiful boutique hotel – pure, unmitigated luxury. We were impressed. For instance, the private jacuzzi flowed into a private pool, which then joined a bigger pool. Yeah, my point exactly.

  To finish off in style, we took a ferry to the picturesque island of Phi Phi. Think DiCaprio's The Beach. Postcard perfect. Or so we thought. The views were admittedly simply scenic, but a closer inspection showed polluted water with a film of algae on top and sharp rocks on the bottom. Loud pop music, exorbitant prices and rude service deflated the vibe further. The double-edged sword of tourism.  At least the photos came out great!

  We said our goodbyes: the M's went back to Kata, we carried on to Koh Lanta, for another spin with our Oregon mates. The fun just never stops :)

All watted out at Angkor Wat

  We've all heard about it, seen the pictures. One of the wonders of the world. A source of dispute between Cambodia and Thailand for ages. A touristic en-masse draw and probably the single largest source of such income in Cambodia. A huge complex of ancient ruins, surrounded by stately trees and an encroaching jungle, and crowned by the temple of all temples – the Angkor Wat.

  The four of us spent two days exploring the ruins, although people say you need at least a week to go beyond the vague understanding. The sun rise at Angkor Wat was surprisingly underwhelming, as large tour groups disrupted the quiet contemplation and the morning rose hazy and undramatic. Each entrance was besieged by implacable vendors – sadly, mostly working children selling a multitude of trivial trinkets. 

Break time

 But Sopheap, our experienced tuk tuk driver, ensured we had some smaller ruins to ourselves, breaking out of the standard route and providing some much appreciated solitude. Those first few places were thus peaceful, the quiet interrupted only by random chirping of birds and the hum of cicadas. We sought out undisturbed nooks, a bit lost in our thoughts. Whose footsteps were we following and what was their purpose? 

What do you preserve: nature or history?

 The large ruins were impressive, but almost spoiled by our expectations and the rowdy crowds. Bayon stood out among these, the giant stone faces gazing down with curiosity or insolence.

  The nearby town of Siem Reap has become a circus, catering to every tourist wish. We've come to detest such places, as they exhibit none of the authentic culture and view every foreigner as a walking wallet. 

  We've seen, we've conquered (as they say), time to move on. After saying goodbye to Natalia and Liz, bound for Burma, we headed back to SW Thailand for some luxury on the island of Phuket, courtesy of our friends from back home, Diana and Andrew.

Practicing their ABCs, I think