Aftermathew

Paradise Beach Post

I arrived in Thailand about 5 days ago. After flying directly from Bankok to Krabi, i excited the airport to find my friends waiting for me. We ate the first of many incredible meals in Thailand and headed on our way to Koh Lanta, and island about 2 hours drive south of Krabi.

Lanta is kinda touristy, but absolutely gorgeous. Mike and Azure have already spent enough time here to have found some less touristy spots that the three of us can relax. Lanta is a perfect place to leave Seattle and all the stresses that accompany home behind. It’s been sunny every day, the beaches are gorgeous white sand with cliffs and jungles just behind them. The water is pale blue. Paradise beach post indeed.

This is the kind of place where relaxing is really your only option. I’ve been reading (finished Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, started Against the Stream by Noah Levine) gotten a few Thai massages, written a few postcards, and eaten many a good meal. I’ve managed to get myself a day of diving (awesome) and the three of us enjoyed a day of snorkling together.

Tomorrow we plan on getting on a train to Bankok, where we plan to do some clothes and gift shopping for a bit before we head north to chang mai. I’m really excited about heading north and seeing the other end of the country as well.

Early impressions of Thailand– Key moments that have defined the place for me….

• The food is incredible here.  Besides that, it seems to make my system really happy.  Something that always seems to happen when traveling, much of the conversation inevitably leads to digestion and everything surrounding: thai food works in my system.  Curry has taken on a new meaning for me here and last night we had a Thom Yum Phak (veggie spicy soup) with fruit in it that was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.  I could write for hours on the food and maybe I will in another post.  For now, suffice it to say it makes me very very happy.
• Beverages (hah! You thought I was done talking about food) are also a treat here.  Fruit juices and more commonly, fruit smoothies are prevelant and good.  Nothing takes the edge of the heat (the rather blunt and comfortable edge of heat anyway) off better than an icy cold mango, pineapple or coconut drink (beach paradise post indeed).
• The people have been really freindly.  The thai people I have interacted with have all been really warm, trustworthy and a joy to interact with.  It really makes it a pleasure to be here when people are welcoming of tourists.  And there are tourists.
• Tourists are plentiful.  I must say I’m excited to move on to a place where the tourists make up less of the overall population.  ALthough leaving the gorgeous ocean behind will be hard for me, the gorgeous mountains have a strong pull as well.  I find that the tourists here are, as is often the case rather annoying.  I’m tired of beaches aimed at “party people”, and look forward to places aimed at “relaxing quiet people” more.
• I had one interaction so far with the sex industry here, and it left a very weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I hope to write in detail in another post about this experience and all the issues it raised for me, but the short of it was that someone rather young (16-20?) was clearly attempting to offer me some sort of sex when no one else was around.  She looked frightened and unhappy.  I wonder how much of that is from her prior experiences.  I turned her down gently and resolutely, but the entire experience left me with a weird and saddened feeling.  It was the only negative experience I’ve had here, and it was over very quickly.  I hope to write a full post about it soon.
• Seeing this gorgeous island turn into a tourist haven is interesting.  On some levels this sort of thing is always sad, but on others, as mike and azure point out, the tourists have been confined to a arather small area.  I have bigger issue with the number of businesses being run by foriegners, but at least a lot of them are still also run by locals.  It will be interesting to see if big business ever really wins this tourist industry away from the locals.  I hope not.
• I love riding a scooter.  I think I want to take a motorcycle trip around S.E. Asia at some point in the next few years.

Ok that is a brief overview of where I’m at.  I am excited to see what comes next.  Lots of love to all. 

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