Part 3 Thailand- The Beach

Smartours offers this Amazing Thailand trip three ways: you can see all of what I have written about in my previous blogs over a two week period or you can extend your travels by going to Cambodia to see Angor Wat or to Phuket Island for a three day stay on their fabled beaches. Almost everyone on the tour went to Cambodia (and they loved it) but we opted for the beach and so it was with heavy hearts that we said good bye to our fellow travelers- we had made some super new friends that miss dearly.

Our plane left out of Chiang Mai and we flew directly to Phuket Island which is located in the very southern reaches of Thailand and surrounded by the Andeman Sea just north of Malaysia.  This is the part of the journey that prompted us to actually come on this fascinating journey to begin with. Being originally from England, I have many friends and relatives that have been to these beaches  mostly in the 1980's and early 90's) and they tell tales of exciting adventure and wondrous scenery.

Our hotel, the Novotel Resort, lies on the northern part of Patong Beach- a very popular beach with westerners. It is situated on a hillside and encompasses 8 terraced acres. When the tsunami hit in 2004 Patong Beach was inundated and almost completely wiped out. Many people died and many are still missing. Our hotel was at such an elevation that it was not hit- so it is one of the few places that still remain on Patong Beach from that awful day.

The resort itself is wonderful. It looks down on Pataong Beach, a three mile sandy crescent nestled between high hills and flanked with tall palm trees. A three tiered swimming pool, several restaurants with bars and an opulent open air lobby greeted us upon our arrival. Our incredibly comfortable room was made of teak wood had sea views. It was immaculent. The sun was setting so we threw on on swimming suits and headed for the beach. Being that late in the day, the vendors and tourists were all packed up and had left. The water was crystal clear, smooth and felt like a warm bath. That was the only time we would see the beach like this, if I had known that then, I would have savored the moment a little longer, instead we strolled down the beach to a tiny open air bar frequented by Australians, had a beer and returned to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

The next morning we headed back to the beach. It had changed....now there were rows and rows of deck chairs, six or seven deep for as far as the eye could see. Each chair was filled with every kind of overweight, pudgy, pale human form you can imagine. Hundreads of heads bobbed up and down in the surf. Jet skis roared. Apparently this place is VERY popular with all manner of western tourists. In fact, there are flags on the beach that tell you where each nationalities favorite meeting spots are...there is "Swedish Beach"," German Beach", "French Beach" but far and away most people came from Australia. The strange thing was that they did not send their most attractive people to that particular stretch of Thai beach. We didn't stay long.

The next day we decided to get away from Pantong and take a tour of the outlaying Phi Phi Islands  pronounced Pee Pee). Good idea! Because once you get away from Phuket the scenery turns into a dreamscape. Between Phuket and mainland lie these wondrous small and mostly uninhabited islands. Have you ever seen the movie "The Beach"? Thats Ko Phi Phi Leh where sheer green cliffs plunge abruptly into the crystal clear, calm sea. Once again, there are WAYYY too many people trying to enjoy it and boats clutter the beaches, but you still get a sense of the beauty and we got in a couple of good swims and snorkel trips in. Our boat took us by the "viking" cave where there is a thriving industry for birds nest soup. It is too sad to talk about.

We had lunch on Ko Phi Phi Don, which is one of the only islands with a permanent human population. There you can find beach huts that can be rented out for a week at a time if you really want to get away from it all.
The beach is great, nice and sandy and dotted with colorful Thai longboats. I can certainly see why people come here!

Once again, these islands and their reefs were devastated by the tsumani but you can hardly tell (above the waterline anyway- the reefs will take a few millennium to recover). After the 2004 tsunami massive amount of workers converged on the area and rebuilt it within a year. With the exception of the ubiquitous "Tsunami Evacuation Route" signs- you really would not know that that tragic event had ever happened! The Thais' resilient spirit is amazing.

The evening brought us another dose of Patong- this time the downtown area where you find cheap shopping, gaudy trinkets, hookers, transvestites, human trafficking, garbage lined streets and debauch westerners looking for a good time....frankly, we could live with out it. It's not our cup of tea. We have seen better. We made our way back to the hotel and stopped for a beer at the open air bar again - the same Australians were there. That was our last look at Patong.

All in all, Thailand was a true adventure and I loved every minute of it-especially the things that made me scratch my head- and there were a lot of those, because that is what a life well lived is all about. Remember
this my friends - travel is the spice of life and no journey leaves you the same as you were when you embarked upon it. So get out there!

Life is like a book- and those who don't travel read only one page.- St. Augustine