Thursday, February 23, 2012

New Haircut, New Bikini, New Adventure.

The last few days I have been tempted to postpone my flight to the UK. It's going to be cold. I don't have a plan. I don't have a time frame. It would be so easy to take a bus (or 3) up to another Thai island, join some friends and resume my position on a hammock playing ukulele while the days passed by. The more I thought about it, the more tempted I became. Until I realised I wanted it because it was the easy option. Sure it'd be a new island, but it would be so safe, in a bubble with my friends, living the lazy life. I wouldn't be forced to meet people, I wouldn't need to be vulnerable and in such, I probably wouldn't learn much. Just continue on in a happy state of limbo for a few more weeks.

Who wants the safe option anyway? So with that thought in mind I knew continuing on alone (well not too alone, i'm visiting my dad and previous travel mates) to England, without a plan was what I needed to do. Maybe I'll get a house and a job, maybe i'll nomad around Europe, who knows?

Feeling pleased and settled in my decision I cemented it in my brain. I got a hair cut (thanks to Ash's syling skills), a new bikini (anyone who has had the (dis)pleasure of seeing my old one knows that this was a must) and a new sense of adventure in my heart. Reigniting the thrill of throwing myself to the wind, being vulnerable and discovering.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Phuket....Phuk-It....Or not.

So, after beautiful, peaceful Pai, our first impressions and thoughts of Phuket may not have been the best. The term Phuk-It was tossed around often and the outlooks grim. It's big, it's loud, people harass you on the street all the time to buy their stuff, or see their show, or visit their club. The beach is crowded and not as clean as the pictures made out. It's full of Australians. Everything is 5x the price of Pai. We missed our Pai friends. However, with 5 nights of complimentary luxury accommodation (thanks bro) on our hands, we were determined to make the most of it.... no matter how many topless 70-80year old women and men in speedos we had to endure.

 We ended up adopting two strategies. 1) Hide out by the pool of the hotel - leaving only in search of cheap food and 2) if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.  Instead of getting annoyed, we joked with the stall holders, tour operators and taxi drivers (no you buy from me, oh you want taxi? I'll take you...)- once to the point of the taxi driver getting in the back seat of his car and me in the drivers seat. We spent a day on the beach...well a morning, there was waaay too much octogenarian porn for us to completely relax. We spent a night drinking on Bangla - playing a dice game with the locals, hugged a 'polar bear' in a bar completely made out of ice and smashed our ice shot glasses on the ground as per tradition, laughed, danced and got the hell out. To our surprise we even ended up having fun.

I spent a day diving out at Racha Noi and Racha Yai (with Thailand Divers - good, safe, professional company), including my first wreck dive. It was only then I really saw how beautiful Phuket was. No not because my head was underwater, but because I finally left Patong (read tourist district), lush greenery, white sands, blue water, paradise. Completely unlike the neon lit streets that never sleep in Patong.

My advice would be, avoid Patong unless you are a) 18 and just want to get drunk or b) overweight, aging and want to work on your all over tan.

Sitting on our veranda last night, I found myself looking over the neon streets with a begrudged fondness. It's not what I would associate with Thailand but, as ever, everything is what you make it.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

The life of Pai

Pai is beautiful. Pai with 7 amazing friends, living in bamboo huts by a river is pretty much the best thing ever. It is with a heavy heart I sit in Phuket knowing that the dream is over. 7 days just flew by, melting into each other into one cloud of happy, shiney memories. Everywhere you look, Pai eminates love, happiness and a general chilled out attitude. The people likewise. Even the animals are chilled. 
Days were passed chilling in hammocks, playing ukulele, hanging out at the pool with chilled beats, riding scooters to explore new places, bathing in hot springs (where you can also bring eggs to boil for dinner), eating amazing cheesecake, chilling at the night markets, playing catchphrase, sliding down waterfalls, jamming by campfires, watching sunsets, setting off fireworks and lanterns. It was the 'season of love' in Pai and we really did love it.

Before we knew it, it was time to move on. Phuket is a massive culture shock for us after chilled out Laos and Pai. We are doing everything in our power to not just say Phuk-It.

Josh, Werky, Linds & Michelle so good to see you kids again after a year of being apart!!
Ryan, you totally have to move into 122!
Gerald, Ashy, Fonzy (token pet dog) and all of you guys, thanks for making the last week so special.
122 Scooter Gang <3
Also, these were the huts we lived in.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Backpack, Back on!

So, after 10 weeks back in Australia catching up with friends and family and trying to earn money and decide what I want to do with my life, I once again packed up my life into a bag to begin another adventure. Once again sacrificing my love for (a very special and shiney) person for my love of adventure and travel. The reality wasn't easy, but the decision was made long ago, before I returned to Australia. It was great to see everyone again, laughs, tears, meals, drinks and hugs were shared and without me even realising the time had passed.

Ukulele in hand, bag on back, friend by side and adventure in our hearts we threw ourselves into the arms of South East Asia, our first stop Vang Viene, Laos.

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We had heard mixed reports on Vang Viene, the town most known for tubing and drinking, some people love its party central atmosphere, others are sad it has lost its soul. The tourist area is full of bars and cafes blaring out friends and family guy 24 hours a day, drunken tourists in not enough clothing, and shop after shop selling the same things. We discovered if you look in the right places you can  still see the spiritual, local life of Vang Viene, it just doesn't fit nicely in the minutes of walking from your hotel to the tubing station or stumbling home at 2am. Every morning we woke up early and walked out of the tourist area, we watched all the children riding to school and adults to work on bicycles designed to share and watched monks collecting alms and chanting blessings. Every afternoon we sat and watched the sun go down over the mountains, hot air balloons in the sky flying through sunset colours that look like a watercolour painting.

Tubing was a lot of fun and no where near as dangerous as expected. Due to all the horror stories that made it home, I decided to err on the side of caution and get a life jacket, yes I was that dork in a life jacket - my mother would be so proud. We spoke to an expat running one of the bars, he told us how only 2 weeks before he had watched someone jump to their death just outside his bar. The error was apparently in the landing. But as he said to us - anything you bring to the river you have to be prepared to lose, including your life. Against all odds, being Australians tubing, we survived to live another day. We stopped at a local hang out on the way down, where we met a group of (oh so adorable) Lao girls who were learning English. They we so friendly and lovely and we had great fun trying to understand each other.

The next day we went on a kayaking adventure, exploring caves, having splash flights, tubing through a cave lagoon and stopping at a bar mid afternoon for a drink and swim before kayaking back into town to once more watch the sunset. Bliss.

The moral of the story: the heart and soul is still there, you just need to open your eyes and make the effort to wake up pre 10am.