Only in Thailand

Patong and Kata Beach

It is rare, especially as a western, to not constantly be thinking about your cell phone. Whether for phone calls, texting ( even sexting for some of you dirty dogs) or social media. So much so, that yesterday while enjoying a beautiful day at Kata beach… with curling waves and Italian surf boys running the shorelines… my dear friend Colleen heard a musical sound coming near she quickly jumped to say “I think someone’s phone is ringing!”. We all laughed and pointed to her an adorable old Thai man playing handcrafter flutes. Only in Thailand, is a ring tone actually a cute old flute player. Hence, the background story to this blog entries title.

I believe I somewhat set the scene for yesterdays adventure. Kata beach is a laid-back location that many tourists and locals alike go for a calming escape. Although “high season” has officially ended and the tourist wave is diminishing, the means the curl tides are getting higher and that surf season is starting. Lacking the balance of anything greater than a wobbling drunk toddler, I avoid any sports that require the skill. My day consisted more so of beach Frisbee and sand lounging, which I found equally entertaining. Our group of friends was a wide variety, from northern European to Canadian and American. Eventually a storm was brewing and, all being of northern decent, our skins were tinting to a redish glow.

The group of 6 clamored onto 4 motorbikes and drove through the jungle landscape to end at a wonderful Reggae bar (although I call it a shack).  The owner was a skinny dread head who smoke broken English but communicated perfectly with his smile. We had some local Chang beer and sat on the wooden Rasta colored benches, staring out over the viewpoint of the ocean. With Afroman setting the true mood, we all relaxed and were comfortable… until the otter attacked.

Now if you’re like me, you think “O an otter! How adorable! We will be best friends and eat clams off our bellies together”. Let me tell you, that is not how this otter envisioned our friendship (or lack thereof). This beast saw itself as the shacks personal bouncer and would constantly charge one of us, quickly biting the ankle and running away. To show true dominance, the otter even chased the shacks own turkey down the road for blocks… for no specific purpose. We named him “Little Asshole”.

A dinner consisting of an unlimited sushi buffet was followed by a typical tourist Friday night out in Patong. Colleen and I roamed the infamous Patong roads observing the multitude of bars and ping-pong sex shows. Yes, that’s right, live ping-pong sex shows. The female body is such a bizarre thing sometimes. Anyways, the experience was fantastic. Open air bars blasted music and promotions, attempting to hook in any audience. We went to three different bars and had three different, unique experiences. The first was a tourist owned bar where we met to adorable Wales boys that were traveling and were best friends wearing matching shirts. The dance moves were borderline hazardous, but I was not complaining. 

The second bar was a spitting image of a Las Vegas club. Sparkling gold chandlers dripped from the ceiling like icicles and refracted the various rave lights. At this bar, we met two guys from Dubai who bought us bucket drinks, of course. Giant buckets of alcohol, talk about dangerous. It was one of the Dubai guys in particular that made my night. Even being fairly sober, he gave me the perfect speech that a recent heartbroken girl needs to hear. He told me I was perfect. And when I laughed and told him he was so smooth, he starred at me very seriously and said, “no, I am being honest. You need to know you are perfect. Everything about you. The girls here start to blend together but you stand out like a star”. Lets just say my heart melted and I had a permanent glow the rest of the night.

The third and final bar had a dance stage exhibiting Thai strip girls and one male stripper who was by far the main attraction. Here, even I got on a strip pole with two other Thai girls that were adorable. One confessed she just had her heartbroken too and we immediately bonded over Beyonnce’s “Single Ladies” song. The absolute best part of this particular bar was the traditional Thai entertainment. The poles were randomly cleared as a man in full Thai theatre costume appeared and did about a 10-minute traditional Thai dance. It was beautiful, graceful and fantastic.

I’m learning to appreciate the culture of Phuket. There is a balance between East and West, Old and New, Traditional and Modern. As a traveler, I find comforts similar to home yet am exploring so many new foods, activities and cultural things as well.  Tonight I am going to a Thai Boxing Match BBQ where one ticket gets you unlimited BBQ while guys fight to the KO. Makes me just think of asking “how do you like your meat, rare or KO’d?”

Living In a Postcard

Ao Nang and Reiley Climbing Adventure

Sawadee-Ka my friends and followers! I figured it was about time I jotted down a few notes and observations for all your curious cravings. I have officially been in Thailand for about 2 weeks now and it has been a whirlwind! Between an adapted working environment to bizarre new cuisines and customs, I could easily make this blog pages long. However, I’m going to trim the fat a little and get down to the meaty grit.

This past weekend I had two back-to-back days off from the internship and decided to take a spontaneous trip to the Krabi provience. My new friend Matt, who is a local dive master and business owner here in Phuket, helped join in on the adventure and brought a lot of local travel insight and knowledge to the weekend. Using the local bus system, we traveled Phuket-Krabi-Ao Nang for roughly 200baht each ($8).

Once Ao Nang, we stay at the Yellow Sun Hostel which is only a block away from the beach and cost 150baht ($5) for a night in a shared dorm! As luck would have it, our dorms mates were all chill travelers from around the world. We immediately all bonded and made dinner plans.

The Ao Nang beach was gorgeous. Islands dotted the horizons face like sun-kisses in summer. The heavy salt water made floating effortless and the temperature was warm and calming. That evenings sunset was the first one I saw since my travel to Thailand began and I must say…. It was worth the wait. Vibrant pinks, oranges and reds shown across the sky and faded to purple and blue with the coming night. Thailand’s sky has almost a roundness to it that gives a fisheye effect and could satisfy any photographers dream. Matt and I spent the sunset taking pictures and playing some beach Frisbee as he attempted to teach me new Thai (Hardest. Language. EVER.)

Since Thailand is under Marshall Law, there is a curfew set throughout the entire country. By 10pm, every night, business and bars are closed down and people are not allowed in the streets. Our group of new friends attempted to find a devious bar that would encourage rule breaking and continue to serve…. However, as soon as the military men began patrolling, it was hopeless.

The next day, Matt and I hopped on one of the picturesque long-tail tourists boats and cruised over to Railay Beach. Immediately, over the turquoise blue waters, emerged the beautiful island chain that could remind even the most unimaginative person of Treasure Island. My inner desire of exploration ignited and all I could do was stare in awe while my mind ran lucid with sights to be discovered.

Renting a 2 person kayak for 2 hours cost each Matt and myself 150 baht ($5). We paddled around all the near island chains and tested our strength at Deep Water Soloing. DWS is a water sport that is a type of rock climbing. It is free climbing that requires no additional equipment aside from shoes. The water acts as  a crash pad and the kayak is used to paddle from one route to the next. One a route is finished the you have “topped out”, you simply cliff jump down into the water! It was an absolute blast. Although, a word to the wise; watch your hands! Those darn barnacles are a lot sharper than they look and if you’re not careful, the cuts will be proof enough.

Railay Beach was ultimately on of the most beautiful sights I’ve yet to see throughout all my travels and DWS is possibly the greatest thing. Ever.

The End.

The After Life

As a recent college graduate, I have undergone a whirlwind of change throughout the last week. Literally, one week. Last Saturday I was sitting at my college graduation ceremony, conversing with the family while basking in my “accomplishments and efforts” from the last four years of excessive drinking, coffee consumption and SparkNotes. Within 24hrs, I was on the road driving through four states to arrive from Arizona to my home state of Washington. 50hrs after my arrival in Washington, I left. This time my destination was Thailand.

Talk about fast paced, eh?

Well here I am now. Sitting in my small Thai apartment after a long day of adventuring and exploring. I made the resolution to begin writing about my experiences more. I have an extraordinary opportunity to travel and I sometimes forget how thankful I should be for these experiences. Over the years, it has been a part of me to want to see new places and to grow from experiencing foreign environments. Yet when talking to friends and family, I realize how unique my situation is.

I suppose the goal of me starting this blog series is to motivate and inspire people. I feel a shift in the generational expectations beginning. For my parents and grandparents, life was laid out fairly simple. One would go to high-school, then college and then eventually get married and perhaps have children. Then the picket fence and well-maintained yard would follow and the jobs would produce paychecks. However, I’ve seen the result of that generation who is now getting older. A lot of them seem, not necessarily unhappy… but perhaps regretful?  

My current generation has a shrinking world at their fingertips to explore; yet many are hesitant and scared. I think the greatest obstacle stopping them is the fear of disappointing or being labeled “not normal”.  While talking to people, many express how lucky I am for the ability to travel. But what I so greatly want everyone to know is that they have the same ability to travel that I do! Screw being normal and immediately producing offspring while tying myself down with mortgages and loans.

I am responsible for my life and how I choose to live it.  And so are you.

At the age of 5, my parents asked my sister and I what we wanted to be when we were grown-ups. My sister said she wanted to train dolphins (sadly this didn’t turnout to be her future). I said I wanted to be a world traveler. They laughed and explained that’s not a job and told me how I needed a real job to have money so I could travel. To this, I responded that I will just marry a rich man (which also has not turned out to be my future, unfortunately).

Since the age of 5, I have known I want to see the world. Now, at 21, I have no different plans than I did as a kid. Instead of being worried, I am beyond content. The fact that I am doing exactly what my child self wanted, shows that through all the chaos and expectations and stress, I have not lost my self and my knowledge of my purpose.  I hope that this blog can serve as inspiration to any persons from any generation to travel the world and not be scared of the unknown and unconventional.

So follow my blog and I am going to update about culture, religion, food, adventure and more! 

If anyone ever has question about travel or life or a country to anything, I'd love to help where I can :)