Vacation...part 2

Alright, I believe I left you last time anticipating the Emerald cave boat trip. We arrived on the beach as planned at 9 the next morning only to find the boat anchored about 200 feet out with the captain on board gesturing for us to come on out. Now, you must understand that 200 feet of ocean is very different than 200 feet of Big Bay de Noc. We quickly surmised that he was not about to bring the boat further in, and we would have to swim out to him. The waves were probably 4 to 5 feet at the time, so there was no way we would be able to keep our bags dry. After quick consultation we agreed to leave all of our valuables and electronics at the resort apart from one girl’s point-and-shoot camera. 

We ventured into the waves with visions of Indiana Jones dancing through our heads, and were soon into the deep water, fighting waves and looking ridiculous trying to swim while holding our bags over our heads. It was one of the most thrilling things I’ve ever done. I kept thinking “there is no way this would ever fly in America…this is not safe”. But somehow that added to the appeal of the whole situation. It’s raw, it’s unsterilized, it’s real. Okay, that may be a bit over dramatic, but I think it’s appropriate given the situation. Anyway, we all made it to the boat without drowning (although the captain did have to jump out and bring a life preserver to the British guy who was gallantly attempting to carry both his own bag and the bag of one of the Swedish girls...no one ever said gallantry included wisdom). 

Once we were all in the boat and sitting securely on the benches we saw that the captain had met every request by bringing with him a huge case of beer, cigarettes, some drinking water, a watermelon and pineapple, and a pair of flip-flops for the Australian lady whose own shoes had broken the day before. Brittany and I ended up paying significantly less than everyone else because we were exempt from the cost of the cigarettes, beer, and shoes. 

Our first destination was a neighboring island with good snorkeling even during the off season. It was my first snorkeling experience, and it was phenomenal! I am amazed by the colors and shapes and textures of the coral as well as the variety of fish and animals that live in and around it. Brittany and I spent pretty much the entire two and a half hours we were there in the water while the rest of the group retired to the beach to drink beer and smoke (their favorite pastime). Right about the time we started assembling to leave, a storm rolled in and the captain decided it would be best to wait it out there. Brittany with her characteristic personality and her Thai language skills struck up conversation with the captain while I talked to the Colombian man. Everyone else retreated to a restaurant somewhere to…you guessed it…drink beer and smoke. I think they wanted to keep out of the rain. Anyway, once the worst of the rain stopped, we took off for Emerald cave. The water was pretty choppy, and there were moments when we doubted the captain’s decision to leave just then. But, he’s been doing this 5-6 times every week for his whole life, so I’m pretty sure he knows better than we.

Emerald cave is situated on Koh Mook, the island where we stayed, and it’s actually just around the corner from our beach. As we approached, all we could see was giant sheer cliffs with very large and intimidating waves crashing against them. Pretty soon we saw a small dark opening at the base of one and a sign indicating that it was, in fact, Emerald cave. When the captain stopped the boat and tied it off to a buoy our apprehensions about the cave experience intensified. Brittany asked, and he indicated that we were to swim from the boat into the cave. At first we thought he was just going to point us in the right direction, but he ended up going with us. We all donned life preservers and the captain produced a flashlight in a zip-lock bag. We jumped off and began swimming directly toward where the waves seemed to be trying to break another hole in the cliff. 

As it turned out, the swimming wasn’t that bad. It looked far more intimidating than it actually was, and the current pretty much deposited us safely within the confines of the cave. No one was bashed against the rocks. We swam into the cave, made some turns and were soon in the pitch dark with only the echoing sounds of the waves outside and our voices. It was then that I began to feel panic rising. Somehow swimming through giant waves is thrilling, but swimming through calm water in the dark is scary. The captain kept his light where we could see it, so we all followed obediently. We swam for maybe five minutes maximum, turned a corner, and were confronted with an amazing view! The water lapped up on a white sandy beach about 40 feet wide. Beyond the beach was a tropical paradise, surrounded on all sides with sheer cliffs soaring probably 200 feet about our heads and covered in trees and vines. The interior of the “cave” was also covered in tropical vegetation. The whole area was probably 60 feet from one end to the other. IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!  I literally scrambled up onto the beach, dropped my life jacket on the sand and my jaw on the ground and spun in a circle making amazed noises. Later my Colombian friend told me that I seemed pretty excited. From the raised eyebrows, I could tell he recognized how much of an understatement that was. 

We spent the next 45 minutes wandering around, having deep existential conversations (not!) and throwing mud at each other. Unfortunately, we had left all but one camera at the resort, so I don’t even have pictures to share with you. I’m hoping that the girl who brought her camera will email us the pictures of the day, but that’s not guaranteed. We had to leave before the tide came in so although we were still three hours shy of that time, some of the group was concerned about getting stranded (Brittany and I were scheming about actually getting stranded for a night and how fun that would be), we headed out. Swimming out was no problem at all, and we all made it back to the boat just fine. It was mid afternoon by this point, and we were tired and hungry. The captain let Brittany, Colombian man, and I off at the beach (we were the strongest swimmers and had consumed the least amount of beer) and then he took the rest of the group to the jetty on the other side of the island. 

We agreed to meet up later on, and we ended up getting dinner and drinks (never would have guessed, eh?). More people had arrived on the island that day, bringing our farong total to something like 16. We convinced the newcomers to do the boat trip the following day, warning them to not try to take anything they value or don’t want ruined. Brittany and I retired early (before things got too crazy) because we had to get up early the next day to catch the ferry (the only one that runs to the mainland all day).  In retrospect, I’m so glad that train to Penang was full! Our spontaneous detour through Trang turned out to be way better than anything I can imagine planning!

Vacation...part 1

To maintain continuity and avoid confusion, I will begin this entry where the last one left off. After a very busy week of Thai Song, Brittany and I began our vacation around noon on Saturday, October 8^th. Going anywhere in Bangkok requires a lot of time and many kinds of transportation. We took a taxi to the sky train, sky train to the subway, subway to the train station. The streets were pretty flooded at that point, and our taxi driver was a little hesitant to take certain routes. The train station was overflowing with people, and we soon learned that the train we hoped to take to Penang, Malaysia was full. After much discussion, we decided to book a ticket on a train to Trang, a city in Southern Thailand. The trip would be about 12 hours, so we agreed that a first class sleeper was worth the added cost. The only other available option was third class…the stuff of horror stories. 

The train ride was quite fun, although we didn’t get to see as much of the Thai countryside as we hoped because most of our trip was at night. We slept well, and arrived in Trang around 8 the next morning. We avoided the countless taxi drivers vying for our patronage (an unfortunate reality of going anywhere in Asia I soon learned), and wandered around the city looking for breakfast. After some leisurely strolling, and multiple consultations with various tour agencies, we booked transportation to Koh Mook, an island off the west coast. After an hour in a minivan and about a half hour on ferry we arrived at the island, only to load ourselves onto a motorcycle taxi with a side cart for a ride across the island to the resort we eventually decided upon. The tour guide back in Trang had given us an insider tip that the Rubbertree Resort rented bungalows during off season for only 300 baht (about $10) per night. 

When we arrived at the Rubber Tree, we soon realized that we were the only guests at the whole resort. Apart from the four other white people who accompanied us on the ferry but were staying at other resorts, we seemed to be the only guests on the whole island. I guess they’re serious when they call it “off season”. The resort was beautiful and simple, and we pretty much had the entire beach to ourselves. It was like something off “South Pacific” with gorgeous white sand, sheer cliffs on either side, and tropical islands on the horizon. The water was super clear and the waves were amazing! Were it not for our need for visas, we may have stayed there the entire week!

The manager of the Rubber Tree was really nice, and very westernized. He spoke almost perfect English, and totally appreciated sarcasm and culturally difficult humor. Since we were the only guests, we ended up hanging out with him a lot. He didn’t seem to have much else to do. Our second day there we were joined by a man from Colombia, and on our third day two British men came to stay there. However, our farong friends from the ferry realized the Rubber Tree was a less expensive place to eat and drink, and wound up hanging out at our resort more than their own. We became friends with an Australian couple, a British man and two twenty-something Swedish girls. Bank, the Rubber Tree manager told us all about a cave that is one of the primary attractions of the island. We decided to go in together with all of our new friends on hiring a boat to take us to the cave. The excursion quickly turned into an all day trip including snorkeling at a neighboring island, beer and fruit on the boat, and the cave tour. Bank arranged the whole thing with the boat captain, and told us to be on the beach at 9 the next morning to meet the boat. We had no idea what was to come! But, you’ll have to wait for that installment…

Teaser...just to let you know that I'm still alive :)

It’s been such a long time since I updated my account of adventures here in Thailand that it’s really overwhelming to start. It’s kind of like starting a paper. I know that the hardest part is the starting, but I still avoid it like crazy. I do all of my other small tasks in hopes that I’ll run out of time to start the blog. I think the best way to do it is in small increments. The last update was the end of September, when we went to the ballet. It’s been nearly a month since then, and I’ve been to Trang, Malaysia, Mae Sai and Chiang Mai in the meantime. I guess I’ll start at the beginning (a very good place to start, from what I hear).

The week after the ballet was full of Thai Song work. The business is expanding and there are so many new opportunities for it. The most recent and exciting include a spot on a popular Bangkok morning show, multiple radio and newspaper interviews, many marketing and speaking opportunities in the US, and a key role in a city-wide advocacy project in Bangkok. The staff have been working like crazy and handling the added responsibilities beautifully. The week after the ballet marked a deadline for Brittany and I specifically, but also for the whole staff. By the end of the week, everything had to be ready for Brittany to go to the US. 

As many of you know, she received an award from her alma mater, Michigan State University, for young outstanding alumni. Here is the link to the awards page:  (http://alumni.msu.edu/programs/grandAwards.cfm) The alumni association flew her to the US for two weeks of awards ceremonies/festivities, and marketing. Needless to say, the trip necessitated a lot of preparation, not just for her, but for the rest of the staff in her absence. I spent most of the week researching and updating the presentation she would use for marketing and advocacy events. It was good to do research on important issues that had value in the real world, not just academia. I put to use plenty of my research paper skills gained in University (who says you don’t learn valuable skills in college?).

The week came off without too many hitches, but not without some stress. Our deadline was not Brittany’s flight to the US, but rather our train trip to Malaysia that Saturday; more on that in the next issue. Gosh, there’s so much to tell!! For now, I guess I leave you here. The week went well, we got pretty much everything done, and Thai Song is amazing!!