Terried and Transfixed in Thailand, Week One

I have so many things that I could write but since I am short on time, I will stick to the essentials! For some reason, I find it much more difficult to keep entries short because I enjoy curving around every nook and cranny and sharing the things that I am seeing and feeling. Oh, well, this entry is only the first of four, so I am sure that at the end of this short series of entries, you will have a very good idea of what I experienced in the beautiful country of Thailand.

Arriving late into Bangkok, my friend from Fort, Paige, met me, which was a welcome sight. There is nothing worse than arriving in a new place only to find yourself alone and lost. I was so happy to see her, and it was fun to start talking about the things I planned to see on my short yet sufficient trip through Thailand. Since I arrived around midnight, I was “forced” to stay in Bangkok one day, giving me enough time to orient myself around the city a little although I must say there is so much going on in this city (and I am not talking about the red shirt protests, just the natural busyness of Bangkok) that I only scratched the surface going to get my overnight bus ticket to the South and wandering through the weekend market, which was fabulous and full of fun people and interesting things to eat and to buy. I filled myself up on cool drinks and some little wearable souvenirs. Crafts, jewelry, and clothes are really inexpensive in Thailand and they come in abundance. It was difficult to choose what I actually wanted to spend my money and space on. (Thankfully jewelry does not take up too much space and is worn the majority of the time :) It was a great way to start the trip, which already seems too short!

At 9:30 pm, I was off on my Southern adventure, and I started to feel a little nervous, I must say. No one spoke English on the bus and I shortly realized that I had purchased a ticket going to the wrong destination; however, the destination I did need was on the same route. After a bunch of bus employees ignored the fact that I was trying to speak with them—I think they were nervous since they did not speak English—someone on the bus was able to translate my plea to be plopped in Takua Pa, our first step. I tried to settle in for the night, turning my iPod to my audio Bible, but at best, I was only able to doze in and out of consciousness, fully aware as I was about the small space between my chair and the reclined chair in front of me. I just kept telling myself that it was cheap!

Khao Sok

I arrived in Takua Pa and was swiftly helped with information of my transfer bus, which is one of the most comforting things when one is traveling: to realize that you are in the right place at the right time and that someone can actually help you as opposed to just looking at you with a blank stare and a dismissive shrug of the shoulders. I was feeling a little better and had a good idea of what my plans were, which were slowly developing as I went along. I guess fly by the seat of my pants was the method I was trying to employ and of which I was still a little wary yet to which I wholly succumbed by the end of the trip. On the way to Khao Sok, the largest rainforest reserve in southern Thailand and my first destination in the South, I met a lovely girl named Tee. She spoke English and we instantly struck up a conversation, even exchanging phone numbers. Telling me I should call her up if I plan to pass through Surat Thani (jumping off point for the famous island of Koh Samui and some other smaller party islands of Koh Tao and Koh Pa Ngan), I vaguely sensed that we would see each other again. I did not realize at that point how important Tee would become for the success of my week.

Thankfully, one of the hotels, mentioned in my guidebook as being a cheap place to stay, was there to meet me at the entrance of Khao Sok and brought me to the Bamboo House (200 Baht per night, which is a deal for the South). Even though my room was utterly basic—the sheets were a little tattered, the mosquito net was unusable and the lights were quite dim—I was so thankful that I did not have to spend a lot of money on my first night’s accommodation, which tends to be more expensive for someone traveling solo than someone with companions.

The nice thing about taking the night bus is that you arrive at your destination in the morning when things seem the most hopeful and conquerable. With a map of the park in hand and supposedly only one trail you could follow, I set out to explore the rainforest and enjoy the solitude I know always comes when you are hiking in a foreign place. Of course, I got lost because I did not understand the system of the trail and how they marked certain places of interest along the trail. I ended up wading and swimming in a river all by myself, praying that I would not encounter any snakes, which I thought was actually the trail for the waterfall of which I was in pursuit. Oh, well, it was nice to be in a completely secluded spot and getting lost in the end was only part of the adventure. I left the park worn and torn by the bushes with a split and bleeding toe, a bleeding ankle, and numerous scratches. I never reached my destination, but I had a memorable experience.

Nights are quite when one is alone, so I settled into the bungalow with my banana chips, not being able to afford the trip into the little village with their marked up tourist prices, and tried to plan what I wanted to do next. I chose poorly, I must say, for my circumstances. Yet, I saw God’s hand in it because I learned one of my best lessons, which I plan to carry with me the rest of the time that I travel alone. The next morning, I left around 8:45 am, which left me plenty of time to get the “9:15 am” bus to Cheow Lan Lake, where I planned to seek accommodation and a tour of the lake. I waited for nearly an hour with no sight of any local bus. Finally, I took the minibus option, which is a little more expensive, but it was my only recourse. I wanted to get to the lake, which is still part of Khao Sok and would have required a separate entry fee if visited more than 24 hours after the first point of entry into the park. I felt like I was in a hurry, which is never good when in fact you have no idea where you are going. My driver dropped me off at the turn off point, and I set out trying to find a motorbike or something to take me to the Ratchabraha Dam and the Lake, which was not easy and resulted in me walking out in the hot sun down the 12-kilometer road with my thumb out. (Apparently the thumb means nothing here, as no one stopped or even glanced at me beyond the bewildering looks of “Why on earth is that foreigner walking down this road?)

Finally, I reached a restaurant and the manager spoke a little English and was truly helpful in procuring a ride for me at my determined price. Another minibus picked me up and after 20 minutes of dropping off other passengers, he dropped me off at the sight of the dam, with no view in sight of actually getting a boat to take me on the lake. I started to panic a little when I talked with the only tourism help available—it’s the low season and not much was open—and discovered that to hire a boat and have lodging would cost me about 100 bucks or ¾ of what I planned to live on for the rest of the week. Looking around me—the middle of nowhere and a beautiful but seemingly impregnable fortress—the tears started to well up behind my big sunglasses. (Thank you, Mom! They also work as an emotions barrier.) I started to pray fervently to my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, saying I have no idea what to do and how to exit this place. I don’t have enough money and I am so confused and alone. Please help me to figure out what I should do and please send me some help! As soon as I laid out my problem before my Lord, I felt a peace enter my soul and my mind. I knew that I needed to walk in his victory and not let a minor setback like this one fix me in a state of despair. I am blessed to be able to travel as I do and a natural part of traveling is the setbacks one encounters along the way. Thankfully, I have the Lord to lean on and to guide my steps.

I turned back to my only outlet—a minimally English speaking Thai girl who wanted to help me—and she directed me to the security guard who motioned for me to sit on his motorbike. I thought he was going to take me back to the main road so I could get a ride into Surat Thani. Instead, he took me to the pier, which I did not even know existed! I tried to haggle my way into a cheaper vessel, but the cheapest they would go was 1300 Baht, which ends up being about 42 bucks and much more than I intended. I told myself that since I had made it all the way there, I might as well enjoy the sights. (Later, I would discover that this choice actually prevented me from getting to my final destination.) The boat ride was lovely, truly magical, considering the mystic quality of Cheow Lan Lake. Even the rain that started to pour down in buckets enhanced the overall experience. I was blessed by the ride and the people I met at the raft houses where we docked for some time waiting for the rain to cease.

Koh Samui

I called my new friend, Tee, and told her that I planned to go to Surat Thani and wondered if she would be around. Well, she told me that she was staying on Koh Samui and that if I ended up going to Samui, I should call her. I decided that I would rather go to Koh Samui than stay alone in a hotel in Surat Thani. Upon arriving back at the pier, the people I met at the raft houses ended up giving me a ride into Surat Thani for free and bringing me straight to the night boat I planned to take to Koh Samui. Once the details were set for my transport, I called Tee once again to see if she would like to meet up with me on the island. Not only did she want to meet up with me, but also she wanted to host me and even pick me up from the pier when I arrived. Praise the Lord! I mean, I could not help but know that Jesus was really taking care of me. I mean Thai people are supposed to be some of the friendliest in Southeast Asia, but I think that this goes beyond the normal congenial encounter with a Thai person. Somehow the Lord really orchestrated our “chance” meeting and permitted us to have a good sense of the other, trusting completely that the other person was a reliable and good sort of person with whom to pass some time. Incredible! Even though Koh Samui never factored in on my plans for the week, I was so excited to be able to spend time with this Thai girl and to even share with her the love of Christ and take some time to practice English with her, which she desperately wanted to do.

Wow! Talk about an amazing two days! Tee picked me up from the pier, insisted on buying me breakfast and using her motorbike to show me all around the island. I got a full island tour with a gentle and humble tour guide for practically no monetary dispensation on my part. Tee was very forthright in offering me many Thai delicacies and did not allow me to pay for much although I was humbly resolute in buying several things for her, which paled in comparison to her generosity. Even though Koh Samui is kind of a nowhere island, meaning there is so much development and so many foreigners that one could be anywhere in the world and be on that island, I got the “native” experience and saw some really amazing things and ate some fantastic food, filling up on strange and familiar things alike.

Tee talked me into staying two days with her, which was such a pleasure, and she seemed equally satisfied that I was with her since she was kind of alone on the island, staying in her sister’s rented room for a couple of weeks. With two full days behind me, we said a cheerful goodbye with promises to keep in touch. I took the night boat back to Surat Thani so I would be sure to get the morning bus to Trang, my final destination for the week. At the bus station, I met an American guy who was traveling around Thailand for four weeks before meeting up with his girlfriend on his last two weeks. It was nice to have someone to talk to, especially an American who seem few and far between right now in the low season. (I have met people from Europe, Australia and even Canada, but he was my first American.) It was also God’s provision that I met him, and this is how I am going to end this entry that ended up being much longer than anticipated. I guess I am incapable of writing short entries when there is so much to say!

Ko Mook

When we arrived in Trang, I had a map of the city and he did not, so we traversed the busy transit point in search of a reliable travel agent to assist us in our respective plans. (At this point, we had two different destinations in mind.) When we reached the Trang Happy Tours, also a place where I discovered God’s great goodness, I discovered that I did not have sufficient funds to reach the destination I had so wanted to reach—Ko Tarutao National Marine Park—but I did have just enough funds to go to Ko Mook, the destination at which my American friend was aimed. So, I asked him if he minded that I follow him and if he minded that we share accommodation on the island. To both questions he responded with the classic “whatever…that’s great” attitude adopted by most backpackers. I reset my course again and was off to the small island of Ko Mook, my final resting place in the South.

Ko Mook is a small island and was more or less deserted when we arrived. Apparently in the high season (November until March), the place is packed and all the accommodation is booked. It was hard to imagine the island at its peak since there were only a few tourists but mostly locals on the small landmass. I love islands that resemble the place in which they are located. Ko Mook retained a particularly Thai flavor in the homes where people dwelled and the restaurants and small convenience stores we passed along the way. The main draw on the island is the Emerald Cave or Morakot Cave, which can only be reached by swimming. My American friend and I dropped our stuff at a glorified camping spot, which was really our only option, and headed to the beach. We had met a lovely British couple on our way to the island, and we rediscovered them on the beach and later at the restaurant where we got a scrumptious dinner. The couple had been cycling around Asia, completing about 11,000 km around India, Nepal, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand before calling it quits. (Take a look at the website. They are incredible! http://ittakestwototandem.co.uk)

We decided to share a boat with them going to the Emerald Cave and Koh Kradan the next day. Again, what Providence! I would never have had enough funds for a boat, but by sharing one with three other people, the trip became instantly affordable and much more interesting. What a great experience! What lovely people! I had a tremendous time with my new friends and thoroughly enjoyed the swimming through the cave and the sudden explosion of light at the end of the cave-like tunnel really onto the most pristine Blue Lagoon-esque and enchanted island I have ever seen. It was truly outstanding and memorable. We could only stay 30 minutes or so because the tide was swiftly coming in, resulting in a loss of passage if we tarried. From the cave, we road to Koh Kradan, which is the local snorkeling spot and which was unfortunately infested by jellyfish. I decided against snorkeling in lieu of a nice swim in the turquoise water, but I felt itchy all around and I could not figure out what was happening and why it was becoming almost too painful to swim. Well, come to find out, jellyfish tentacles are almost invisible to the human eye and are more than 20 feet long, so what I was feeling was the sting of jellyfish tentacles. I have never felt so physically irritated in my life, and the feeling remained for at least 30 minutes although it receded exceptionally quickly once I left the infested waters. We enjoyed our lunch on the beach then headed back to Mook in time to clean up, grab our books and settle under a nice shelter for an afternoon snooze. As long as I am covered and can avoid a lot of sand, I love the beach! There is nothing better than hearing the sound of the ocean from a protected hovel where neither sun nor sand can harm me :)

Feeling quite fulfilled by my final island stop, we left the next morning and almost impossibly packed ourselves onto the longtail boat with a bunch of locals and a couple of other tourists from Poland. My American friend left around 11 am on his way to another island, and I stayed in Trang, as I waited for my night bus back to Bangkok, which is the hub of all transport. Remember how I said that even my travel agent was a blessing from God? Well, it’s true! I had exactly $1.50 for the day, which was fine since I had some energy bars and some dried fruit. I had enough for some iced coffee, which is delicious here, and a snack. It was perfect. I did not anticipate that the agency would treat me like royalty. They fed me local cake, gave me Thai rolls, welcomed me into their friend’s hotel allowing me to use the internet there, and they even bought me dinner and snacks for the bus ride home! I was utterly surprised and blessed by their graciousness, again divinely exceeding any normal Thai hospitality. I learned that when one trusts wholeheartedly in the provisions of Jesus and surrenders to God’s plan even in superfluous situations like traveling, blessings flow abundantly. I was humbled by the way God surely orchestrated a fabulous first week in Thailand.