The unthinkable has happened... My 5 months abroad has come to an end! This seemingly endless plethora of experiences has finished and now all that looms ahead of me is a life of corporate slavery. Oh well, as they say, 'Shit happens'.
I'm not writing the post trip analysis just yet; instead, I'll fill you in on the last 3 weeks.
My last blog focused on a two day meditation retreat and all the spiritual trials that went with this. I assure you that this blog will be of a very different ilk.
After the retreat, I did the inevitable, and went for a well deserved lager. Following on from this, I met up with Harshiv, and after much deliberation, we took the decision to make the short journey from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai (confusing, I know). The intention was that we were to do some unspoilt, natural treks in Chiang Rai. To our immense annoyance, we discovered that the treks in Chiang Rai were as equally touristy as the Chiang Mai treks, and that they were doubly as expensive. Never ones to let disappointment stand in our way, we created our own plans for the day, visiting the White Temple. This contingency plan surpassed all of our expectations, as we were treated to one of the quirkiest temples I'd ever seen - comic book supervillains on the walls, hands reaching up from hell at the entrance, and shimmering white architecture. I'll let the pictures do the talking.
From Chiang Rai, we took the extended 36 hour journey to South Thailand. By now, I'm quite used to the many delights of extended bus journeys, but this particular journey represents somewhat of a sore moment because we were cheated on no fewer than 3 separate occassions. Ignoring the fact that the total sum lost was only about 7 quid, its still frustrating to be subjected to the locals trying to take advantage of you.
We finally arrived by long tail boat to Railey Beach, Krabi. It was like something from a movie - emerald green waters and white sands enclosed by imposing rocks on all sides. Again, its something that words don't do justice to.
Having arrived in Krabi, we set to work on destroying every iota of spirituality that I'd attempted to attain on the meditation retreat. Beers beers beers were the order of the day. We met up with Bimal, and the days were spent on the beach, whilst the nights were spent drinking copious amounts of beer, listening to reggae music, and playing pool and assorted card games. Not a bad existence if I do say so myself. This cycle of laziness was broken only by the crazy decision to... wait for it... go rock climbing! Now most of you know me as more of a bookworm/ beer guzzler/ video games enthusiast than an outdoor sportsman, so God only knows what I was doing when I agreed to climb these rocks. I actually exceeded all expectation, and found that I had a certain talent for climbing - it seems that my skinny frame is actually useful for something. The climbing itself was a gruelling experience - there are stages when you feel like you can't go on, and everyone at the bottom is urging you to carry on climbing; then, when you do reach the top, you feel like you've really achieved something. Amazing.
This feeling of achievement was rewarded with... yes, you guessed it, some more beers. I'd had more of the infamous "Chang-overs" during these four days in Railey than I'd had during the whole of the preceding five weeks in Thailand!
Following on from Krabi, we spent a night on Koh Phi Phi. Phi Phi is a small island that was devastated by the 2004 tsunami - prior to that, it was being built up as one of Thailand's premier tourist locations. The island has since recovered, and home to some of the country's best beaches. Seeing as we only had a day there, we toured the main Phi Phi Don, as well as the smaller Phi Phi Lay, taking the time to do some snorkelling, visit various beaches and lagoons, including Au Maya - made famous by the film, The Beach. Beautiful doesn't even begin to describe these beaches. They literally leave you dumbstruck - amazing.
Next stop on our whirlwind tour through South Thailand - Koh Samui. This is probably the most famous of South Thailand's islands - it boasts an international airport and is home to dozens of top end hotels and restaurants. These high levels of tourism meant that the island had lost any charm it once possessed - an authentic Thai restaurant is non existent on Samui, and prices have been hiked up accordingly too. That's not to say we had a bad time there - Sunny and Hinesh arrived in Thailand, and we spent the days playing American football on the beach, and the evenings frequenting the local nightlife.
All of this drinking was building up to one big finale - Koh Pha Ngan AKA the venue for the world famous Full Moon Party. Now my clubbing days seem to be behind me - give me a nice pint in a small pub over a sweaty, noisy, pretentious club any day; however, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the Full Moon Party and all of the preceding nights were pretty amazing. Yet again, its difficult to provide an image using my writing, but try and imagine several thousand people dancing on the beach, covered in fluorescent paint, watching the sun rise - pretty cool, huh? Yet again, the days were spent recovering from hangovers, whilst the nights overlapped into the early hours of the following day. Quite a gruelling regime for my poor liver, but it was worth it!
After the climax of the Full Moon Party itself, a rest was greatly needed, so we made the short trip over to Koh Tao. A welcome respite from the madness of the previous few days, we spent the time chilling out, playing football and American football, and swimming. Our pledges to 'not drink for the rest of the trip' were duly broken, and we had some evening fun there too!
Last stop on my extended holiday was a brief couple of days in Bangkok. Ideally, this stop would have been avoided, but with work looming ahead, I had to go and get some suits made. There's something greatly satisfying about going to a tailor, picking out the exact fabrics and styles, getting measured up, and paying only a fraction of what you'd pay for an off-the-rack suit in the UK. I'm sure you'll see the results of my trip to the tailor when I start work.
Sorry about the mundanity of this entry. Listening to life on the islands clearly isn't even half as fun as being there, and you'll have noticed a certain pattern to my lifestyle there.
I'm now back in the UK. I lost my phone earlier in the trip, so I no longer have anyone's mobile number so I would be grateful if you could email/ text me your numbers. Mine is still the same.
Lots of love,
Nihal
