Before I get into the current realities and the brisk blow of changing winds, lets rewind to the last few weeks. After all, being back and relishing in it isn’t to say I didn’t have a fabulous time with some wonderful people. A recap of our trip takes us first to the island of Koh Sumui in the Gulf of Thailand to the Southeast.
Days 1-3 (Koh Sumui): Meet up with friends in Koh Samui and unluckily witness a friend fall and dislocate her kneecap the first night in Koh Samui. The beginning of our relaxing vacation is frozen in time in lieu of the circumstances. My first ambulance ride is disillusioning and before I know it we’re in the Emergency Room of a tropical resort-esque hospital. My 2 friends and I, including the invalid stay the next 3 days in and out of the hospital and forgo a trip to Koh Tao, a nearby island. Though, we manage to fit in some beach time and make some happy memories in Koh Samui.
Day 4-8 (Krabi): The three of us, one on crutches, hop a ferry to Surat Thani, followed by a bus, then a van to cross westerly to the Province of Krabi. Krabi opens to the eastern seaboard of Thailand to the Andaman Sea. It is in Krabi where our vacation really becomes a vacation. Day 4 is spent entirely in transit and Day 5 finally brings us to the sunny stunningly beautiful and serene beaches of Krabi. From this day onward, our luck changes. The moment we step onto the beach, we meet a kind Thai women soliciting for Thai massage at a stand down the beach. Her name is Sophie. Sophie guides us to her stand, greets us with fresh pineapple, and sets up beach chairs for us. Many of us return her kind gestures by electing to get massages at her stand. The $7 coconut oil massage is perhaps the most well spent $7 purchase of my trip. Later that day, Sophie asks of our plans while in Krabi and offers to arrange a day trip for us to Koh Phi Phi Island. Her and the ladies at her stand took a liking to us with our attempts to speak Thai and reminiscence of living as Volunteers throughout Thailand. Not the typical customers they get, I’m sure.
Day 6, then, is spent on a speedboat and intermittently on and around Koh Phi Phi Island where we enjoy snorkeling and viewing the gorgeous natural effigies. Koh Phi Phi is probably one of the most beautiful islands I’ve ever seen. Years ago, it was the setting of the movie, The Island. The watery inlets are brilliant teals, florescent greens and blues meeting intriguing rock formations above and below the waterline. Despite the overflow of speedboats, longboats, and mini cruisers loaded with tourists, Phi Phi still seems to have a certain lure and untainted nature about it. At each days end, we return to our hotel to enjoy epic dinners and the nightlife Krabi has to offer.
Inlet at Koh Phi Phi Island
Day 7-8 (Krabi): Sophie and our newfound friends at the beach continue their amiability towards us and we meet in the afternoon for homemade Som Tom (Papaya Salad), Kaao Niao (Sticky Rice), Gai-Yang (Grilled Chicken) topped off with the ever-savory mangoes and sticky rice. This taste of Issan reminds me of home for a moment but then melts away with the ebb of waves receding with the sunset.
Day 8-12 (Phuket): Day 8 brings us further South and East to the peninsula-like province of Phuket. Phuket is almost an island as it is surrounded completely by water less a narrow land bridge linking it north to Phang Nga Province. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Southern Thailand. We see this evidently with the magnitude of resorts, tours, crowded beached, and the booming service industry.
What brings us to Phuket is less about sight seeing than it is about experiencing the Vegetarian Festival. We learn it is a centuries-old 10-day festival that originates from Chinese migrants. During the festival, people wear all white and engage in intensive rituals and parades in and out of the temple. Unable to see what goes on in the temple or really understand the context of things, my friends and I learn what we can about the festivals purpose and origin; then, we take it in. The things that stuck out to me the most about this festival were—the food (a-m-a-z-i-n-g), the white clothing (everyone wears white for the 10 days), and the parades displaying the masochistic nature in which people jammed knives, swords, and pins in their bodies. I know it seems unbearable to do or even watch but I found it interesting and even mystical at times. Obviously, with my anthropological nature, I have to chalk it all up to relativity. That is, recognizing what may seem subdued or seemingly sadistic all depends on the eyes of the beholder. I’ve since learned that the festival seeks to cleanse the spirit and soul of past indiscretions. Also, the self-infliction and vegetarian part stems from animist beliefs of doing to oneself the kind of atrocities animals go through because of humans.
Every day in Phuket, minus one or two when the call of the ocean tides were too strong to ignore, we tried to do something ‘cultural’ and attend one of the Vegetarian festival events. At night, we found ourselves drawn to a lively district of nightclubs. I also meant to mention that Phuket is one of the most popular destinations for sex change operations in the world. We gathered this quickly, meeting more ladyboys (name commonly termed for a transgendered female) than ever. Many of them indistinguishable from their female counterparts are very beautiful, I might add. I kind of feel like this, too, was a cultural experience.
Our last night in Phuket, we danced and sang to our hearts content—relishing in each others’ company and the obscurity of being lost in a crowd of foreigners our vacation had allotted—and before we knew it, we were boarding a plane to Bangkok. Not soon after, I kissed my last 2 friends goodbye, those who’d started the journey with me way back in Koh Samui and the unfortunate trip to the hospital, and I was on a bus back home. Back to reality.
Since being back, I’ve taken a few days to take stock of the time I’d spend down South, the dent I’d put in my savings, and organize my schedule in order to devote my full attention to life and projects at site. I was greeted with the unfamiliar feeling of cool winds causing rise to the hairs on the back of my neck. It may appear the Cool Season was not a myth after all! From the moment I felt it, I dreaded my bodies reaction to the change—as my proneness to allergies in such circumstances in usually unavoidable. Nevertheless, I still welcomed the alleviating coolness with open arms.
One thing I’ll say is that the trip did its job of conjuring up a kind of endearment for this place. I truly appreciate to be living amongst kind and wonderful people who know and care for me. This has become evident in the last few days, myself in a weakened condition. Fast-forwarding to the present, I have to confess my trip and the change in weather has taken a toll on me and these past few days I’ve barely set foot outside my house on account of being sick. Some sort of flu/ allergy combination. It is the first real sick I’ve experience since living at site and I hope, the last! I could feel it coming on all day Friday and by the time my head hit the pillow that night, I knew I was in for some miserable days ahead. Unfortunately, illness never comes at a convenient time. Friday was supposed to be my first working day with the newly elected Nayoke (the Chief Executive Officer of the SAO) and his officers. Bottom line, he is my new supervisor as a Community Development Peace Corps Volunteer and I’ll need to be on his good side if any of my projects stand a chance (I flashback to memories of old “Pa Nayoke” and shudder a little). While I missed most of the day’s festivities, I did manage to make an unmemorable evening appearance. I worked in a small chat with the Nayoke for an hour or so. It was unmemorable because everyone appeared to be three sheets to the wind by the time I showed up. My counterpart says the new Nayoke likes to drink and yeah, he’d got his faults like everyone else; but she thinks he’ll be cooperative and supportive of our projects. Working with him and his new policies will inevitable bring about changes in my own dynamic of working in the SAO and in the community. My mind slips away from the apprehensions of working with a new supervisor as the flu takes over my body and I spend the next two days in bed. What would I do without my neighbors in times like these? They’ve been great. Checking in, bringing me meals, always encouraging a speedy recovery. Which, brings us up to speed on the here and now. Hopefully, tomorrow I’ll be well enough to go into the office and resume business as usual. More to come on my upcoming projects!
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