I have often talked about how spoiled I was growing up in Colorado and how it is such a place of infinite beauty. My heart will always find a home there and part of that reason is because of the sunsets over the Rockies. It does not happen every night, but on those special nights, there is a magic that happens over those mountains as the color in the sky changes to different kinds of oranges, reds and purples. There is a reason that so many people have a window that frames these mountains, and it is for those moments of intense beauty.
As I have traveled around the world, I have seen many other sunsets that rival the ones I have witnessed in Colorado. They usually fall over the sea, and it is fun watching the sun slowly sink into the horizon over this vast body of water. Though tears may form in my eyes, I just can’t pull away, and I have to watch every moment.
Though it is still beautiful with the light reflecting off of the deep blue of the water, it is still does not have the explosion of color that I get to see on those great sunsets in Colorado. It is still a moment that I look forward to and it is one I have been seeking out all summer because I knew that there must be spectacular ones to see in Thailand.
I think I have found the place where the best sunsets exists and as a man from Colorado, I am sorry to say that it is not along the Front Range. It is on the island of Koh Yao Yai on the southern end of Thailand. It is here that you get to experience the beauty of both moments in a sunset. You get to watch the sun dip below the horizon over the ocean while still experiencing the reflection that the fading daylight has over the cloud hanging over the distant mountains.
I don’t think I have ever seen anything like it in my lifetime. It was stunning and though it only lasted for less than an hour, it is easily my favorite moment so far this summer. I am happy that I did not miss it.
I know that I was getting back into the groove of life after my last two trips. Things were getting back to normal, and I was getting used to donning the face mask as I walked around. The bars were still not open, but I never frequented them that much to really care anyway. So I was brought back to the reality of the situation when I finally made it to Phuket. This was one of the places that was hit the hardest during the first wave of the pandemic, and even though, it has been awhile since there has been a new case here, it has taken a little bit of time for it to open up again. We went strolling through the old neighborhood last night looking for a place to eat, but most of the restaurants were not opened up and it took us awhile to find a Tex-Mex place, Amore Cafe and Bar. We were lucky to have found it too because they made some great spicy margaritas, and it was easily the best Mexican food I have found since I have moved to Thailand.
The quiet streets of old town right now. This place is usually packed with tourists.
Though things are really quiet, it does not mean that I will not be able to enjoy my time out here. In fact, it might be the best time to visit Phuket. The throngs of tourists that usually come out here to visit are gone right now, and I get to have the streets to myself. The tourist sights seem to be closed right now, but I am sure I will be able to find a couple of the more natural settings in the area to enjoy. I might have to search a little bit longer for a place to eat, but when I find it, they will be so happy to have customers that they will give me their best service and show me what they can really do with food.
The pancakes available at Pancake Corner and Coffee Club
Besides the Mexican restaurant we found last night, there was also a pancake place, Pancake Corner and Coffee Club, we discovered for breakfast that had some amazing food. I am not really into pancakes because there are too many people that screw them up and they turn out doughy instead of fluffy like they should. This place knew what to do with them though and my favorite thing was they served a side of homemade vanilla ice-cream with the pancakes that added the perfect flavor to this meal. It seems to be a regular condiment that comes with many breakfasts out in Thailand because this is the third place I have been to out here that has served this with either pancakes or French toast.
A statue I found as I wandered towards the end of the street in the old part of town in Phuket
Though it may not be the ideal way to travel, I still cannot complain. At least I have landed in a country that was able to get the Covid-19 problem under control, and I am able to venture out to explore this country. There is enough out here to make it an exciting adventure even if I can’t experience it to the full extent that is available. Also because I have my car with me, I will be able to explore little corners that I wouldn’t have been able to if I had to do everything on foot. I do have a lot of time out here, so I am sure things will loosen up as well as time goes by. It just will have to be slower than I am used to, and considering the patience I have had to endure over the last couple of months, I think I am okay with doing that right now.
I was not able to snap many pictures today. It was my job to drive the final three hours to Phuket and our hotel there, and they kind of frown upon a person who is busy taking pictures while driving a car. I know I had a lot of free time to run around and take pictures after we had arrived, but the rains arrived and I was stuck in my hotel room for much of the afternoon. It is a shame too because the last three hours of this drive highlight a beautiful part of Thailand. There are palm tree hills all over the place that I was forced to weave through in order to make my way to our final destination. The clouds coming in from the ocean clung to the tops of these mountains and just added to the overall experience. Add in a huge golden Buddha sitting on top of a few of these hills and it was one of the better drives that I have experienced in a long time. This is something that I would have missed out on if I had flown down to Phuket instead of driving so I am glad that I did it this way instead. I will tell you that if you are considering doing the same thing, it is not an easy drive. The roads are just as windy as you can find in the mountains of Colorado, and the drivers do not improve just because you have found your way out of the big cities of Thailand. It is tempting to look at the view along the way, but you really need to pay attention to the road because you never know what the person next to you will do. Add in a rainy deluge and you have the perfect recipe for disaster. I took it slow and made it safely, but there were a couple of time where I was worried about the situation around me.
I am happy to be in Phuket, and the weather can’t stay bad the whole two weeks I am in this part of the world. I will make it out of the hotel and share the beauty of this place soon. I promise you will not regret seeing it.
For those of you that get to talk to me from time to time, you have probably heard me complain about the troubles I have been having trying to purchase a car in Thailand. There is a lot of paperwork, and they seem to change the rules every time I reach that point where I can actually obtain the paperwork that they needed a week earlier. But I have finally caught up with the rules, and have now purchased a slightly used Ford Focus. I know it is not the most luxurious car, but it works for what I need it for, getting back and forth to work, and the occasional trip out of Bangkok. Considering I paid for it on Friday, and I don’t have to be back at work until August 10th, there is only one thing left to do, road trip.
I got up early this morning to take to the highways of Thailand and make my way down south to visit the fabled city of Phuket (pronounced Poo Ket (yes, I made the joke as well the first time I saw the name of this city)). I know that when you look at a map, Thailand does not look that big, but it stretches a lot further than you would imagine. A drive from Bangkok to Phuket, takes over twelve hours, and even though I could make it in one day, I decided to break the trip up into two.
As soon as I made it out of Bangkok, I noticed that the stress of driving in Thailand reduced dramatically, and it has been fun being out on the open road again. It is one of the things I miss the most about America. The ability to get into the car and drive aimlessly into the long stretches of road allows for endless tales to be told and adventures to be had. There is something romantic about seeing the landscape change from the typical things you see on a normal day to experiencing new climates, people, and places. The only problem with it is that the first day on the road does not have the great stories to tell that you would hope for on a road trip. It usually takes until you stay at various places that the stories start to unwind.
The typical parking lot found at rest stops in Thailand
I did visit many roadside rest stops. They are all over the place in Thailand, and it does not matter which one you stop at, they are all the same. You will find a 7-11, an Amazon coffee shop, and some type of American fast food chain, usually a KFC even though I have seen the occasional Subway. The fill-up is quick and they send you back on the road. They do have a building set off in the back corner dedicated to bathrooms, and it threw me off the first time I had to pee in stalls that were installed outside in the back of that building. But I got used to it, and it is a good use of space, plus it helps with the smell that they tend to generate.
The mustache lets me know that this bathroom is for me
They do try to distinguish the various stops with different statues you will find decorating the big slabs of concrete. Most of the time it is comic versions of children holding up signs, but every once in awhile, you come across something a little more creative. I enjoyed to Japanese cats outside the bathrooms the best. The one with the pink bow on the head indicated the women’s bathroom, and the one with the mustache was for the men.
It wasn’t the most exciting day being stuck in a car with the biggest form of entertainment being the rest stops I found along the way, but it is possibility for adventure that kept me excited and looking forward to the ticking kilometers I saw on my speedometer. I know that there will be exciting moments to share with you over the next couple of days, so I hope you join me as I share what the Phuket region of Thailand has to offer somebody with a car and hopefully you can get something out of the posts as well.
Somebody had the time to set up some rock castles during the time when no tourists were allowed on the island
Not that things have been really stressful or frantic ever since school wrapped up for the year, and we have been forced to go on summer vacation, but the short voyage over to Koh Samet, things have slowed down considerably and I have been forced to slow down to meet the demand as well. It has been basically nothing more than beach living. It is the perfect way to enjoy summer, sit under an umbrella, order smoothies, read a good book, and when things get a little too warm, go cool off in the clear water.
The beach next door, a little more rustic but still as inviting as all of the other beaches I have seen on the island
In fact, I have not ventured very much further from my resort room than down to the beach by the reception area. I did take a fifteen minute stroll to the other side of the island for dinner one evening, and I did rent a kayak to paddle out to other beaches nearby, but I have constantly be coming back to the idea of relaxation.
The sun setting through the clouds, a short fifteen minute hike from the resort I am staying at
I think it is important that this happens in everybody’s life. Too often we are told that we need to be constantly at work, and with the creation of emails, text messaging and the internet, it is even harder to get away from this responsibility. Our jobs now believe that because these leashes have been created for us that they can tug on them any time that they want to, but they need to know for the sake of sanity of humankind, it is important that they let us run out and be free.
a quiet restaurant waiting for the crowds that will soon arrive this coming long holiday weekend
Some times that means running for adventure and capturing what is out there to offer, but at other times, it is just as important to unwind from the stress and do nothing for a couple of days. Koh Samet is the perfect place to do the unwinding, and considering it has not amped up yet with its recent reopening, it is even more calm than it probably usually is. There are not crowds of tourists jostling for a spot on the beach. There are no large lines waiting for a table at the best restaurants. And there is nobody competing to outdo other people on their vacation. It is just a moment of pure relaxation, and I am glad to have been able to experience it for a time this summer.
Thailand has a lot of wildlife. It is everywhere I go, and now that the rainy season has started, it has come out of the forest and is not as afraid to show that it is out there. I have seen a lot of wildlife on this little road trip and I am expecting to see more as I go along.
crabs can be found anywhere from the beaches to the mountains of Thailand
The beaches have been filled with crabs scurrying all over the sand and through the clear water on the beaches of Koh Samet, a snorkeler can see schools of fish and even large clams hiding among the rocks.
a turtle I came across after a heavy rain in my neighborhood
I have seen rugby ball sized turtles just strolling down the sidewalks in my neighborhood, and after any rain a cacophony of frogs sings their serenade to anybody that gets too close to them. I have seen a couple of snakes, and a few monitor lizards with the longest one being about six feet from the tip of it tail to its tooth, but they are hard to get picture of because I really do not want to get too close to them.
one of the geckos that didn’t make it in our room in Rayong
But it took until this little road trip that I learned more about these little critters, geckos. These guys are pretty much all over the place. We’ve always had two or three of them living in our house that I have know about, and there have probably been a couple others that are a little bit better at hiding in the corners not frequented as much. They do a lot more than just try to sell me car insurance. I have been told that they eat a lot of the bugs that you do not wish to have in your house, and for this reason, we usually end up leaving them alone.
It was a nice surprise when I was greeted by a couple bigger ones in our last two hotel rooms. I waved at them and then let them crawl behind the curtains. What I did not know is that when they get a little bigger, they like to make noise to let people know about their presence. I know many of you are trying to think about what noise a gecko makes right now, and I would have been in the same category a couple of days ago. It was when I was woken up by one of them the first night of this trip that I realized what they sounded like. At first, I did not think it was a gecko that was making the noise. It sounded like a bird had somehow gotten trapped in our room, but it wasn’t persistent like a bird would be. They only chirped for a couple of seconds and then they were quiet for the next hour or so. But it was a little annoying to be woken up every hour as they moved from one place in the room to another spot.
I have since learned how to sleep with the chirp, but it alarmed me the first evening. In fact, I have come to enjoy the noise because I know that they are keeping me safe from all of those mosquitoes looking to suck my blood. It just adds to the cycle of life that happen is Thailand during the rainy season.
The statue of a gigantic mermaid that greets you when you first arrive to Koh Samet
It is another sign that Thailand is returning back to a normal kind of life. Today was the one day we had been waiting for all summer long, the day when they reopened the national parks. Yes, there are a lot of cool towns and fun places to go in the big cities, but the magic of Thailand really comes to life when visiting the national parks. We have had a couple on our list to visit this summer, and the first one was the island of of Koh Samet. It is an island resort with pristine beaches and beautiful hikes through rain forests that is only a three hour drive from Bangkok, and a quick twenty minute speedboat ride from the dock in Rayong.
Squeezing into a song tol
But we did not find ourselves in Bangkok this morning. We had been staying in Rayong for the past few days, waiting for this island to open up. The beach resort we were staying at was nice, but it was tucked in a corner of town that not many people visit, and there were only a couple of restaurants to enjoy in the area. The sun rarely popped out from amongst the clouds, and the time there was spent waiting for the next part of our trip. We were told that we would be able to catch a shuttle from the resort to the pier and from there we could take a ferry over to the island. We were so excited about the opening of this island that we had our bags out in front of the resort awaiting our shuttle.
Well, it turned out not to be like a shuttle like you would find in most parts of the world. It is what is called a song tol, which literally translates to two bench. They are very common in all of Thailand. Basically, somebody took a pickup truck, bolted two benches in the back of it, put a cover over those benches, and then started taxiing people around in it. Some are safer than others, but all of them are a treat to ride in. The one we took to the pier could not close its tail gate, so we packed in tight to make it to our next leg of the journey, hoping that we would not lose any luggage on the way.
The speed boat that took us from Rayong to Koh Samet
This involved taking some type of boat over the short distance of ocean to the island. There are two different types of boats you can book to get over there. The first is the ferry. It runs about once an hour, takes an hour to make the short distance, packs people in tightly, but is significantly cheaper than the other option. This is a speed boat. It is a lot quicker, but will jostle you around a little bit more as it takes you over the choppy seas. It did cost four hundred baht per person for a round trip, but that breaks down to about $12 American money. It was worth the price, and all we have to do is call ahead two hours in advance to let them know when we are ready to return.
The view from the back of our speed boat
The views weren’t great on the speed boat, and I was with a couple of people that get seasick easily, but we were able to make it over with everybody’s stomach intact. It was pretty comfortable, and the excitement of making it to this national treasure that had been untouched for the last four months had the anticipation building up within us. It would only be a short time until we found ourselves doing some beach living.
The view of the beach from the hotel we are staying at
When we arrived, there was one more quick song tol ride to our hotel, and then it was time to relax with soft sand, clear water and gorgeous skies. It was a little bit of an adventure to get to the resort, but it was well worth it. It is even nicer knowing that we are going to get to enjoy this island before the tourists start pouring into all of the hotel rooms here. It is Wednesday, and most people won’t be able to get out of their busy jobs from Bangkok until Friday. It is also a long holiday weekend coming up, and it will just add to the crowds. And even though there are a few people on the island right now, it is not enough to make it feel crowded. It will be a great stop for our longer road trip through this part of Thailand.
I now know why they call it the rainy season. There had been the occasional storm that came through our neighborhood that would cool things off and water the trees, but it would only last a couple of hours at most, and we could go back to our lives afterwards. Ever since I have made it to the coast, the rain has come a little more consistently and has stuck around a little bit longer. One nice things about it is I am no longer complaining about the heat, but I am also stuck inside waiting for things to change so I can go back to enjoying life. I had spent too much of the last couple of months doing that, and I did not want to continue this routine into my vacation.
But that is essentially what life is about. We continue with our routine while sitting at the edge of what could happen, waiting for that moment when things calm down and we can grab a little something from our existence.It might be a world wide pandemic that causes us to hide in our houses, but if we are honest with ourselves, there are a lot of those storms that keep us in our homes. It might be that work has kept us too busy, or the maintenance of our possessions prevents us from venturing out into the world. Sometimes it is something so simple as being so accustomed to the little world that we have made for ourselves that we do not want to see what else there is out there for us. But eventually we tire of those things are have to go out for a change or scenery and create a new memory.
Luckily for us, the rain did stop in the afternoon, and we were able to get some pool time before joining our friends for dinner. Now Rayong is not known for its big restaurants and fancy beaches. In fact, it has been barely surviving as a resort town only booming when it gets the overflow from Koh Samet. Add on to the fact that the island has been closed since March and Covid has kept people in their homes, it has not been kind to the establishments out here. A walk down the beach will highlight the many resorts and restaurants that have gone under during the crisis and the rainy season is allowing the jungle to take back what originally was its possession.
There are a few places that were able to weather the storm. One of these was Ken’s. This open aired seaside bar is owned by no other than Ken. He is a friendly guy that hangs out by the shore and points out his establishment to people who happen to walk by. I know that this is a technique that is every large city in the world as restaurants try to compete with each other, but with Ken it feels natural and he makes you want to come back and enjoy a meal there.
And this is what we did. The food was good, but nothing to write home about. It was the atmosphere that kept us there and will have us coming back for more. Ken and his staff coming set up a couple of tables on the beach right next to the surf so we could let its gentle cadence entertain us during our meal. Because it was that sweet spot in between the closing of Thailand, and the opening of it back up to tourists, we were able to have the beach virtually to ourselves. It was the perfect way to enjoy an evening meal.
And it was right when we were packing up to go home for the evening that the rains started to return. It was only a drizzle until we found the shelter of our patio and that was when the rains really started to come down. We had found that perfect time to enjoy the moment, and took full advantage of it while we could.
We moved on from Pattaya to Rayong. It is the city just on the other side of Koh Samet and this is the eventual goal of our travels, but it is considered a national park and will not open until July 1st. We thought we would explore this town as we wait for the island to open up, and there are enough little resorts right on the beach that will allow for us to have some fun before we hop on a ferry and travel across the span of water that hinders our path.
palm trees blowing in the wind at the edge of Bandera by the Sea resort
We thought we would have a nice day hanging out on the beach, and relaxing by the pool after our two hour trip between the cities, but this is when the truth of the rainy season came and reared its ugly head. I have heard that a lot of these outdoor activities are hindered because of the rain, and I thought that meant that the rain would come for an hour, dump down on us, and then move away to allow the sun to come back. That is the way it has been for us so far as we have lived in Thailand, but the rain was a little different yesterday.
the northern tip of the beach with people exploring tide pools
It blew in from the sea and dumped on us during our drive, making what is usually an hour and a half drive into an almost two and a half hour affair. The threatening clouds, and the rumble of thunder never really left us for the rest of the day either. It really prevented us from enjoying what the water had to offer, but we would not be ushered inside to hide from what could happen.
an abandoned beach because of the impending storm
Instead we explored the beach by walking up and down it. Though we never got in the water, it was still a fun way to enjoy the afternoon. There was nobody on the beach, and it felt like it was made just for us. The absence of the sun made the stroll the perfect time to enjoy the sea breeze and cooler weather. We were also look into the various resorts along the beach to see if we made the right choice in ours and see if there were any other restaurants we might want to go to while we were in town.
a field with cows grazing
There were the usual things you would expect to see on a beach, and I will write about them more this week as we explore them, but there were a couple of surprises as well. There was the field with cows in them that you can find all over Thailand. This is a pretty typical site. The fields are found in really random places as well. There is one of these fields off of Ramkhamheang, a busy road in Bangkok, that seems really out of place among the big named grocery stores and auto shops, but it is a leftover remain of a time that could soon be forgotten.
an abandoned boat a ways from the sandy beach
There are always these relics all over Thailand. Most of the time they are houses that have been abandoned and they are just waiting for somebody to come in and clear away the weeds and give it a fresh coat of paint. It is a different story when you see an abandoned boat high up the beach that is a long ways away from any place that has seen a drop of seawater. It makes you ponder the story of how it ended up in this place, and whether it is being used as a decoration for some resort, but then I did not see any building near it to indicate that this was the case.
It was a little disappointing to not enjoy all of the amenities that the resort had to offer because of the weather, but there was enough around to entertain us and it made even the simple thing like a walk along the beach a great experience. I just hope that the weather breaks a little so I can enjoy the other aspects of this city, or maybe it is for the best because it just waiting to break for when I make it over to the island.
There is a famous restaurant in Bangkok called Cabbages and Condoms. I have never been there but I have heard of it. It is a non-profit organization raising money for women’s health and hoping to increase the importance of this issue in southeast Asia. I have been told that the food is really good and it is worthy of the cause by going there. I was therefore surprised when the place I was staying at in Pattaya, the Birds and Bees, was associated with this organization and had another one of these restaurants in the establishment. I, of course, wanted to dine here, not only because the food was supposed to be good, but the money raised went to a good cause as well. There was the added bonus that I could continue my lazy start to this road trip by not having to leave the resort grounds by eating here.
The food is really good by the way. It boasts of a big menu with many items to choose from, most of which are Thai, but there are enough western selections there as well. I will admit that one of the meals I had here was a hamburger since it has been January since I have had one, but the other meals were from the Thai variety. And though I have had better Thai dishes, these were by far not bad at all and the presentation was always spectacular.
I enjoyed the pineapple fried rice for lunch and it came in a carved out pineapple husk. It is a common thing to see in Thailand, but it was the first time that I got to enjoy it this way, and I would say that it is the best way to eat pineapple fried rice. I also had the khao soi, another one of my favorite discoveries since I moved to Thailand. It was good and spicy and the curry boasted the peanut flavor that brings me back to it time and time again, but it still can’t beat the khao soi that is made in northern Thailand. I have no idea why the best khao soi comes from this region and the further south you get in Thailand the worse it gets, but that is the case for a lot of foods around the world. It was still a good representation of the dish, and I could not complain about the meals we had while dining there.
It did not come home that we were dining at a place called Cabbages and Condoms until we got the bill. It came with a little extra that I thought we strawberry mints, but true to the name of the restaurant, they weren’t mints. The fine people at this establishment always wish to leave you with a little extra for your evening to make sure it is a safe one, and it is a nice gesture.
It was then that I really started to recognize how much they played up to the theme of this restaurant. They had condoms under glass at the tables. They had a picture of the Mona Lisa holding a condom explaining that this was the reason for her smile. They had a condom tree. And my favorite, they had dummies with clothes made out of condoms. Finding this out at the end of the meal made the experience just that much better.
The bottom line is that Cabbages and Condoms is a great restaurant. They have good food in a friendly environment, and if you are at the one in Pattaya, you get to dine directly over the beach. The money they collect goes to a great cause especially in cities where the focus of women’s health really needs to happen such a Pattaya. So if you ever have a chance to enjoy a meal here, I highly recommend it because it will be an experience you will never forget.
John Collings 