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The
Traveling Rousmanieres - Manana – Thai Time We
left Bangkok as soon as possible, jumping on a bus headed south to explore
the beaches of Southern Thailand for a couple of weeks. We learned quickly
that to travel in Thailand, one has to let go of certain preconceived
notions like, er... itineraries. A bus could leave you at a random roadside
stop in the middle of the night for a "quick break", and before
long you'd realize that you're still sitting in the dirt watching the
sun come up. Worse yet, certain Rousmanieres who have a tendency to wander
off to "explore," assured that the bus wouldn't be leaving until
8:30 a.m., could suddenly find themselves running to catch a bus that's
inexplicably leaving at 6:30 a.m. instead. We once found ourselves on
a small 8-seater boat, with 7 people already seated, stopping for "10
minutes to pick up one more passenger"... which somehow turned into
1 hour and an additional 20 people. (Yes...all 20 got aboard... maybe
something got lost in the translation?!) After
20 hours on our bus from Bangkok, we finally made it to the South, landing
in Phuket, where we started hitting the beaches! Our first stop was Kamala
Beach, just north of Phuket town on the Andaman Sea. Here, we lazed about
on the quiet, slightly commercialized, beach and learned to fend off (and
occassionally bargain with) sarong-sporting, watch-displaying touts. We
also enjoyed the first of many incredible three dollar Thai dinners, while
we watched the odd parasailer fall from the sky with Thais running around
the beach trying to catch the helpless tourist (some weren’t caught).
Every afternoon on our way home from the beach, a naked three-year-old
Thai boy taking his bath on the rickety boardwalk would rinse our sandy
feet with a hose and laugh hysterically, splashing around in his plastic
bucket. We
got a spicy taste of Phuket Beach thanks to our new Kiwi friends Danny
and Paula Clement, whom we met while traveling in New Zealand. Danny and
Paula had been living and working in Phuket for the past two years on
a beautiful yacht called 'SeaGlass', and graciously invited us to stay
with them. To our great surprise, the boat was equipped with air conditioning,
hot showers, a cappuccino maker, Internet access, and satellite television
(and for you sailors, it sported an amazing, and expensive, Aero-Rig,
sheet winches be damned)...not to mention the five-star spa and infinity
pool at the marina. Yes, our days of bologna sandwiches and backpacks
still eluded us. Danny
and Paula gave us the locals' tour of Phuket, complete with lessons on
bargaining (eg. negotiations for an end of night tuk-tuk ride home should
never exceed 100 Baht and must always include a "Roadie" provision
for beer stops along the way), a stop at their favorite tailor to get
Will a hand-made silk tuxedo (which was put together in less than 24 hours,
cost $120, and looks like a million bucks), trips to their favorite restaurants
(with Danny "you can't make it spicy enough" Clement ordering
in Thai for us), and an unforgettable night in Phuket at a Kathoey (Pronounced
"Ka-Toy", meaning transvestite) cabaret called "Katoys-R-US",
that saw the Rousmanieres dancing in the chorus line for the evening's
finale. Danny and Paul have since landed back in New Zealand, and we wish
them luck in their new life there. Thanks again to you both for showing
us the time of our lives -- and for giving us another taste of the great
and gracious Kiwi spirit (not to mention that yummy roast lamb). Our
next stop on our tour of Thai beaches were the beautiful Similan Islands,
nine government-owned islands that are run as parks (read: undeveloped).
After a bumpy 3-hour power boat ride, our jaws dropped when we pulled
into the bay of Ko Miang (island #4): the water was the clearest and bluest
we've ever seen - so clear we would have been able to count every grain
of sand on the bay bottom, if only the sand weren't as fine as baby powder.
Being a government-run island, there were limited accommodations: about
20 tents and 15 hill-side bungalows looking out over the bay. With our
diving budget depleted by kiwi sky diving, we passed the days snorkeling
in the 80 degree water and soaking up the sun. We spent Dana's 30th birthday
drinking wine and watching sunset and stars on this wonderfully remote
island. Many thanks again to everybody for the cyber-birthday wishes! Our
last beach stop in the South was the Krabi province, which we reached
in a truck driven by a Thai family, with their little five-year-old boy
on Will's lap belting out Bon Jovi's "It's My Life," though
little other English was known or spoken. So we sang Bon Jovi and rattled
through the countryside, passing rubber plantations (hundreds of trees
hung with buckets to catch dripping rubber from taps like collecting vermont maple sap) with their white glistening pancakes
of condensed rubber drying on the roadside fences in the sun.
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