Sunday, August 05, 2007
Well everybody, I'm back! It was a strange sensation and as I rounded the corner into the arrivals section of Dublin airport I felt a lump in my throat. I don't know why but I was quite nervous about being home after so long. It was great to see my family again and I spent the day trying to adjust to the fact that I would actually be able to stay in one place for longer than 4 days. I also got to meet the latest addition to the Thomas family - Teddy. He's a great dog and I look forward to getting to know him better. The trip has been epic with so many incredible moments. It's going to be hard to get to terms with everything that's happened. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends tonight and less looking forward to trying to find a job. This will be my last blog post. This is Graham Thomas - signing off.
Friday, August 03, 2007
On ANZAC day, way back in Melbourne, Fi and I sat in a pub with Lia talking about a beach on Ko Phangan. We said that when we got to the Thai islands, we would be at the end of our travels and looking for a nice, relaxing beach with not too many people around. We also mentioned that we planned on finding such a beach on Ko Tao. As it turns out, Lia had been to Ko Phangan only a couple of months previously and she recommended a beach there called Haad Yuan. We were slightly skeptical of this information as we’d heard that Ko Phangan had been wrecked and there existed nowhere on the island that was quiet and relaxing and unspoilt anymore. We decided to take Lia’s advice with a backup plan to leave Haad Yuan after one day should it not turn out to be the paradise we were looking for. I can now safely thank Lia for her quality recommendation as I have just spent eight days on Haad Yuan and they were as close to paradise as I’ve ever been. Well kind of…
We left Bangkok for Ko Samui on the 6am flight feeling extremely worse for wear. The previous night was spent on Ko Sanh road where things finish up at 4am at the earliest. Also, it was Ali’s first night with us and we felt like celebrating appropriately. So there we were sitting on a boat from Ko Samui to Ko Phangan and dying for a bit of this beach we’d heard so much about, not to mention some well needed sleep. Unfortunately the boat from Samui dropped us at Thong Sala on the wrong side of the island. Since Haad Yuan is only accessible by sea, that meant getting a taxi to Haad Rin (the next beach up from Haad Yuan and home to the famous full moon party) and then a taxi boat around to Haad Yuan. As we rounded the peninsula for the first time we caught our first glimpse of Haad Yuan. It looked the business and we waited with baited breath as the boat got closer and closer to shore. As we trudged across the silky white sand up to Big Blue, a bungalow resort also recommended by Lia, we looked around and realized we had hit the jackpot. The sea was beautifully clear and turquoise and the beach was flanked by beautiful rocks with nothing but dense jungle behind it. It was so secluded and there seemed to be very few people around. This woke us up a bit and we decided that going for a swim in the perfect sea would be top of the to-do list. However this lasted only 10 minutes before we were overcome with fatigue again and were forced to hit the sack.
And so the next eight days were spent getting up when we wanted, sunbathing under the scorching sun, cooling off in the glistening sea, playing volleyball & Frisbee on the silky white sand, eating at a restaurant on the rocks with the most perfect view and drinking cocktails in the coolest bar around called Eden. Life was good in Paradise until disaster struck. Perhaps disaster is too strong a word but it was certainly a hindrance. On our second day I had a bit of a disagreement with a couple of rocks and unfortunately my left arm paid the price. I slipped and fell onto two rocks and as I went down, one of the rocks cut deeply into my left arm from my elbow almost to my wrist. As it was late at night, all I could do was get nurse Ali to bandage it up. The next day I headed to Haad Rin to have a nurse look at it and after disinfecting it and re-bandaging it she announced that I was to stay out of the water for three days. Three days out of the water when you’re living in paradise? Typical, I thought. I am, after all the brother of Roger Thomas, the infamous travel injury expert. The worst thing about not being able to go in the water, however, was that I couldn’t go diving. This was seriously annoying as I’d been looking forward to diving in the gulf of Thailand ever since Australia. It’s supposed to be one of the best diving locations in the world. So anyway I made the best of my time just relaxing on the beach and one of my non-swimming days was spent exploring the rest of the island. We headed for a couple of waterfalls and then to a beach on the other side of the island. While the other beach was actually pretty nice too, ours was definitely better.
One of the reasons we chose to hit the Thai islands at this time was the world famous full moon party which takes place on Haad Rin on the full moon of every month. This month it was on 31st July and we hit the party with relish. Normally, a bunch of English and Irish gurriers dancing to trance music on a beach while off their face on pills doesn’t appeal to me. However, the full moon party is a famous affair and I just had to see it for myself. We went over with expectations that we wouldn’t enjoy it but we actually had a good night. We jumped off the taxi boat, narrowly missed the dozens of blokes pissing into the sea, bought a couple of beers and watched the craziness unfold around us. We stayed on the fringe of the madness but enjoyed observing it and even bumped into a couple of people we knew. We also got our bodies painted which looked really neat under the UV lights. By 4am we had had enough so we headed back to the more serene Haad Yuan. Since it was my last night on the beach before Ali and I would head back to Bangkok leaving Fi to continue traveling without me for ten days, we decided to stay up and watch the sunrise. As we sat on the beach we got talking to an American couple and the five of us stayed up till a ridiculous hour just chatting. After a couple of hours kip, the rest of the day was just spent waiting to leave the beach and Fi. I didn’t really know what to feel.
By this stage my arm had mended enough for me to be back in the water however, further disaster was just around the corner. A lump on my upper back, which my doctor advised me previously would not be a problem unless it started giving me hassle, started to give me hassle. It started out being a little tender and within 2 days I couldn’t sit down because of it. So off I went to the doctor in Haad Rin again but this time it was an hour before Ali and I were due to catch a boat back to Ko Samui and then fly back to Bangkok. I went in hoping to get some painkillers to keep me going till I got home but the doc said that it couldn’t wait that long and the infection would have to be drained straight away. So there I was lying in a doctors office with him performing minor surgery on my back under local anesthetic, working against the clock so I could still make my 5.30 boat to Samui. Fair play to him, he met the deadline with 10 minutes to spare. Unfortunately by the time we arrived in Samui the anesthetic had worn off and my back was in more pain than it was before. Even still we made it to Bangkok ok and the painkillers and antibiotics the doctor gave me soon began to work their magic. We spent our day in Bangkok shopping for electronic goods and generally soaking up the atmosphere on Ko Sanh road. That night we went for a decent meal before hitting a rock gig in Shamrock, the obligatory Irish bar. After that we went in search of more live music and found in the form of a reggae trio. They were utterly fantastic, the best live music I’ve seen on the trip and it was a good way to spend my last night of the holiday. After this we met a trio of Fins and headed off to one of the few bars still open at this stage with them. Eventually Ali and I hit the sack at around 5am which was good as it was 11pm Irish time. This means I can hopefully tackle the upcoming jetlag before it even begins. I’m currently spending my last 5-6 hours of the trip bumming around Bangkok with Ali. The next blog entry will be coming to you from my home in Dublin, something which I’m very excited about but yet definitely sad at the same time. It is the end of an era after all.
We left Bangkok for Ko Samui on the 6am flight feeling extremely worse for wear. The previous night was spent on Ko Sanh road where things finish up at 4am at the earliest. Also, it was Ali’s first night with us and we felt like celebrating appropriately. So there we were sitting on a boat from Ko Samui to Ko Phangan and dying for a bit of this beach we’d heard so much about, not to mention some well needed sleep. Unfortunately the boat from Samui dropped us at Thong Sala on the wrong side of the island. Since Haad Yuan is only accessible by sea, that meant getting a taxi to Haad Rin (the next beach up from Haad Yuan and home to the famous full moon party) and then a taxi boat around to Haad Yuan. As we rounded the peninsula for the first time we caught our first glimpse of Haad Yuan. It looked the business and we waited with baited breath as the boat got closer and closer to shore. As we trudged across the silky white sand up to Big Blue, a bungalow resort also recommended by Lia, we looked around and realized we had hit the jackpot. The sea was beautifully clear and turquoise and the beach was flanked by beautiful rocks with nothing but dense jungle behind it. It was so secluded and there seemed to be very few people around. This woke us up a bit and we decided that going for a swim in the perfect sea would be top of the to-do list. However this lasted only 10 minutes before we were overcome with fatigue again and were forced to hit the sack.
And so the next eight days were spent getting up when we wanted, sunbathing under the scorching sun, cooling off in the glistening sea, playing volleyball & Frisbee on the silky white sand, eating at a restaurant on the rocks with the most perfect view and drinking cocktails in the coolest bar around called Eden. Life was good in Paradise until disaster struck. Perhaps disaster is too strong a word but it was certainly a hindrance. On our second day I had a bit of a disagreement with a couple of rocks and unfortunately my left arm paid the price. I slipped and fell onto two rocks and as I went down, one of the rocks cut deeply into my left arm from my elbow almost to my wrist. As it was late at night, all I could do was get nurse Ali to bandage it up. The next day I headed to Haad Rin to have a nurse look at it and after disinfecting it and re-bandaging it she announced that I was to stay out of the water for three days. Three days out of the water when you’re living in paradise? Typical, I thought. I am, after all the brother of Roger Thomas, the infamous travel injury expert. The worst thing about not being able to go in the water, however, was that I couldn’t go diving. This was seriously annoying as I’d been looking forward to diving in the gulf of Thailand ever since Australia. It’s supposed to be one of the best diving locations in the world. So anyway I made the best of my time just relaxing on the beach and one of my non-swimming days was spent exploring the rest of the island. We headed for a couple of waterfalls and then to a beach on the other side of the island. While the other beach was actually pretty nice too, ours was definitely better.
One of the reasons we chose to hit the Thai islands at this time was the world famous full moon party which takes place on Haad Rin on the full moon of every month. This month it was on 31st July and we hit the party with relish. Normally, a bunch of English and Irish gurriers dancing to trance music on a beach while off their face on pills doesn’t appeal to me. However, the full moon party is a famous affair and I just had to see it for myself. We went over with expectations that we wouldn’t enjoy it but we actually had a good night. We jumped off the taxi boat, narrowly missed the dozens of blokes pissing into the sea, bought a couple of beers and watched the craziness unfold around us. We stayed on the fringe of the madness but enjoyed observing it and even bumped into a couple of people we knew. We also got our bodies painted which looked really neat under the UV lights. By 4am we had had enough so we headed back to the more serene Haad Yuan. Since it was my last night on the beach before Ali and I would head back to Bangkok leaving Fi to continue traveling without me for ten days, we decided to stay up and watch the sunrise. As we sat on the beach we got talking to an American couple and the five of us stayed up till a ridiculous hour just chatting. After a couple of hours kip, the rest of the day was just spent waiting to leave the beach and Fi. I didn’t really know what to feel.
By this stage my arm had mended enough for me to be back in the water however, further disaster was just around the corner. A lump on my upper back, which my doctor advised me previously would not be a problem unless it started giving me hassle, started to give me hassle. It started out being a little tender and within 2 days I couldn’t sit down because of it. So off I went to the doctor in Haad Rin again but this time it was an hour before Ali and I were due to catch a boat back to Ko Samui and then fly back to Bangkok. I went in hoping to get some painkillers to keep me going till I got home but the doc said that it couldn’t wait that long and the infection would have to be drained straight away. So there I was lying in a doctors office with him performing minor surgery on my back under local anesthetic, working against the clock so I could still make my 5.30 boat to Samui. Fair play to him, he met the deadline with 10 minutes to spare. Unfortunately by the time we arrived in Samui the anesthetic had worn off and my back was in more pain than it was before. Even still we made it to Bangkok ok and the painkillers and antibiotics the doctor gave me soon began to work their magic. We spent our day in Bangkok shopping for electronic goods and generally soaking up the atmosphere on Ko Sanh road. That night we went for a decent meal before hitting a rock gig in Shamrock, the obligatory Irish bar. After that we went in search of more live music and found in the form of a reggae trio. They were utterly fantastic, the best live music I’ve seen on the trip and it was a good way to spend my last night of the holiday. After this we met a trio of Fins and headed off to one of the few bars still open at this stage with them. Eventually Ali and I hit the sack at around 5am which was good as it was 11pm Irish time. This means I can hopefully tackle the upcoming jetlag before it even begins. I’m currently spending my last 5-6 hours of the trip bumming around Bangkok with Ali. The next blog entry will be coming to you from my home in Dublin, something which I’m very excited about but yet definitely sad at the same time. It is the end of an era after all.
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