Phuket, Thailand 11/23/06

Phuket, Thailand 23/11/06
Happy Thanksgiving to me! I wonder if I can get turkey with my Phat Thai tonight.

In true fashion with how my life has become the opposite of many others I have designated this day my "work" day. No beach, diving, or climbing; time to catch up on some work stuff, book some things for upcoming destinations, and of course get caught up with my journal. While the rest of my American friends and family are taking a day off to eat and watch football I have decided to clock in. It's probably a good thing too. I need a break from the Sun. Despite my religious use of sun block, I have not been this tan since my life guarding days.

3 weeks. Actually 20 days to be exact. That's how long it took me before I walked into a new bar in a new town on a new island and had my name shouted out by friends that I didn't know would be there. And by “there” I mean that island. Again to be exact, I guess I technically felt Roxanne jump on my back before I heard Donna and the other table of Irish dive buddies calling me but that just made the surprise even better; international Backpacker friends from Thai islands past. This happened on Koh Phi Phi, an island that’s even on the other coast from when I last saw them a few weeks ago. I had no idea they were also now on Phi Phi. That basically sums up this island: The culmination of my Thai Island hopping and all the people that I have met along the way.

As I was getting on the already crowded ferry in Railay, headed to Phi Phi, I spotted a familiar face among all the dangling backpackers that had already gotten a place to sit for the 2 hour ride. I was boarding from a longtail boat and waved up to Floor, a girl from Holland that I had met diving in Koh Tao. She saved me a little square next to her on the railing and after depositing my backpack on the growing mountain of other packs stacked high on the deck I made my way over.

We compared travel stories since we had left Koh Tao and shared reports of what we had heard of Phi Phi. Both of us are traveling alone and had trouble making friends at our last stops. Traveling alone isn't bad of course. I would rather travel with friends or family. Obviously with that said if they can't go I am not going to wait around. You quickly get used to traveling alone. You only worry about yourself. You eat when you are hungry and you never have to ask someone what they are in the mood for. You go to sleep when you are tired and get up when you want to do what ever it is you have decided to do that day.

It's a liberating feeling but eating every meal alone after a few days gets a little old. Some nights you feel like having a few beers so you head to the bar but unless the atmosphere is right you are just going to sit there. I remember staring at an open pool table one night thinking it would be nice to shoot a couple games and just pass the time but there was no one to play with. I went to bed early that night and read my book. My 5 days in Railay were great but after climbing I really didn't have anyone to hang out with; no one to share my fantastic experiences from that day with. I had coffee with my climbing guide and his friends a couple nights but then it was off to dinner alone. Again it all comes down to balance. In Phi Phi it was time to socialize.

After talking to Floor it was obvious she had just completed the same kind of week. We had also both heard reports that finding accommodations on Phi Phi could be tricky because places fill up quick. Not a good thing when you are on a boat with hundreds of other Backpackers all heading to the same small island you are. For these reasons Floor and I joined forces and for the last 5 days I have had a roommate.

I also received a note from my German friend Manuel just before I left for Phi Phi. It seems
He had changed his route some and if I was still headed to Phi Phi we might run into each other. I responded to him and he met up with Floor and I for the first couple days.

I ran into probably 5 other people on Phi Phi that I knew from other places in Thailand, many times with them spotting me first. It is a great feeling to hear your name shouted in various accents and to see a smiling face waving to you from across the street.

I did some more diving in Phi Phi finishing up my PADI Advanced Open Water Certification. I think that is about it for me and dive certifications. There is no desire to get more. I think it will be nothing but fun dives in my future now but probably none on the rest of this trip. Good thing I live in Florida!

The two dives that stand out for me in Phi Phi were the wreck dive and night dive. Swimming around and in a huge sunken ship was awesome. Right out of the movies. The night dive was amazing for a few reasons. A thunderstorm moved in just as we dove so the lighting show of lightning flashing above the water was cool from 12 meters below.

Everyone talks about the isolation you feel on a night dive; swimming in pitch blackness with just your light beam to look at things. For me this was intensified by the fact that I was the only diver. It was just me and my instructor, Cliff. It’s probably not real cost effective to fire up a big dive boat and trek out into the water with just 1 diver but as Cliff pointed out “It’s not your fault nobody else signed up. You wanna dive, we dive.”

I leave this island in the morning. It’s back to Bangkok to track down a visa for China then off to Cambodia. My trip is quickly coming to an end….and I’m just getting used to it all! Then again the time I have left is still longer than a “normal” American vacation so I guess I should try to keep things in perspective.

A great example of how accustomed I have gotten to this wandering happened a few days ago on Phi Phi. Manuel was getting some money out of an ATM. Floor and I were waiting about 4 meters away. It was a busy section of the island and people were going in and out of shops and bars all around us. On a pay phone near Floor and me a girl (in a bikini at 8 p.m., but I digress) turned to us and asked “Do you know what day it is?”

Floor and I looked at each other and shrugged. I didn’t have a clue; not even within a day. Manuel a short distance away turned around to proudly insert “I think it’s the 21st!”
I said “I think she means what day of the week.”
To which she nodded yes.
“Oh, I don’t have a clue.” He said and turned around to finish his transaction.
The girl still with the phone pressed to one ear just looked at Floor and me. We started laughing (I laughed again the next day too when I found out Manuel wasn’t even right about the date. It was the 20th but again I digress)

So now bikini phone girl puts the phone down by her waist and turns around to the street. “DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT DAY IT IS?! ANYONE?!” She shouted. Everyone looked at her with the same look Floor and I had. The look of “Uhhh, no. Come to think of it not only do I not know what day it is I can’t remember the last time it mattered.”
Finally she gave up her request and went back to the phone. Everyone else chuckled and went on with their carefree way.

And that sums up my time in Thailand; almost one full month in a tropical paradise where no one has any need for trivial things like days of the week.

MJF