We took a side trip to Tanote Bay, which is on the east side of Ko Tao. A rather extreme ride over roads more suited to an ATV than a pickup taxi, but these guys know how to drive.
It is a small secluded bay, spectacularly beautiful with snorkeling comparable to Hawaii, although less visibility. Being able to snorkel from the beach is great.
Ko or Koh Tao is a small island in the Gulf of Thailand near Koh Samui. Ko means island in Thai, and both spellings are used.
Getting there: from Chumphon, we took a taxi from the hotel. Our hotel (and probably most tourist hotels) sold us a ferry ticket that included the taxi ride. It can be confusing, but the taxi takes you to the train station, where you buy a bus ticket (the driver will show you where) which they called a transfer fee, then the bus heads out to the pier, which is a ways away. Then you queue up to check in, then board. The give you cute stickers/labels along the way like you are luggage. Everyone is used to clueless tourists and they make it pretty easy.
If you are older than 25, you will feel like a minority on Ko Tao. Kind of like Logan's Run. You know that part at the end when they see that old man? Yeah, that's kind of how I felt. This is is party central for every gap year kid across the world. And they all want to drive a scooter on Ko Tao. Crazy! Quite a change from Koh Phayam.
AK, Eric, Zoe & Jack are doing Scuba certification here, so we just see them in the evening.
Are you a good traveler? I love planning trips, researching and looking for amazing and interesting places to visit, then go see and experience them in person, try new foods, customs, cultures. Unfortunately, I've never been the best traveler. Beset by too much crankiness, random anxiety, 'what ifs' and fussiness about things like running out of the only lotion that doesn't give me a rash, it is always a challenge to enjoy the journey and not annoy the hell out of everyone around me. Failure abounds.
I am a defective human with a tiny bladder and intolerances to gluten, fragrances, most skin products, heat, bad coffee and things I don't like. Every day is a lesson in finding the difference between actual real problems (knowing where the nearest bathroom is because lunch had hidden wheat) or just being a big whiny baby. Sometimes I can't tell, and spend way more time in the big baby camp. :) Todd, on the other hand, is an excellent traveler-curious and adventurous, he loves to explore and does not mind the endless minutia of travel challenges. Thankfully, Ellie & Jack are much more like him than me. Ellie, Zoe and The Jacks have taught me alot about going with the flow on this trip. They are amazing travelers.
One thing that Thailand has taught me is more patience with delays. It's nice not knowing what time or even what day it is most of the time, so if something is a little late, who cares.
We all have our ruts and routines, our little things that give us pleasure or shape our sanity. What's essential? Traveling really brings it all up. Take coffee-we live in an area that takes coffee seriously, and great coffee is everywhere. Here in Thailand, most of the time you get Nescafe powdered coffee that you can stand a spoon up in. You can get good coffee sometimes, but it might be a big effort to find it. Do you make that effort, just drink the Nescafe like medicine, switch to tea? It's enlightening to find out what is easy to let go of, and what is not. Sometimes it's such a trivial thing.
My favorite part of traveling is seeing the differences in how people live-architecture, infrastructure, stores, beds, clothes, gestures, gender roles, local habits, etc. But those are also the things that trip me up. Today it is the smoke. in many areas of Thailand, people burn garbage, vegetation and their fields. This is the dry season, so there are also lots of forest fires. This all results in air that stinks, low visibility and breathing problems. Luckily, it does not seem to be bothering Ellie, so it's easier to let it go.
Let it go. That's a good travel mantra I'll work on.
Spirit houses are found in almost every business and every yard. In Thailand, ancient spirit worship has evolved along with Buddhism.
This is a link to a more thorough explanation: http://www.chiangmai-chiangrai.com/spirit_house.html
They run the gamut from modest to ornate, and come in all colors with gold seeming to be the most popular. There appears to be some regional trends as well-on the bus from Ranong to Chumphon they had colors I did not see anywhere else. I think they are all beautiful.
Some large businesses had super fancy large 3 or 4 platform complexes, but I think my favorites have been the little humble wood ones in somebody's yard.
The spirit houses have offerings of food, flowers, beverages. By far the most prevalant beverage offered was strawberry Fanta, leading The Jacks to dub it the soda of the Gods.
There are a surprsingly large number of spirit house stores with all colors, shapes and sizes. We even saw some spirit house "graveyards". When a spirit house gets old and needs replacing, you have to coax the spirits into the new spirit house. The old spirit house is laid to rest in an area with high spirit activity. We saw some in the jungle and alongside the roads in some spots.
Here are a few out of the thousands we've seen across Thailand:
There are a lot of dogs in Thailand, and from what I have seen not a great deal of care for them-especially spaying and neutering. Widespread mange and dangles. Koh Phayam has a lot of dogs too. They are everywhere. Walking through town you could not go 10 feet without seeing at least 1 dog, and usually 5 or 6. Our guesthouse had their own pack of 5+ , led by Boola. Sweet dogs, always ready to go for a beach walk with you, help dig a hole or play soccer. It was really enjoyable to have them around. They immediately adopted you as family, even being very protective of us if other dogs or strangers came onto 'their' beach. It was a real highlight for the girls. They all had names, but Ellie and Zoe renamed them.
They hunt for shrimp or crab or something that live in little holes on the beach. The dogs are fun to watch and interesting to see all the different pack behaviors. You don't often get to see natural behavior in a big group of dogs.
Koh Phayam is special in they have been collecting donations and organizing spay/neuter/care clinics with local vets. We donated 500 baht ($15.35), which is enough to fix 1 dog. I suggested that Ellie talk to her Girl Scout troop to raise money for that, and Ann-Kristin joked that if they were very successful, the headline would be "Girl Scouts cause extinction of island dog population".
This afternoon while were having lunch in town, we got to see some of them fed. One of the ladies from the restaurant came out with a big bucket of what looked like rice and chopped up leftovers. She went to 5 or 6 different spots around the property-each spot maybe 20 or 30 feet apart, and fed each dog in things like an old wok, a plate or a tray. The dogs are very polite and wait in their own spot, not greedy at all.
The rhythm of the days here are slow and unfocused. None us are feeling the pull to do too much of anything. Most days are some version of: wake up around sunrise, walk on the beach with the resident pack of beach dogs (more on them later), find coffee, hang out on the beach or hammock, order breakfast, find something to do for the hour or so it may take to get it, remember you are on island time and not get irritated, swim and float in the sea before it gets too hot, hang out on the beach/lounge area/hammock, drink a lot of water or maybe a fruit icy, put on lots of sunscreen, blog/read/nap, swim again, maybe wander into town for lunch or dinner if you feel motivated, repeat above and maybe add a bit of kayaking or paddle boarding or drinking. Everyone gets to go with their own flow. Todd has been the most adventurous, renting a scooter and exploring the island.
The kids are free range, able to do mostly whatever they want as well. There is a small restaurant on the property and the kids eat when they like, swim, snorkle, dig in the sand, have too much tablet time, play with the dogs. Just hang out.
The nights are not as relaxed as the days. I don't think anyone is sleeping well between the hard sandy beds (which may actually be box springs), the intense heat, and the wildlife noises-birds, geckos, dogs-but the option of unlimited hammock naps during the day takes the sting out of it.
When I was planning and dreaming about Thailand, this is the place I always pictured. Koh Phayam is a little island in the Andaman Sea off the coast of Thailand near the southern tip of Myanmar.
Getting there: Traveling from Bangkok to Koh Phayam, we took a minibus to the airport, Nok Air local plane to port city of Ranong, Pon's Place minibus to town, speedboat to Koh Phayam. Got off the speedboat, walked down the pier, turned left and walked about 5 minutes to the end of the road to Sabai Sabai.
Sabai Sabai is funky, rustic laid-back paradise. Dreaming of a hut on the beach in exotic lands? This is it. This is a place just to 'be'. Everything complicated fades away and it's all about the simple things. Hammocks, naps, swimming, great food, and a drink.
Not everything is perfect. The beds are hard, garbage washes up on the beach, the bungalows a little too rustic, the shower is just a drip, they are way behind on maintenance, etc., but if you can let go of those things, it's a beach bum dream come true.
