Freedom

Today was a beautiful day so I braved a ride into the city. Haven't been doing much, just sitting around watching the world go past and feeling a little bit seedy. Feels so nice to be out of the flat though...the first time I've been out for a fortnight other than to go to the doctors.

Health update

After a couple of rounds of tests the doc has been unable to find exactly what was up with me. However the good news is that I don’t have dengue, malaria, any variety of flu, glandular fever, hepatitis of any letter, giardia, internal parasites, flukes, worms or a variety of other Asian exotica. The odds are I picked up a viral infection of some kind which knocked me about pretty badly, but there are thousands of viruses out there and as I seem to be on the mend the doc doesn’t see the point in trying to figure out exactly what it was. I just have one more blood test to go, which I’ll give next week to make sure my various out-of-control liver readings have reduced back to normal.
I’m still not 100% - I get tired quickly and apparently turn a slightly greenish colour if I overdo it - but it's good to start to feel normal again. I have a very lazy weekend planned, but I will slowly start to increase my exercise and get back out there again! My only worry is my feet - one of the symptoms was shedding skin and my feet have completely peeled a couple of times in the last week, so all my carefully built-up barefoot running callouses have been relocated to the bottom of the couch.....

An unexpected souvenir

Looks like I picked up an unexpected extra when I was in Thailand. On Tuesday I started to develop a bad headache and muscle aches, and by Wednesday the symptoms had developed to include a really prickly skin, a peeling rash over my upper body, constant nausea and backache. And incredible fatigue as well.

I went to the doctors on Thursday and after sighing about my lack of travel jabs he reckoned it was probably just a bad flu, but decided to get some tests done to check for anything more exotic (Tonsai is notorious for dengue fever). That involved a throat swab, a nasal swab, a blood sample & a stool sample and lead to me passing out and then throwing up. Yeah, I've had better weeks.

I get the test results on Tuesday so all I've been doing since then is sleeping - sometimes up to 18 hours a day! I've also lost about 5kg and over an inch off my waistline as I've hardly been eating. Things are on the up now, I'm still sore and can't eat much but I'm starting to feel a bit more like myself again.

Longer term prognosis depends on the test results - more news as it's made......

Being that guy

My knee was playing up when I was in Thailand, especially after spending a day climbing in & out of boats, and so climbing wasn't an option. In fact at the end of some days it was pretty sore after just walking around. I took my Vibram Five-fingers with me in the hope that I'd at least be able to fit a run or two in but sadly that wasn't to be.

I did get to walk around in my Five fingers a lot though. I tried to alternate them with my regular shoes - my knee would hurt a little less but my calves would get stiffer. They didn't seem massively out of place in Tonsai

although they are a pain to wear at the beach - putting them on once you have sand on your feet can be time-consuming and a little raspy.

They got a few more looks & comments in Patong

I'm starting to find them really comfortable - wonder if I can wear them in the office? Maybe only with a dark suit.

After a very lazy long weekend at home I've just done my first run in a month and comfortably managed a barefoot km, so I think the constant walking around hasn't set me back much. Sadly I'm only around for a week before flying to KL for a week on business and I won't get the chance for many more runs in the next fortnight. That 5k fun run will have to wait....

Ice cream sandwich

Geek alert!
Just put 'ice cream sandwich' on my HP Touchpad. The tablet was designed to run with 'web OS' but it was a flakey operating system that was starting to irritate me. So let's see if this is any better.....

Hmm - first hurdle. The text above was written and initially posted via the tablet but it wouldn't let me link to a Picassa photo. So I took the pic on my phone & uploaded it, wrote the text & posted it on the tablet and then logged in on the PC to append the picture. Seamless.

New neighbours

I got back yesterday to find that we had got some new neighbours - a flock of honeyeaters have moved into the tree behind the unit block

They're a pretty lively bunch and I think they're courting, hence the elaborate wing-porn being displayed above. But it's very relaxing to lay in bed in the mornings, or sit outside and listen to them

Not sure how long they'll stay, but they're welcome for as long as they like.

Full Moon Brewery

Patong is also the home of Phuket's only microbrewery - 'Full Moon Brewhouse'. This is tucked away in the corner of a shopping centre, 'behind the ship'

They offer three beers (a lager, a darker summer ale and a wheatbeer) brewed on the premises using a combination of local and imported ingredients

(note the Cyrillic on the menu - Patong is also a mecca for Russian tourists so that's not unusual)

This is the wheat beer - light, very drinkable, a little fruity

and that seemed to be the case across all three beers. Refreshing but  a little bland and expensive at 200 Baht per pint - around $7 AUD, which would get you two tallies of the local lager at most of the Tonsai bars. The beer nuts were 'Thai-ified' as well with the addition of lemongrass and slices of fried garlic - unfortunately this meant that they dominated the taste of even the strongest of the beers. I would have loved to have tried their take on an IPA or a porter - something with a bit more balls to it to differentiate it. But the place was empty every time I visited (admittedly always mid-afternoon) so I guess the market isn't there for that kind of beer - yet.

If you're in Patong it's definitely worth dropping in to sample a drop.

Checkout day

It's always a bit odd when your holiday wraps up. How do you spend your last few hours? I had a bit of a swim, a green curry from a street vendor and a can of Chang left over in the fridge. Now I'm pretty much packed, taxi is ordered and I'm just waiting waiting waiting. Probably the only good thing about being away from Liz for so long is that as the holiday comes to an end, I get excited about going home to her.

I've got the US Fox news on in the hotel room and it's an eye opener as to how unbiased Australian news is - the entire channel is completely dedicated to bashing Obama. Presenter after presenter comes on to tell the world how badly he's doing, and there is no attempt to balance it. Occasionally they hold polls such as 'Do you think the irresponsible president is doing the right thing?'.    

It ain't so wrong

Patong isn't as bad as it first seems. Yes, there are parts of it mainly based around markets, touts, tours and the sex industry, but you can always choose to smile & ignore them. In fact after a while you get recognised so the market seller will chat to you about the t-shirt you bought yesterday and the tout will have a chat with you. You can also amuse yourself thinking up 'witty' ripostes -
'DVD Mister?'
'No thanks - I download'

If you put some effort in there are some interesting things to see as well. One morning I walked out of town into the surrounding hills. It was lovely up there, I was next to the road but occasionally between the sound of trucks, bikes & mini-buses there was some blessed quiet

Another morning I wandered down to the other end of town and the local temple (Wat Suwan Khiri Wong). It says a lot about Patong that there is only one temple in the whole town, but it was an oasis of peace from the traffic outside

'I'm going to the local temple'
'Wat'
'I said I'm going to the local temple'
'Wat!'
'Never mind, I'll tell you later'*

There's always a lot of discussion about finding authenticity when you travel. I think that in many ways Patong is a much closer representation of the life of the majority of Thai citizens (at least urban Thai's) than somewhere like Tonsai. In fact I'm not convinced that Tonsai hasn't been intentionally designed as a 'backpacker resort' for travellers looking for a 'The Beach' experience and to catch the tourists that slip through the nets of Bangkok & Phuket.

*That one's for you Rach :)

Patong

Sometimes it's hard to figure out why I left Krabi to come to Patong

The whole place has a manic intensity to it. Even crossing the road is taking your life into your hands - I overheard someone saying 'it took me a day to figure out which side of the road they drive on' and I'm not surprised.

Back in the day Patong started out around a beautiful beach with fine flour-grained sand facing West - perfect for the sundown

I imagine it was the kind of place hippies would hang out watching the sun set, maybe whilst juggling

but there's no profit in the unwashed hurling balls in the air so the local population soon figured out there was money to be made and lives to lived - and to be fair, why not? So Patong beach quickly became a tourist attraction complete with beach beds, jet skis & parasailing

And what do you do after the sun goes down? Well, Patong developed Bangla Rd. This is the main party street on the island and after the sun goes down the volume turns up.

The main part of Bangla Rd is only about half a mile long but is full of touts & street sellers and is solidly lined with bars on either side. The whole place is pumping with the kind of music that makes you sound like your parents when you discuss it, but if you can cope with the new world of high-volume techno, high testosterone tattooed lads and even more highly pitched young Western female travelers / tourists, you can generally find a seat on one of the bars and watch the world go past with little interference. It's worth doing once or twice - the mix of tourists, working girls & Katoeys is something to be seen. Just try not to obviously wince when you accidentally overhear the next tables conversation. Innit.

Firing off at right angles from Bangla Rd are a number of different Sois (ie streets). These are in turn filled with many many tiny bars, generally with at least one scantilly clad young Thai women dancing on the bar (these shots taken early in the night to protect the non-innocent)

You can't sit at any of these bars and watch the world go past because the presence of a single European male means that you are considered a potential partner for the evening. So you are constantly engaged in polite conversation with pretty young things who want you to take them back to your hotel room.

Things get more lurid at the end of the Sois where there are go-go bars. These are apparently worse than the Soi Bars as the girls are actively parading for business instead of just suggesting it. There are also some go-go bars offering shows such as ping-pong shows, but after pretty much sculling my drink & running out of a Soi bar to avoid a reply that was never going to end well ('no') and never being a fan of table tennis I didn't investigate further.

Not far from Bangla Rd lies a local market with an accompanying outdoor 'foodcourt'. Here you can get awesome Thai food at cheap prices, eaten on steps or on plastic tables with the accompaniment of Chinese music and conversation in many languages

Not sure if it's a sign of my age, but I know where I'd prefer to spend my evenings.....

Voiding your ticket

Although the day at Railay resort was fun, the night was anything but. I woke up at around 2.30 feeling sick and just made it to the bathroom in time. This happened four or five times throughout the night and, coupled with a touch of Thai belly, left me pretty exhausted come morning time.

Unfortunately I'd already booked & paid for boat tickets for that day and a hotel in Patong for that night, so if I stayed where I was I would have lost a chunk of cash. After a very cautious breakfast of a can of coke and some Imodium I decided that the worst had passed and that I would risk the journey. No pictures - I had a long tail boat ride, a 2 hr ferry ride and a 40 minute minibus ride to get through and my mind was in my happy place for most of it. Luckily for both me & my fellow travellers I made it to the hotel without vomiting or voiding, and after checking in & a quick call to Liz I curled up in bed for the afternoon. I only left the room once to get some water, paracetamol and a few more cans of coke. Walking around Patong for the first time at night when you're not feeling 100% and you've only had 3 cans of coke all day is a very bizarre and not very pleasant experience.....

It took me another day to get on top of whatever was affecting me, and it struck me how sick I'd been when I realised that in two days I hadn't eaten any street food or taken a single picture.....in fact 3 days later I still haven't fancied eating rice! 

Resort luxury

After 6 days of feeding the local insect life in Tonsai we decided it was time for a change, so we relocated to Railay. This is a small town on the other side of the same peninsula which has such luxuries as an ATM, concrete paving and a couple of air conditioned shops. I was only staying for one night so wasn't really worried about where I lay my head but the others wanted a touch of luxury for a few days to regroup before heading further North to the jungle, so after some wandering around we decided on the 'Diamond Private Resort'

This was located at the top of a huge flight of stairs, but it was worth it as there was an awesome over the bay from the end of the patio that the pool was set into

All this, air conditioning, insect-free rooms and all for 1000 Baht (approx $30) per room per night!

After settling in we were all keen to hit the pool, even Freya who at 3 years old is more confident in the water than I am now

Fortunately the pool had a child-net so we could relax at the other end in the way that adults do best

Andy is better at holding his breath so took a better underwater picture, although he's not so good at holding his drink......

The nicest thing about the resort was that it wasn't only for the tourists - there was a wedding shoot taking place in the gardens, and as the afternoon progressed some of the local kids joined us in the pool as well. No-one seemed to care, and everyone just got on with enjoying themselves......

Sawasdee!

Greetings from Thailand! Having fun over here but it's been very much a holiday of two halves.

Initially we stayed on the Krabi Peninsular on Tonsai beach, a beach lined by cliffs and only accessible via long-tail boat or a mountain trail through mosquito-infested jungle. Even getting there was an adventure - we had to transfer from the ferry onto a long-tail and then jump out of the long-tail into knee deep water

Our accommodation was a 15 minute walk up a dirt path - although having said that, every path on the beach was a dirt track. This is the main street in Tonsai

and this is the cabin - the skeeter defeeter paid for itself on the first night (I did have a mosquito net in the cabin but one of the families I was with had less nets than they had family members so we moved it). The fan was invaluable during the night but not much use during the day as we didn't have electricity between 9am & 5pm (and it was around 34 degrees with high humidity). 

So why were we there? The guys I was with were old climbing mates from the UK and they wanted to sample some of the local rock. Alas my knee prevented me from joining in (which is fortunate because otherwise my total lack of fitness would done the same thing in a far more humiliating way). Still, it didn't stop me enjoying the scenery.

 

 
So what do you do on a remote peninsular when you can't actually do what you went over there for? Mainly relax, swim, drink beer and hang out at some of the many sea-shack bars on the beach, who seemed to be tailoring their activities specifically for me

Some of the bars were well positioned to watch the climbing, although I was disappointed that my mates didn't give this wall a go whilst I shouted encouragement around a big Chang

They redeemed themselves during a deep water soloing trip. It looked hard enough climbing up there, for me jumping off would literally have been one step too far

I didn't get to climb but we did see some amazing beaches

This one had caves where people had built cairns. I built two, one for me and for Liz so she could be with me at least in spirit

Stay tuned for more.....