The last update came to you from a sweaty, basement internet café in Paharganj, Delhi, hours before we caught a Jet Airways flight to Thailand. For Megan, saying goodbye to India couldn’t have come any sooner (I didn’t shed any tears saying goodbye either) . . . a couple weeks in the islands would be the perfect way to recover from the challenging China through India leg of the trip before leaving for our final destination of the journey, home.
The trip on Jet Airways, India’s national airway, was fantastic. The coach flight compared with my only first class experience in the states, complete with a fresh seafood meal and nice wine selection. I must admit that I was a little confused to be so damn comfortable on the flight . . . very inconsistent with our other Indian travel experiences.
We touched down in Bangkok and taxied to our favorite budget guesthouse near Khao San Road, can’t remember the name of the place anymore . . . either the Merry V. GH or My GH, not that important. Either way, arriving in Bangkok almost felt like a homecoming for the two of us. We’d spent a fair bit of time in the city over the course of this and previous trips . . . probably approaching a couple weeks total. It kind of became our “home away from home” as we both became very comfortable with the city. Before heading to the islands, the major items on our to-do list included 1) distributing an updated resume to my professional contacts and 2) stocking up on beach gear . . . flip-flops, sunscreen, towels, etc. I laugh about it now; thinking about soliciting employment from an internet café in Thailand . . . I can only imagine that the recipients of my e-mails must have interpreted them as follows: Hey dudes, I’m heading to the beach for a couple more weeks, get back around Thanksgiving, let me know when I start the new job.
After a productive day in Bangkok, we hopped on a bus for the Andaman Coast . . . another 12 hour bus trip to the islands, piece of cake. We arrived in Khao Lak, a small beach town on the peninsula, didn’t see anything too impressive, then jumped another local bus for a quick trip down to one of our trusty Southern Thailand destinations, Karon Beach on Phuket. We checked into the Little Mermaid, grabbed a nice dinner, and looked forward to the final days of relaxation that lay ahead. Unfortunately, we awoke the next morning to find that we were missing the key ingredient to a good day at the beach . . . the sun. Instead of the bright blue skies we hoped to find, we found a sky that resembled those over the Washington coast in the winter . . . endless grey clouds, generous with rainfall . . . the kind of sky that left no hope of sunshine. In spite of our prayers, sun dances, and sacrifice of live animals, the sun would not shine. After eight and a half months on the road, you learn one thing . . . if you don’t like where you’re at, move, which is what we did. After a day and half of rain, we cut our losses and caught a night bus back to Bangkok, arrived the next morning, then promptly caught a tourist bus/boat combo to Ko Samet.
Why Ko Samet? The island is located in the northeast corner of the gulf of Thailand, a quick trip (4 hours) from Bangkok. This part of the Gulf is typically blessed with sunnier skies in the fall than Thailand’s more popular destinations in the deep south, which are dealing with monsoon weather this time of year. The gamble and long trip back north paid off . . . dealing us a royal flush in terms of weather. Besides weather, the other unknown was Ko Samet itself. We’d never been there and most travelers and guide books turn their nose up at the island, which is known as more of a weekend vacation trip for the Bangkok locals. The ferry dropped us off on one of the eastern beaches in the center of the island. We started trekking north along the east coast, checking out beaches as we went, until we stumbled upon Ao Hin Khok, about a mile up the coast. The little stretch of sand had three rustic beach bungalow resorts. We wound up checking into Tok’s Little Hut, ten bucks a night for a room with a view of the water . . . can’t pass that up. The bungalow was basic but clean, and neither of us was complaining as the sun was shining.
All told, we stayed 15 days with Mr. Song, his family, and friendly staff at Tok’s. For those couple of weeks, the schedule was perfectly simple:
8:00 – 8:30 – Wake up.
8:30 – 9:30 – Put on the trunks, grab a light breakfast.
Around 9:30 – Pay for a couple of hammock chairs and hit the beach.
Around 11:00 – Have one of the cabana boys bring us a fruit shake (always lemon for me, watermelon for Megan)
Around 1:00 – Have lunch (I normally had “BBQ Chicken Lady” grill up a hunk of protein for me, Megan beat up a stir fry, normally cashew/vegetable, from Tok’s)
Around 3:00 – Buy some fruit from the “Fruit Man” – one of my favorite characters of the entire trip, constantly singing “Want a pineapple, a coconut . . . coconut, want a mango, a watermelon?” and so on.
Around 6:00 – Head up for a shower.
7:00 – 10:00 – Catch dinner and quite often a move at The Gecko Restaurant.
Our time on Ko Samet was a perfect finish to the incredible trip. Megan had a handful of late afternoon massages on the beach, we both poured through the beach reads . . . life was good.
On the last day, we said goodbye to the gang, especially Donnie (our bartender for the stay) and Mr. Song (our welcoming host). From there, we boated and bused back to Bangkok for our last couple nights in the city. Our final days of the trip were nice . . . gift shopping for family, a couple more massages, one more cocktail stop at the Gecko Bar on Rhambuttri, an entertaining dinner at the brewery Somsak introduced me to 4 years before, a lunch from our favorite street food vendor . . . our best of Bangkok. From there, it was one more taxi ride to BKK and 20 hour trip back to Seattle.
As I write this a couple years after the fact, I get a bit melancholy . . . the people and places of Asia provided the two of us with some of our favorite memories in life. I also think about how fortunate I was to spend nine months with my wife . . . the perfect travel companion (and better life companion). We spent about 98% of the trip within an arm’s reach of one another . . . and I can sincerely say that I never got tired of it (I won’t speak for her). I don’t deny that we had some stressful moments in the trip (almost all self-induce by yours truly) . . .but in hindsight, we never turned those stresses against one another. We were and are the perfect team. I’m a lucky guy.
Where are they now?
Both Megan and I started new jobs the first week in 2008, less than two months after our return. We were very fortunate to get home and employed before the economy began to tighten later in the year. The new jobs and move back to Seattle were really just the transition into our next journey in life, which begins this February. We are expecting our first child . . . a one-way ticket for a trip we’ll never return from (nor want to . . . hopefully). In addition to the upcoming birth, we expect to get the keys to our first home this Wednesday, a little 3-bed on the east side of Greenlake . . . our favorite neighborhood in the city. Life is moving fast, but we’ve got big smiles and excitedly await Baby Melchiors’ arrival.
Regarding the trip, people typically ask about favorites, least favorites, cost, logistics, etc. Our favorite destinations still are Vietnam and Nepal . . . Vietnam was the jewel of Southeast Asia for the two of us, while our Himalayan experience in Nepal provided the most stunning, surreal days of the trip. Also, there’s no secret that we both love the beaches and islands of Thailand . . . no better place to waste time. I can only speak for myself on this one, but I don’t have single place that I wish we would have skipped. The old saying “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger” couldn’t be truer when it comes to traveling. I’d also toss in the saying “what doesn’t kill you, makes you laugh your ass off down the road” . . . when I think about some of the sticky situations and miserable bus trips we did, I can only laugh . . . oddly enough, they’ve become some of my favorite memories. Based on that first cab ride in Hanoi, I will always know that I’m in deep shit if my wife starts yelling “Bad man!!!” at me. And based on our experiences in India, I know that I will never get my wife back to India (nothing like a lung full of burning corpse smoke to start your morning).
At this point in life, I can honestly say that those nine months in 2007 were the best of my life . . . and on another positive note, I can say that even better days lay ahead.
An interesting fact, there were less than 500 hits on the first page of this blog at the conclusion of our trip . . . I took a look at the site a couple weeks ago and was surprised to see that the number has added up to just below 12,000. I apologize to those who were looking for useful travel advice, who came to the divine knowledge that I like lemon shakes. If I stop and think about the key takeaways from the trip, I come up with the following.
1) I love my wife . . . more than anything.
2) I am lucky . . . in many ways, to have seen the places that I have seen, and met the people that I have met, and have the life that I was given.
3) There are countless paths one can take in life . . . take the one that makes you happy, it’s probably the right one.
