I finally found my beach paradise! It was certainly an adventure to get there...
When I got back to Bangkok I decided to book a bus ticket right away. I planned to go to two different places in the south, but I couldn't decide where to go first. Because one involved a plan of rigorous inactivity, I decided to go there =) I got on the night bus, relatively comfortable considering that the seats reclined and were not too cramped, but still not very conducive to sleeping. Around 2:30am the driver announced my stop- surely we'd arrived too early though? I knew that the boat didn't leave until 5:30, which could only mean one thing... waiting. As I hadn't been informed of this by the agent in Bangkok, I was naturally concerned with these new details. Luckily, several others had gotten out with me, and one informed me that indeed, this had been the plan all along. We walked into... an office? It was a large tiled room with a desk and some posters, but clearly it was either not used regularly or no one cared to clean it properly. I watched some cockroaches scuttle around on the floor next to a straw mat... on which I was expected to sleep for the next few hours before getting picked up to go to the pier. I laughed- it's all I could do. After India, I think I was forced out of necessity into developing a better sense of humor. I balled up my fleece sweatshirt as a pillow and covered myself with my puny towel, sending mental notes to my buggy bedmates "Just try it, see what happens!"
Two and a half hours later I arose groggily and boarded the sawng-thaew (covered truck with benches) which would ferry us to the ferry! We had to hop across several boats to board the one which would bring us to the island (I'm surprised I didn't mis-step in my zombie-like state). I handed over my backpack to be put into a pile, and I promptly laid across several benches, bumpy where the lips of the seats curved up. I fell into a deep sleep on my ridged mattress, unaware of the gentle rocking of the boat.
I woke up and realized we were pulling into port. I went above deck to get a good view. I hadn't had the chance to witness our approach, so the sight of the island didn't really impress me. I could see the dark palms covering the hill inland, but the shore was scarred with development, dirty harbor with dingy boats and restaurants and hotels that didn't even pretend to blend into the natural scenery. Was this really the 'jewel' someone had reccommended I seek out? My exhaustion and the impending rain surely contributed to my general lack of enthusiasm, but I still felt glad to be off the boat, off the bus, done with transportation for awhile. The rain (as it does in the south, I found out) had gotten sick of our petulant refusal to seek shelter after a long presage of dark skies and suddenly starting pelting our bodies with sharp slaps. I sought shelter with several others from my boat in a restaurant, which led to a conversation, which led to me setting out with a German girl to find a cheap room to share. We found a decent place, and free of the rain's assault and our heavy bags (we had carried them over 1K) we happily ambled down to the beach. To our dismay, there barely was one. You could only wade in the water up to your knees before encountering large stones, a dead coral field. After walking to other parts of the island and realizing that it was mostly good for diving (which I didn't have enough money for), it didn't take me long to make plans to island-hop to Koh Pha-ngan the next day.
The sea was not so calm as it had been the previous morning. A storm was moving through (perhaps angry it had not soaked me thoroughly enough the day before) and before long our boat was being heaved and tossed around, stirring us in a stew. I again occupied 4 seats in a lounging position, trying to sleep so I wouldn't be sick (crew had already passed around barf bags), at one point sliding down towards the opposite window, the horizon tilted dramatically beneath me. I managed though, and woke up once again having missed the entire ride (although it was in my best interest this time). I succumbed to a tout offering a "resort" with a private beach, plus free transportation for only 300 baht per night (about $8.50). The grounds and room were nice enough, a pool as a substitute for rocks that constituted the "beach" and plenty of hammocks to relax in, but the service was awful, including being nickled-and-dimed at the restaurant (my only alimentary option in a mile) AND getting sick from its food! I was ready to leave the next day to investigate another part of the island with better beaches, sure that two days was enough time for Full Moon Party revelers to have cleared out from Hat Rin. Unfortunately, I was not well-informed on the budget accomodations, and neither was my motorbike-taxi driver, so I wasn't able to find any vacanies within my means. Instead, I went to a travel office and booked a boat/bus combo that would leave the island within the hour.
I should have been a bit more wary about this kind of transport by now, but I was so anxious to leave I took the first thing available from the first office I went to. MIS-TAKE! The "boat" was a massive car ferry, which hundreds of people poured on to and jockeyed for seats (lucky I got one). At least we couldn't feel the waves' movement. We got off at the pier and I looked for the bus with the name on my card and was directed to... a joke. Compared to the two-tiered "VIP" buses with plush seats, this looked like an oversized aluminum can and easily as able to be crunched. The seats were technically separate, but you were definitely very snug up against the person sitting next to you. Luckily mine was a friendly Norwegian, and we chatted about how we might be in for more surprises, as we learned this bus was only taking us 1 hour to Suratthani (the place I thought the boat was supposed to have landed at). When we got out there, we waited for a truck to take us to the bus! Squeezed into the truck almost as an after-thought (I was sitting on the floor between scrambled limbs- at least I wasn't hanging off the back like some others, although I would have been able to breathe better), I wasn't looking foward to what could possibly be coming next. Unfortunately, my intuition was correct- another packed bus with uncomfortable seats (and no seats at all, for a few people!) This misfortune would be more prolonged however, as our destination was still 3 hours away.
When we finally pulled in around 10pm, I had to laugh again. We were several kilometers outside the town at a rest stop (no chances of the bus going further), so we would have to take the only transportation that just-so-happened to be available on site. We also had the option of getting free transport if we selected one of the hotels that they were advertising. As one girl not so inaccurately stated, "This is a MAFIA!" I just smiled calmly and agreed to share a room with a Scottish girl at one of the "recommended" hotes; there are many things worse that could have happened.
The next morning, I boarded a long-tail boat to set off for Ton Sai beach. It soon became apparent why the boat was necessary- large limestone formations loomed ahead, sealing the coast-line away from any over-land transport. This was one boat ride I wasn't going to miss! The jungle-cloaked cliffs towered protectively over topaz waters, which sparkled just like the gem of the same name. Caves yawned open at the water-line, waves scouring the rocky tonsils: salt-water gargle. Just for fun, the boatman maneuvered us through a bridge-like structure. As we came around the last stone guardian, I saw the beach. It was perfect! Dwellings were hidden back in the palms, water inhaling whole stretches of sand for several long seconds at a time; colorful boats bobbed up and down in the swell. Limestone cliffs closed in on three sides, isolating this quiet cove.
That night, I went to one side of the beach in order to get an unobscured view of the sunset (massive rocks are quite the obstruction!) Only a few woolly clouds lingered on the horizon, wrapping themselves around a distant island like a shawl. The sky began to darken from cerulean to cobalt, and the skyline combusted, brilliant reds and oranges burning flameless. Slowly, and yet swiftly, the sun tucked itself away. I believe I sat there, mouth agape, for a few minutes afterwards before I rose from my place on the moist sand and leisurely floated over exposed seabed back to my side of the beach- jagged rocks and sluggish sea cucumbers, ageless coral and scampering crabs- their universe revealed by the wonder that is the tides, which still leaves me in awe, after all these years of traveling to the ocean. It seems limiting to say that I found this to be one of the most beautiful and peaceful places I've ever been to- definitely augmented by the fact that it was such a trial to get there.
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