…living in and dreaming of…

one of the main attractions of the islands is the ‘tham morakot’, the emerald cave. i was looking for people to share the boat fare with, after the only place with canoes refused to lend me one because of too much wind and big waves. this is how i met frank and laurent from paris. they invited me to take the tour with them to the cave and go snorkling afterwards near koh kradan. we were already skeptical when we started the next morning as the tide had already turned. when we arrived at the cave we couldn’t even make out where the entrace was. and the explanation “big waves” sounded too rehearsed coming from someone supposed to know the waters around the island. we agreed to give it another try later and go snorkling first.

the waters around koh kradan are incredible. our snorkling spot:

but as soon as we were under water, we faced another trouble. frank got in contact with a jellyfish and we decided there were too much of them to continue and so we hopped back on the boat to go to one of the beaches. at least this worked out well.

if some pirate is missing cargo…

we thought we return to the cave in the afternoon but our captain didn’t seem to be interested in that promise anymore. after we made our point to stay here until the tide is low again, he called his wife in england and after some nice way of trying to explain the situation, she was more or less just telling us that if the captain says ‘no’, there’s just nothing we can do about it.

back at the resort, where frank and laurent stayed and who organized the tour, they weren’t very helpful either. no more tours to the cave until they get more money. after the description of the situation at the cave and pointing out that it wasn’t just bad luck but bad timing, they at least agreed to take us there the next morning for half the price.

we started quite early at 7 o’clock. from another pier with another captain. which seemed like a good omen until we reached the other side of the island with the cave. big waves were shaking the boat and when we arrived, i just waited for the final whistle: ‘big waves’. but wow, captain said it’s fine. now it was our turn to doubt the mission. laurent was the first to throw the towl. frank and me boldly put on our life jacket and followed our captain who was swimming with one arm, holding the flashlight with the other above the water.

after we left the boat and were coming closer to the entrance i got more confident as the proportions had changed, feeling all that small once inside the water. the waves were big but we were taken up and down rather then towards the rocks. i just rounded the first cliff at the entrance when frank decided to return to the boat. i wish i could have told him that soon after the entrance the water was getting calmer, but that’s just after you pass the foaming gorge.

once inside, the flashlight turned out to be as helpful as a candle. but after my eyes adjusted and i had seen that no rocks were sticking out from the ceiling, i got more relaxed and without the waves it was a light and constant stream that took us towards the end of the tunnel and the small hidden beach.

the first thing i noticed while getting out of the water was the smell. it smelled intensly like in the hot house of a botanical garden. birds were sinnging and together with that ‘coming out of a tunnel’ feeling, it was amazing. five minutes later we had to swim back before the tide was getting in again.

soon after leaving pakmeng i passed the turnoff to the pier for koh muk. as there are almost no regular ferries going during the rainy season, i thought the only option would be to charter a long tail boat which would be expensive. but as the sign stated the pier was just 2km away, i steered this way. after asking around the situation soon sounded much better. there is still one boat per day and after an hour of waiting we were off to koh muk.

i thought about switching to camping again since accomodation is a budget burner, especially on the islands. but the places advertising camping were all closed for the rainy season and i didn’t want to just put up my tent on their property. as i went to the other side of the island i came by the ‘hilltop restaurant’ and stopped for lunch. after a delicious meal and an invitation from the family to pitch my tent in their garden, this became my home for the following week.

it was a family of seven. song, the mother, could speak a little english, is quite a character and kept the place busy. surrounded by rubbertrees, it was a cool spot during the day and during the night it was allright to switch back to sleeping in the tent without bathing in sweat. 

i enjoyed the daily walk or ride to the beach through the rubbertree forest and then beneath plam trees

twards the shore.

when i arrived on the first day i was the only person and the questions why this beautiful place is so neglected during the rainy season presented itself. if you don’t find and answer just ‘drop the thought’. so did i, ran into the water and soon did not contemplate anymore.

the following day i started out to go up. there was supposed to be a path and a viewpoint. i couln’t find both but i just kept going until up would have been climbing up a tree or starting to fly. the view of ‘farang beach’.

i got some bruised during the climb and was hunted by mosquitos but the view was worth it. as i came back, song didn’t care about my smile and raving stories about the view and was complaining about absent tourists… but there were some newly arrivals these days. after 3 days outside the egg on their first excursion through the garden.

on the last day (extra day not included) we set out to the emerald cave and koh kradan. and on our extra day just hang out at the beach until sunset.

koh muk has been amazing. affordable through camping and the cheap yet delicios food. recommendation for the rainy season, but probably good all around the year!

a lot of cyclist have their rear mirror on their list of things they don’t want to miss. i never felt like buying one at the beginning of my travel. but then philippe, a fellow cyclist from canada, gave one to me in igoumenitsa as his trip was coming to an end. i carried it along for almost a year and just recently got around  to install it.

i think i’ll soon add this to my ‘things i don’t want to miss’ list.

i shared the first kilometers out of town with ben and margo. after a last stop at a bicycle store and exchange of good wishes we continued in opposite directions. best of luck to you!

the first half of the day i was ‘flying’. maintained equipment, delicious food and enough sleep are always good preparation. so i left the first stretch of busy highway soon behind me and started on smaller roads along the coastline.

a reminder of the tsunami in 2004 in this area are these signs which point to an escape route or advice you what to do in case of an earthquake:

it was an easy ride along the coast with occasional stops at the beaches before i arrived in pakmeng.

pakmeng is not the most inviting beach i have seen but the atmosphere is interesting as it is only visited by domestic tourists. i met a motorcycle group and played a concert before getting myself a bungalow. after a shower i went out for dinner, had a quiet evening, was reading a book and after a nightly walk home on the beach, went to bed early. amazing, huh?

a recommendation from caro and tobi, the smile guesthouse in krabi is the perfect guesthouse. clean, friendly and cheap. the simple but ultra comfortable rooms felt like home soon after i moved in and spread some of my stuff around. it reminded me so much on flatsharing rooms i remember from berlin. plain and yet stylish.

the roof terrace is the perfect place to start the day.

if you turn around you can see ben and margo from scottland. cycling since ten months from new zealand back home.

we are taking a similar route just in opposite directions. i got loads of tips from them and hope i could provide them with some tips in return. ben is a bicycle mechanic and he was so kind to check my wheels and gave me green lights until australia. wonderful people, i really enjoyed meeting them…

i stayed a couple of days to do some repairs and some shopping. my bicycle bags showed some wear after a year. i could fix some of the minor damages myself…

but that didn’t work elsewhere. luckily i found a leather shop which also does repairs. a competent lady took a look at the bag, said ’100 baht’ and ‘tomorrow afternoon’ and i had the feeling of leaving the bag in good hands. some new clothes are in my possession now as well… and a new hat.

after the almost mandatory ‘extra day’ and a last evening at the night market we left the next morning.

the ferry arrived before sunset and i thought this would leave me enough time to search for a nice beach with a nice bungalow. i forgot about the somewhat different laws of island roads. whereas most roads make you sweat when you climb a hill, these roads feel more like climbing a ladder and you worry about rolling back down now and then. there are a lot of germans in thailand and so i was sweating up the hill while people on their scooter pitied me: “mit dem fahrrad… ach du scheisse!” (with the bicycle… oh my fucking god) or tried to be  encouraging: “hau rein!” [how rhine]. when i finally arrived at ‘thong nai pan yai’ beach, it was already dark.

i got myself a bungalow with a hammock and a nice green garden in front.

after some days chilling at the beach, playing guitar and a lot of reading, i got word from caro from another beach on the island. instead of going back all the way on that damned road,  i took a slightly easier route to bottle beach…

from where a water taxi is going to chaloklum bay. from there it is only a ten minute ride to haad khom.

how do you greet someone whom you haven’t seen for a year or two. well, probably not different to someone who was away for only a couple of weeks. it was wonderful to skip the ‘usual’ questions and getting to know each other, talk in german again and one could feel a bit of home brought this far by those two.

caro at her most cherished beach activity on the big swing.

my favourite was the volleyball “net”.

though we managed only once to get some players together with rather mixed capabilities it was fun. besides the three of us, two kids and two fisher-/boat taxi men and a dog joined the game. as the dog couldn’t decide on which team he was on and after having to fight him off all the time, the father of one of the kids did what nobody else dared to do, or just didn’t think of. red card, on the leash!

after enjoying the thai curry for a last time, we wanted to leave the next day on the same ferry. but as there were no more tickets for bus or train to bangkok, we ended up staying an extra day. a day well spent… and another curry, please!

after taking the train out of bangkok, one of those where you can still lean out of the window or the luggage wagon,

i arrived in prachuap khiri khan and on the sea again after 5 months. on the next day and some kilometers to get started i ended up at this beach which i had completly to myself.

half of the time the road was following the coastline and only sometimes was the highway the only option. but the bigger streets in thailand mostly have shoulders which you only have to share with scooters.

there are nice villages and towns along the way such as chaiya, one of the oldest cities in thailand. while walking the streets in the evening, loud music came from the direction of the railway station. there was a festival with the usual  food stalls but also some attractions and a big stage were set up.

besides the area in front of the stage, a lot of people were sitting on the tracks and the benches of the nearby station. sitting on railway tracks is cool. reminds me a bit on the tram line sessions in berlin some years ago.

on my way south i was in contact with caroline, the sister of the creator of the worldtourguide, who was travelling through thailand with her boyfriend tobi. it took some emails to synchronize our travels. in the end we chose koh phangan for a meeting. after staying one day in surat thani, where this lovely “bulli” with a built in bar was parked in front of the internet cafe…

i made my way to the ferry port at don sak.

the colour of the water reminded me on the trip to the andamans. though i was glad it took only two and a half hours to reach the island compared to the 3 days to port blair.

bangkok is huge and as i wanted to stay for just a short time, i picked only a handful of attractions to visit. first i went to the dusit district.

the ananta samakhom throne hall which later was the seat of the first parliament in1932 after thailand’s political sytem was transformed from an absolute into a constitutional monarchy. today it hosts a museum.

followed by the vimanmek mansion. the world’s largest golden teakwook building built under the reign of king rama V in 1900. it was used as royal palace until 1906 and restored as an museum in the 80s by the present queen.

visitors are put into groups and lead through the building. i really enjoyed it that day not to read any signs or descriptions beneath pictures but just to listen to the guide.

afterwards i went to wat pho, known as the birthplace of the thai massage. one of the highlights: almost 50 meters of reclining buddha in gold.

opposite the wat is the ferry shuttle across the river to wat arun.

…and up the steep steps to enjoy the view.

i stayed only for two days in bangkok. i enjoyed it quite a lot but such a big city is always hard to grasp in such a short time and i didn’t want to stay for weeks.

again i used the train to avoid heavy traffic this time to get out of the city. from prachuap khiri khan i started again by bike and soon had sand beneath my feet and the first swim in the sea since 5 months.

i started from siem reap and wanted to stop after 100km in sisophon but to find a guesthouse proofed rather difficult. all hotels seemed to be booked out or had only an expensive ac deluxe room. i decided to continue to the border and try my luck there. i didn’t make it before dark but after getting used to riding in the night it is mostly fun. everything seems calmer and your senses shift.

the border was already closed and i found a guesthouse without ac and without the deluxe. the border crossing the next morning was painless as i already got my visa in laos. after 6km i stopped for the day to get used to another country and currency and i still felt the 150km from the day before. i decided to take the train early next morning to avoid the heavy traffic towards bangkok and to arrive before dawn to have enough time to look for an accomodation.

once the seat of the khmer empire 1000 years ago, angkor today is still impressive. it is big by our standards but for the 12th century it was gigantic. best to have your bicycle with you to get around.

the main temple angkor wat…

and the view from the top.

these faces can be seen all over angkor thom.

waterways and streets connect the buildings over an area of 1000 square kilometers.

some of the temples like preah khan were left almost unrestored and preserved their own charm with the vegetation growing out of the ruins.

for me one day was enough to see the area. the next morning i left for the border to thailand.