Seasons on the Move

Bangkok – October 3

We returned to Khao Sahn after dropping off our laundry. It had been two weeks since we had worn fresh clothes and we were tired of smelling like over-ripe fruit. Down on Khao Sahn, we tracked down one bookseller willing to trade for the India guidebook, but he wouldn’t give us the exchange we wanted. Just as we were about to cave in, two French women, in their mid-fifties, came looking for one of the books we were trying to trade. Fab gabbed with them in French for a while and they ended up buying the book directly from us. As a result, we got the India guide for less than half of what the bookseller was requesting.

At night, after a long day of re-stocking toiletries and other sundries, we sat down to have a beer. Somewhat seredipitously, we sat down directly in front of Ning and Simon, two of the people who run Mom’s Cafe on Railay Beach. Ning lept out of her chair and came running up to us. She gave us a big hug and asked how we had been. I was surprised that she remembered us so clearly, not only because we were mere transients that frequented the restaurant, but because she was so obviously trashed. She and Simon were in Bangkok on a week long vacation. Fab and I told them about our travels over the past couple of months and Simon, an English expat, told us about his travels in India.

I was telling Ning about Cambodia, when a Frenchman, Jean,  at a table opposite us approached us. He and his girlfriend were heading to Cambodia the next day and wanted to know if we had any recommendations. We told them all we could and then they asked where we were headed. “India,” we replied. “We have just come from India yesterday,” said Jean in his heavy French accent. We spent the next couple of hours trading travel secrets. They too were traveling around the world, but going in the opposite direction.  

Ning and Simon left soon thereafter and told the French couple to come and visit them in Railay. We said our goodbyes and told them that if we ever came back to Thailand, we would surely pay them a visit.

Upon departing Vietnam, Fab and I had been stuck with a bunch of dong that could not be exchanged outside the country. We asked Jean if he had any rupees on him that he wanted to trade. He didn’t, but his girlfriend, Vanessa, did. Coincidently, they amount of rupees she had matched the amount of left-over dong we had. We swapped cash, parted ways and vowed to meet up in South America.

Back in the hotel room, Fab and I shook our heads in disbelief and laughed. Only a couple of weeks earlier, we were saying how the French were the biggest snobs we had encountered on the trip thus far. Today, the French saved our asses.  

Hanoi to Bangkok – October 2

I think I had forgotten just how Westernized Thailand is because the sight of 7-11s and fast food joints was a little jarring at first. What I didn’t forget was how much I hated all the drunk frat boys screaming and whooping it up in the street.

Fab and I lugged around our backpacks for about an hour trying to find a place to stay. We had originally made reservations at a hotel, but upon check-in the receptionist demanded a hundred dollar key deposit so we left.

We eventually found a place, had a bite to eat and then ventured down to Khao Sahn Road to try and trade off our books. We were looking to trade for an India guidebook. We had no success so we decided to go back to the room, relax and try again the following day.   

Ao Nang & Railay Beach – August 7

Mike, Matt and I went back to Railay to spend the day at the beach. Matt had visited Railay a few years back and wanted to go and relive some smokey, old memories. We spent the day lazing on the beach and swimming in the water. Mike and I began, for the first time, to seriously talk about the screenplay we had been vaguely talking about writing for the past year. Some good ideas were hatched.

When the sun started to set, we grabbed a long tail boat back to Ao Nang to have dinner with Fab, Jen and Mike’s parents. We ate at a restaurant on the beach and listened a hideously awful Thai duo on synthesizer and guitar belt out soft rock classics. When we finished dinner, we booked a van to take us to the Malaysian border the following morning.

Ao Nang – August 6

Fab and I switched hostels in the morning because our bathroom smelled of a rancid mixture of mildew and toilet water. We checked into “Sea World” next door in a room opposite Mike and Jen. In the afternoon, we swam in the pool at Mike’s parent’s hotel and ate complimentary cake and coffee offerred in the hotel’s atrium. Mike beat me in a nail-biting match of ping-pong and then we all went and ate Mexican food at a pub called the “Irish Rover”.

Ao Nang – August 5

Seamus departed back home, so Fab and I were forced to check back into the hostel. I didn’t do much except sit and sweat and smoke cigarettes with Matt in the room. We sat, watched  and mocked Fox News, apparently the only American news source in South East Asia (frightening).

Ao Nang and the Andaman Sea – August 4

Got picked up early to go on a snorkelling trip with the families and friends of the newly weds. Let me tell you, the sea was angry that day, my friends. We all got soaked and tossed around on the long tail boat, “Arrrgh, there she blows!” The snorkelling was quite a bit of fun. Having never experienced swimming with tropical fish, I was impressed. I look forward to doing it again, although I wrenched my neck by foolishly using a life jacket to conserve engery, or maximize my laziness, depending on how you look at it.

The highlight for me was watching Matt toss chunks of bread onto Mike as he swam in the water. We all had a good laugh as the fish nibbled at the bread caught in the tufts of Mike’s back hair while Mike bristled like a horse trying to shake loose of some fleas.  

The ride back in the boat was chaos as the waves crashed overboard leaving everyone drenched and shivering.

Ao Nang – August 3

My birthday. Happy birthday to me, my 29th. Too bad I had to spend the day nurturing a hangover. Shea, Fab and I switched back to the other hotel and spent the day in the air conditioned room, hiding from the heat and ordering room service.

Ao Nang – August 2

Wedding day. Everyone checked into The Cliffs, a posh, eco-friendly hotel, early to squeeze as much out of the place as possible. Mike and Jen’s poolside wedding began around 6pm. The judge was an Australian ex-pat who’s lip quivered as Mike and Jen read their vows to each other. Fab and I were the resident photographers. Mike wore a tailored suit from Bangkok and Jen wore a lovely, creme coloured dress. I was the best man and Matt Prytuluk was the “Iron Maiden of Honour”. A beautiful affair.

The dinner consisted of various Thai curries, seafood dishes and other delicacies. My favorite? The bananas in coconut milk served for dessert. After dinner, Matt and I gave brilliant speeches that showed off our oratory skills and pitch perfect prose. After we brought down the house, traditional Thai dancers provided the guests with some entertainment while they digested their dinners. Mike and Jen had decided on the dancers after their initial request of having a king cobra show was nixed by the wedding planner.   

The rest of the night was a pleasant mix of storytelling, conversation and laughter. As the night grew longer, political debate reared its ugly head. Mike’s dad, Barry, at one point well after midnight, took off his glasses and said, “Now its getting serious”, before labelling Seamus, Fab and I “communists”. All in good fun, of course.  

The night ended with Barry and Shea walking arm in arm back to the Barry’s hotel room in search of more booze.

Ao Nang – August 1

We headed back to Ao Nang to prepare for Mike and Jen’s wedding on August 2nd. We checked back into our swanky digs and then went for a swim. Later at night, we met up with Jen’s family, her good friend Matt and Mike’s folks for a pre-wedding dinner at a seafood restaurant on the beach.

After dinner, we wandered around town with Mike and Jen after the rest of the party had went off to bed. Mike and I split the cost of a handcrafted Jenga game and then went back to our hotel for a match. Seamus, having never heard of the game, got his mind blown by the intricacies of Jenga.

Around 1am, we called it a night and prepared to move to yet another hotel in the morning where the wedding was set to take place.

Railay Beach – July 30 & 31

Wanting to show Shea a stellar beach, we headed back to Railay in the morning carrying only a backpack full of beer, our swimsuits and a little cash. After discovering that the swank hotel Shea had wanted to stay at was a total rip-off, we decided to check back into the Diamond Cave.

We spent the next two days laying on the beach, tanning our well-fed bodies (courtesy of Mom’s) and playing Yahtzee. Within a few hours of arriving on Railay, Seamus was already talking about coming back.