Thailand - Day 11

Day 11
Though I was really excited for the day to start, it was still pretty hard waking up early... again! For the entirety of the trip, I've averaged about 4-5 hours of sleep per night. I know myself. I need my eight hours. On this particular morning, Mae and I did our usual routine where I would get up first to get ready, and when I was done using the bathroom, she'd get up. This worked out perfectly because I needed the extra time usually.

Our tour guide picked us up at 6:15 and were now on our way to Thaplamu Pier, north of Phuket Island. The ride there was a little uncomfortable due to a bolt or something poking out from the back of my seat. About 1.5 hours later, we arrived at the pier. Here, we were to choose our own mask and fins. We all boarded a speedboat and set out to the islands. The Similan Islands is a national park consisting of nine islands. There are a number of these islands that people are not allowed to step on. Our tour guide even warned us not to get on the rocks. After the tragic tsunami in 2004, Islands 1, 2, and 3 are indefinitely closed to tourists.

As we were on our way to Koh 9, I observed the others on our boat. Most were middle-age Australians or Europeans. There were two other Asians. One of these men kept the strangest facial expression for the entire ride! He let his extreme underbite hang low and furrowed his eyebrows. This gave us many laughs! I tried taking a picture of him, but I didn't want to make it too obvious, so this was the best shot I got...

We visited four islands on this day. On two of the islands, we were dropped off in the water, where we were free to swim as we wish. Just don't get on the rocks, and don't go off too far for the tides will pull you out. One woman didn't heed this advice and was pulled out by the current and thrown against the rocks. She was rescued by our guide and received many cuts and bruises on her whole body. Poor lady.

As for the rest of us, we really enjoyed our snorkeling experiences. Some moments may not have been as enjoyable as some others. For example, being stung by tiny jellyfish numerous times. All of us got stung! At first, I thought something had just pricked me. Didn't think anything of it. But I kept feeling these little stings all over my body. I had not concluded that this pain is inflicted by jellyfishes until hearing the same complaints from my friends. At the third island, while in the water, I saw tiny glowing particles rushing towards me, and the very next second, I felt stings all over my body again! Even though it hurt, it was still pretty cool. At least the jellyfish that stung us were small. Victor and I saw a huge one, around 1.5-2 feet in diameter a few yards away. We swam above beautiful coral with swirly patterns, shockingly bright fish, a couple schools of fish, slithery fish, uh, what else... It was simply lovely being able to explore an underwater world in crystal clear water. Unfortunately, none of us had an underwater camera. Doh!

Our last island was Koh Miang (#4). We hiked through a short stretch of jungle barefoot (I felt like I was in "Apocalypto") to get to Honeymoon Beach. This had similar characteristics to Similan Island, sand so fine and white you can mistake it for granulated sugar and warm, tropical water with excellent visibility. Here, Victor once again held my hand as we snorkeled because I wasn't comfortable in the water and wearing the oversized life jacket wasn't too appealing. (Thanks again, Victor!) I had put on the life jacket at the first stop, and one of the guides saw that my jacket was too big, so he fastened a buckle that went in between my legs. It was like a harness from rock climbing or skydiving. I had a huge wedgie the whole time! So uncomfortable!

Here I am finding a great use for the super fine sand - exfoliating my legs!!

The time spent at Honeymoon Beach felt so short! We had lost track of time and were a little late getting back onto the boat. Tiredness fell upon everyone on our way back to the pier. Everybody napped, including myself. None of us brought back any tokens from these islands except for photos and a sunburn. I got burned pretty badly. I believe the only person who didn't get burned is Giselle. Many of our backs were red. My butt was the color of lobster. Seriously. Even to this day, it may look like I'm wearing underwear, but I'm actually not! Hahahah!! Sorry for the visual. =|

As we were driving back to Patong Beach, we saw such a beautiful sunset. Victor and I rushed to the top floor hoping to catch the last hues of color spanned across the sky before it became too dark.

This was our last night in Phuket. It was truly a sad thought. We tried to book a later flight the following day so that we could take another tour that included ziplining, but the times didn't work out. Before the trip, many of us looked for ziplining opportunities in any of the areas we would visit. Found nothing. We knew why then. They call it cable riding! Aha!

The rest of our evening was so fun. That night, we ate at a pub a few steps from the Mercure. Everybody missed western food so burgers and fries were on the table. Eric and I stuck to Thai curries. Everything was very good! After we stuffed ourselves with calories, we headed to Rock City, a bar with a stage and a really really loud band. They were good, but I found the first band at the Riverside Bar in Chiang Mai to be better. We couldn't take the noise anymore, so switched to outdoor seating. This place was sort of cool because they would have girls walking around offering shots out of syringes and one was dressed as a cowgirl with a holster for her bottles of tequila and shot glasses fastened to her chest straps. Fun idea!

We finished our drinks and headed over to Bangla Road for the last time. Once again, we were mesmerized by the visual trickery on sale before us. The groups of prostitutes could not compare to the lady boys. Funny thing is, we frequently saw westerners with these lady boys. Do they not know that they are men? Or do they just have a strange fetish? I was so curious to find out.

Our destination was the Tiger Discotheque, a club located above a bar. Walking through this bar was already quite an experience. So many prostitutes, lady boys, and whores were trying to coerce the guys to be with them that we had to pretend to be the boys' girlfriends. The entrance to this club was pretty cool. We entered through a tiger's mouth and climbed up a flight of stairs to find a cabana bar and the actual club in another large room. We paid the cover charge, I think $250 baht, received our free drink stubs, and walked into a large room with a long balcony overlooking the dance floor, a lot of tables with dance poles, and more bars. Many good laughs were had with Victor's pole dancing and the boys' attempt to find "original" women to dance with. Didn't look like they hit the jackpot every time though. Hahahahahah!!!!

After some dancing, we felt some tension from some pimps who wanted our stage and pole for their whores, so we left. We strolled down Bangla Road towards the beach for one final visit in Thailand with Tommy and Eric nearly stumbling along. Aaahh... the beach was still so lovely at night. There were just a few people here, a huge contrast from the masses of people who visited during the afternoon hours from a couple of days ago. The sand was now cooler and the water still warm. I walked along the water's edge, allowing as much of myself to get wet as possible. I just felt this draw from the water here. It was so inviting. What an unfamiliar feeling from something I usually fear. We tried taking pictures on the beach, some of them proving that the guys were drunk. I would mark these fleeting moments at Patong Beach to be one of my most memorable. There wasn't a worry in the world. It was just the six of us swimming in pure joy and peace.

After many laughs and wonderful times at the beach, we headed across the street to get back to our hotel. We came upon a crepe stand and decided to get a few. The banana chocolate one was really good! While the crepes were being made, I had to run to the ocean to relieve myself. Victor came with me. Haha. This was a continuation of my "who cares?" attitude. Pee in the ocean? Who cares!! Hahahahaah!!!! All of us continued down the street along the beach, picking at our crepes, and completely in love with the moment. We finally made it back to the hotel. It was pretty late in the night, er, morning... Mae and I finished packing before going to bed. This was such a wonderful conclusion to our stay in Phuket. None of us cared too much for Bangkok. It's too bad we couldn't stay just a couple more days!!