World Backpack

Ah, the wisdom of the Rasta guys is clearly rubbing off. We just spent the last two weeks on Koh Phayam, a very small island on the border of Thailand and Burma. It was certainly relaxing.

Stephie with a typical Phayam sunset

We spent one Saturday night at a Rasta bar down the beach from our bungalow, and, as I mentioned, thier wisdom rubbed off on us. Phrases like “Enjoy with yourself!” or “Just let’s it be” pretty much sum up the atmosphere on Koh Phayam. It’s relaxed, a little odd, and definitely a good spot for someone looking to get away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of  this country. There are no cars, electricity is only available for a handful or hours a day (wind/solar powered), and it’s only about 4 square kilometres!

    
Good friends at Phayam
   
We stayed at Bamboo Bungalows, the same place that we stayed last time we were there, and it had only changed slightly – and for the better. The island itself has hardly changed, but we heard rumors that a lot of the property has been bought up on the cheap, and will be developed as soon as the economy gets better – so for all we know, that may very well be the last time we see Koh Phayam look the way it does now.

Our room by the beach 

Stef deciding on dinner

Shells from Krabi

Most of our days there were spent doing the following activities: sleeping, eating, sitting on the beach, walking on the beach, swimming, body boarding, sea kayaking, sleeping, eating, reading, and occasionally renting a motorbike to go explore.

Chris and James ready to hit the surf

Insane waves for kayaking

The spiders there were so huge – bigger than my hand, and there webs were seemingly indestructable (trust me, Chris checked hahaha). Also, we stayed in a nicer room than usual, so there weren’t too many creatures, but of course we had the “experience” bathroom – it’s outside.

 
One of the smaller spiders

Chris relaxing on a swing

The first week was fantastic, the second week not so much. I ended up getting really sick; it started with a really bad headache, and as that got worse, a fever came along, as well as the feeling that several alligators (or similarly unpleasant creatures) were unleashed on the majority of my internal organs. This had  me slightly worried, as the nearest hospital was a motorbike ride across the island, a 2 hour boat ride to Ranong, and 20 minute taxi away. In 35 degree heat. We made it to the hospital though, and I was seen by a doctor, had my blood tested, and then seen by a doctor again, all within an hour. It turned out to be an infection in my stomach (not raging alligators as first assumed), and I brought antibiotics with me from Canada so I started them right away and now I feel almost totally better. Oh, and the whole hospital visit cost 90 Baht. Three bucks.

A couple last thoughts…

1. Be grateful for the dryness at home. I know it’s annoying, but extreme moisture is more annoying. The book I just finished is full of mould. Clothes NEVER dry. 2. Enjoy your mosquito bites. Sure, they’re itchy and give unsightly red bumps, but they aren’t going to give you malaria, dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, or any other disease. 3. Hold onto your hats, as in addition to my regular driving style (that of an 80 year old, overly cautious woman), I will be introducing a few standard Thai methods: a) Using the horn liberally (when approaching a vehicle/person, when turning a corner, or approaching a hill); b) Driving on whatever side of the road I feel is appropriate; c) Driving at whatever speed I feel is appropriate.

There isn’t too much else to say at the moment, as I said, aside from my being sick, our last couple weeks have not consisted of much more than hanging out in the water, eating, and reading. But seeing as Chris’ cousin, Brendan, arrives tomorrow I am thinking we’ll have many more adventures to share in the near future. Until then, enjoy our pictures! We hope everyone is fantastic and we miss you and love you so much! xo!

- Stephie

You know you’re not in Canada when at 7am you are eating breakfast and you are dripping in sweat. Seriously dripping.

We’re in Ao Nang, Krabi Province, which is the place that we’ve always held so close to our hearts as our favourite place in Thailand. It has, however, changed so drastically, that I would hardly recognize it, had the beach not been in the same location. On the plus side, our hotel is the same one that we stayed in last time, and it is pretty much the same.

I suppose the increase in tourism here is what changed it, and prompted all the pretty stores to close and be replaced with vendors selling knock offs of Ed Hardy and Puma (which is often called “Tuna” instead… haha). Phra Nang beach, the one that is breathtakingly beautiful, is still as gorgeous as we remembered though, so I guess the rest of the craziness is worth it. Plus we met Kirstie from Ontario who’s really nice and we hung out with for the day which was awesome.

Anyways, we took a cooking class yesterday and it was awesome. It was so hot though – and standing over a wok for 5 hours doesn’t make it any cooler

We learned how to make the following foods: Tom Yum soup with Prawns, Coconut soup with Chicken, Cashew Chicken, Pad Thai, Banana Spring Rolls, Thai Spring rolls, Green Curry Paste, Red Curry Paste, Penang (spelling?) Curry Paste (along with thier coordinating dishes – served with rice), Green Papaya Salad, Minced Chicken Salad, and Sweet Sticky Rice with Mango. Deeeelicious. If you people want us to cook for you when we get home, it’ll cost you, as we are now professionals. ! Also, here are two random things we learned yesterday… 1: Thai food is always balanced with sweetness (sugar or plum syrup), saltiness (fish sauce), sourness (lime, kafir lime leaves), and spicyness (chilies). 2: The reason people in hot countries eat such spicy food is because when it’s hot, you really don’t want to eat – you just drink crazy amounts of water. So if your meal is really spicy, you need to eat other foods that are not spicy (ie: rice and veggies) to cool you down – and then you eat more! And it’s so true – we have hardly ate since we’ve been here! I guess we’ll just have to go to the market and get some chilies….

So anyhoo tomorrow I think we are going to go to Koh Phayam – it’s a little island near Ranong, and we are really looking forward to it being nice and quiet. We might not be able to email or update this for a little bit – so don’t worry if you don’t hear from us.

For the remainder of the day we are going to go to fossil beach – it’s a whole beach made of slabs of fossils. There’s also a pearl farm there and we might pick up some pearls for people – so if you want some, let us know and we’ll be sure to buy them for you We are also going to go to the beach north (? I’m assuming north…) of here later in the afternoon because the tide goes out like 1/2 a km and apparently it’s full of starfish!!!

Well, now that you’ve finished reading my novel, I’ll go – so enjoy the pictures, and keep in touch!!

xoxoxoxox!!!

-Steph

Oh! A quick last thought – we are contemplating perhaps cutting our trip 1 month short and heading over to Europe for the last little bit – any thoughts/suggestions?

We’ve arrived safe and sound and even in business class! Steph did her trademark passing out several times on the way to Korea so I got us upgraded to business class for the flight to Bangkok, which was muchos better :)

We stayed at Siam Piman hotel, and we’re leaving on a flight to Krabi in 4 hours- then we can finally sit back and relax..

Pics below!

Mountains on the way to Vancouver

Wandering in Vancouver

Scrumptious breakfast

Stefie at Bfast

Hotel room in BKK

View from hotel

After a crazy day of packing, food poisoning (Chris), sobbing (me), and throwing up (both), we’re ready to go! We’re down to a backpack each, and one small carry on bag!

We’ll update everyone once we’re settled in, probably some time on Wednesday. Until then, hugs and kisses – we’ll miss everyone so much! xoxoxoxoxo!!!!

- Stephie