Me and my little Jennifer Grey lookalike in the back of a pick-up truck, on our way to a dive.
I arrived last Friday for my eight-day trip (which explains my absence here, sorry ‘bout it), nearly weeping with joy when I touched down in my beloved Bangkok. A certain amount of weary fatigue had hit me in Kathmandu, and so I decided to make a brief sojourn to Thailand. The flight was cheap, no visa was required and everything is developed and easy. My expectations weren’t high, I just needed some time in a bikini with a bottle of Sang Som in my hand.
My life is probably the best life. I made plans to meet up with my friend Jess (you may remember her from Sri Lanka) and we chose to go to Koh Tao based on its proximity to Bangkok, its beauty and its easy going reputation. We decided we would get SSI/PADI certified and learn to dive, something both of us have wanted to do for a long time.
Koh Tao means “Turtle island” and it wasn’t settled until
the 1950s. The varied dive sites nearby, beautiful coral reefs and the lack of
existing industry proved the perfect conditions for the island to become a
diving mecca. You cannot walk 10 metres down the pleasant, pedestrian footpaths
of Sairee Beach without encountering another dive shop – only Cairns, Australia
issues more certifications each year.
Sunset Singhas.
I shouldn’t like Koh Tao. It’s near Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, two “party bro”
islands famous for full moon parties and foam bars, and it does attract some of
the same clientele. But, Koh Tao has one major difference, a difference that
prevents it from being completely overrun with package tourists and
drink-til-you-puke bucket specials: diving, diving, diving. People are there to
study and try to get the most out of their dives rather than to engage in a
hedonistic orgy of booze. Well, that is, until the last day of diving
lessons….. ahem.
The nightlife is a solid mix of pubs showing films, beach
bars with the pre-requisite firespinners, and casual clubs where djs play drum
& bass and house music - but it lacks the exploitative debauchery other
Southeast Asian backpacker haunts (my friend Jay would scoff at this sort of
behaviour as “amateur bullshit”). The crowd is definitely older than on Phi Phi
or Samui, but not too old, at least
in spirit. My diving group and I had one
really big night out, and let’s just say that I felt younger (and prettier) than I have in a
while. (We can now disregard some of this angst. Huzzah!)
I’ve been to Thailand seven times, and I really thought that
I had seen it all, done it all, and that its party-prone beaches weren’t really
for me. That’s all changed – I’m in love with Koh Tao. The sun was hot, the
boys were pretty, the food was spicy and the drinks were cold – what else could
a fatigued Kathmandu expat ask for? It was like a Thai version of “How Violet
Dear Got Her Groove Back.”
Me in my Summer Black. Guys, this is how I will dress when I live out my skeezy destiny - but my shorts will be shorter.
I found myself scheming ways that I could abandon grad
school and my career and just stay on the island, becoming a dirtbag dive
instructor with black hair to my waist, a deep cocoa tan, a mild to moderate
drinking problem and a constant Spank Rock/Mickey Avalon playlist. I’d ride
a motorcycle and get a dog named Thai-y Tim and have visible abs, carrying out
my 30s in a blaze of mildly self-destructive one night stands and recreational
drug use. This is hard to resist, but alas, responsibility calls. For now.
Until I head back to Koh Tao do the Advanced Course next year….
Barefoot beers. Living the dream.
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1 comment:
*Sigh* I want to go to Thailand. Next year I'll meet you there, kay?
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