Limbo
Not everything works out while travelling. I feel like I've lost an entire week, floundering, waiting.
I did the obligatory things on Phuket: I spent a day under one of those colourful umbrellas that line Kata beach in an orderly, continuous row from one end to the other. I rented a motor scooter and got completely lost out amongst the back roads of the island and the posh resorts of the coast. (Phuket's beautiful, especially around Kata, but perhaps more touristy than some would like.) And then I moved on to Khao Sok National Park in search of "the most beautiful lake in the world". I didn't find it - yet.
The bus ride there was entertaining. It was one of the regular buses that the locals take - cheap and crowded. At one point there were four other people with me on the two-person seat - 3 big ones and two kids all counted. No chickens though. At the lunch stop in Takua Pa, while just sitting with the engine off, our bus blew a tire with a great bang and hiss. Hmmm....
And so to Khao Sok village. The first
day there I went for a long hike into the jungle, up along the river, and
found the best of
swimming holes
.
It was very similar to my favourite of
the Sooke Potholes, with towering, undercut sides, a bottomless gorge, and
even the cascading falls at the top into which one can climb for a pummeling.
The major differences between here and the Sooke River are that the spider
webs high in the trees are five times bigger, and there were scores of
butterflies - white, yellow, orange, black, velvet blue - decorating the air.
The Thai have a common English expression for similarity: "Same same but
different". That's how the jungle was. Although all the species were
different, rainforest is so similar the world over. Bamboo here, alder there.
Orchids vs. wild rose. It was all new, but felt like home in it's own way.
Although, you do know you're not in Kansas anymore when a two-foot long lizard
waddles off the trail in front of you.
Every guesthouse and restaurant in Khao Sok village advertises tours - two day lake tours, elephant treks, river rafting. My next mission was to join up with most of these offerings. I asked everywhere, and no-one was actually running one of these trips. Nothing was happening. It seems the whole park is geared towards package bus excursions from the larger areas such as Phuket and Krabi. Little is available to solo travellers on site. The lake is 65 km from the village. I asked the park people whether, if I could get a ride to the lake, I would be able to rent one of the kayaks they have down at the lake edge. The answer was a definite no - they could only be rented to group tours. I asked if I could book one of the floating bungalows on the lake. No, they can only be booked for groups. Aaaarghhhh. The easiest way to see Khoa Sok when you are there is to go back to Phuket and take a group bus back into the park. Did I say Aaaaarghhhh already?
I spent a day sitting on the balcony of my
bungalow
right at the river's edge, reading, watching the water flow by,
and occasionally watching the groups of package tours rafting down the flow.
(The linked picture is of the back door, the front was right atop the river bank.)
This was a day of doing nothing, but it turns out that it is not possible to
do nothing. As long as we are amongst the living we are at all times doing
something. Perhaps remembering this or that, contemplating butterflies,
observing reflections on a stream's surface. It seems to be during these times
of slow, spacious activity that our minds move towards observations such as
the river being the same yet completely new every moment. This is, of course,
one of those familiar Zen Buddhist aphorisms. I'm certain that only
civilizations with significant leisure time generate philosophies such as Zen.
One does not stop in the middle of hewing wood, building railroads, doing
battle or washing baby to ask "Does a dog have Buddha-nature?". A correct
response to the person who asks "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" is:
"Man, you've been hanging out on the beach a really long time, haven't you".
Zen is one thing the mind can do with leisure time. Of course, of all the
things to do during our time of constant activity, to love is the best.
Everyone knows this.
That night I stayed at the bar - a little grass shack at the side of the road with 4 stools, a counter, a chest fridge, and a guitar - far too long and consequently wasted the next day completely hung-over. I left the park having seen no lake, ridden no elephant, paddled no river. I did hear the hooting gibbons though.
I headed down to
Khao Lak
along the west coast looking for live-aboard dive excursions. Got here on Wednesday and I'm
signed up for a three night trip leaving this evening (Saturday). Hanging out
at the beach would have been great here had it not rained for two days
straight on my arrival. More sitting, reading, waiting. Like the title says, a
week of limbo. I'm sure the dive excursion will be great though. It's to the
Surin Islands which are snug up near the border with Burma (Myanmar now). They
have kayaks on board so one can paddle about the Islands between dives, or hop
ashore and explore the shoreline, or hang out on the beaches if you like. Aaah,
it's good to be the king.
Where to next, I'm not sure. I may try one more time to get to that lake. As lovely as it has been around here, I am growing a little weary of tourist oriented resorts - not least because they are crawling with COUPLES. I sense that it's getting close to time to move a little off the beaten track. A voice in my head keeps suggesting Vietnam - start in Hanoi and work south. This might be just the thing.
Time to go. I hope you are all well and enjoying your days.
...Byron