Travel Tales: Thailand

Our first stop was Phuket, located in the south of Thailand, on the Andaman Sea. We were on a private beach with very few other visitors. It was perfect: cool water, warm breeze and blue skies. And while we were reluctant to leave our newfound paradise, the endless possibilities for shrewd bargaining in the streets of Phuket called to us.

The streets are lined with stall after stall overflowing with shoes, cameras, belts, backpacks, perfume and even pillowcases, all of which are for sale and subject to bargaining. Usually, a seller will start with a very high price, to which you are expected to reply with an equally low price. My best tip: don’t fall in love with what you are bargaining for; be prepared to walk away at any moment.

Because we wanted to savor our first dining experience, we were too selective and by the time settled on a restaurant we were ravenous. We ordered what we thought were three delicious dishes to share: Pad Thai, stir-fried chicken with cashew nuts and green sweet curry with meat. The waitress asked us twice if we were sure and we adamantly said yes, which we thought was odd until the order came. Somewhere within the language barrier we had ordered eight, not three, dishes! Our fellow diners and the waitstaff thought this was extremely funny.

To get to our next destination, the Phi Phi Islands, we took a ferry from Phuket across the Adaman Sea. In my opinion, these islands are the most beautiful place on Earth—except for Watch Hill, Rhode Island, that is (YMMV). The view is something out of “King Kong”: dark jagged cliffs jut straight out of the water, a stark contrast against the crystal-blue sky.

After we arrived, we got into the back of a pickup truck to go to our hotel with several others, one of whom was a large German fellow. In a thick accent he explained he had lived here the year before, and was back for the memorial service for the tsunami that hit December 26, 2004. “Everything was wiped out … gone,” he took a quiet pause, “I lost ten friends that day.” We offered our humble condolences as we passed the remnants of destruction: tall trees with their roots totally exposed, the ground littered with concrete cinderblocks and splintered four-by-fours.

Despite being on a beautiful beach, we were homesick. So to keep ourselves busy, we took a snorkeling/party boat with 12 others. After half an hour, we were given fish food and our first snorkeling opportunity. I happily emptied the entire bag of fish food into the water; suddenly, I was nearly engulfed by hundreds of snack-seeking fish! It was a bit like viewing a National Geographic program on TV, except that I couldn’t change the channel. The water is absolutely clear, making it easy to see the fish. So clear, in fact, that if I had been able to swim far enough underwater, I could’ve seen the twisted, jagged edges of the cliffs emerge directly from the sand.