"Hey Steph, what do you want to do today?" I say on day two of our five day stopover in Koh Pha Nang - a paradise island in Thailand's gulf coast. To this question there is a long delay and then a cautious reply, "I was kinda thinking nothing." I looked around for an ejection button, but find none.
Four months might seem like a long time, but this is an around the world trip and there's a lot of world to see. I don't have time for doing nothing. I should also point out that Steph has tried this "nothing" line before with varying degrees of success. We've already done nothing in Dahab for 5 days in September and Goa for 6 days in October. I'm starting to think these beachy destinations are a bit of a prison. Suddenly we're emersed in a golden view and hot sun and depending on location, drinking Egyptian Stella, Indian Kingfisher or Thai Chang, and ordering pita and humas, dal and chapatti or pad thai. Hatching an escape plan I reach for the Lonely Planet and chart out an action packed adventure involving scooters, treks, elephants or camels, mountains and snorkels only to be matched by sparse schedules involving nothing more than towels and sand.
So at 8 AM when Steph says "nothing" it really means relaxing, swimming and reading on a sandy sunny beach for 8 hours, with an hour Thai massage thrown in at some point. Before you go and take her side know that for every day we spend on the beach an elephant cries, a scooter collects dust, a path to an undiscovered peak becomes overgrown and a waterfall loses its will to flow. With each passing day more and more of the Lonely Planet's must do activities go undone, Steph looks more rested and I become completely frazzled.
With this frazzle I become delirius and plot my revenge, charting out an intense itinerary for the remaining inland portions of our trip, including exploring bat caves in Thai national parks, early morning and late evening tours of Cambodia's Angkor temple site and a full day walking around Ho Chi Min City.
Steph is a worthy opponent though and I've seen her counter plotting. She's Googled Vietnam beaches and now knows all the spots. That country is shaped like a banana and its eastern border meets the Pacific ocean with a crust of white sand. my only hope is that in Vietnam there are beach huts containing the appropriate response to the Stella, Kingfisher and Chang I've found elsewhere.
I've also taken some time to plan ahead with a super itinerary of jet skis, treks and snorkels for our final week away, which we blocked off a long time ago for a return to the beaches of Thailand's south. I'm sure like the good plans before it'll be blown away and out of its ashes will be more towels and sand.
In all honesty I'm just teasing, the mix of beach and adventure is an unbeatable combination! Besides tropical beaches are the perfect anti-climatization ahead of landing in cold snowy Canada... though I am not sure if that's really the best therapy.
-- Posted from my iPhone
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment