Ko Phayam
The last six days were spent on an island tropical paradise. The island is called Phayam, it is a two hour boat ride from the provincial capital of Ranong where I spent the two days before. I had heard that this island and another nearby were two gems that have yet to be "polished" by a large tourism scene. The island is about 10 km at its longest. It has 500 official year round residents and more year round expats from Germany among many other countries. My days were spent in quiet solitude contemplating the peaceful surroundings as well as mingling with the island folk. I met many interesting people that have decided that the best life is island life. The largest beach on the island is a 3 km stretch of sand that is liberally lined with primitive bungalows and a few beach bars. The cost for my private bamboo bungalow with semi-ocean view was a massive $6 a night. The first couple days I felt uneasy about "wasting" away my day in a hammock however that quickly dissapeared and I soon began to revel in watching the day pass quietly by. I read a handful of books in this time including the favorite of the trip. A book called "Norwegian Wood" by Haruki Murakami (spelling of the name may not be accurate) was very moving and interesting. He is considered to be one of the best modern Japanese novelists. The book is a pained love story full of suicide, crazy people and many sex scenes. I didn't know that it was possible to fall in love with a literary character.
The island has no roads per se, but it does have small concrete tracks that are used by motobikes, the most convienent way to cruise through the islands palm forests, cashew farms and rubber trees. The last couple days I rented a motorbike and explored the island with my new friend David. It was a lovely time.
One great accomplishment of the six days was to photograph every sunset I experienced. Ok, so I am not normally one to gush and go on about sunsets however I especially enjoyed watching the day turn to night along this pristine beach. Right around six thirty the sun would begin to drop below the horizon. As the clouds mutated and changed colors a whole new scene would make itself present on the beach. During the hot sunny afternoons most people hid away from the beach with only a few souls on the 3 km stretch at a time. When it was safe to face the suns rays the beaches population would swell with keen observers (when I say swell, I actually mean about 50 total for the 3 km of sand.) Just down the way, without fail, a couple hippies would begin to juggle and then work their way into throwing fire as well. Many loving couples would sip on semi cold beers and enjoy the color show. Once the stars began to show, the Cicadas, without fail, would start with their near defining song for about one hour and then leave the nightly orchestra to the frog and crickets. The moon, near half full, still had enough power to light the beach and the ocean in front of me. The milky way could be seen above, though not like that which can be seen from Northern Minnesota.
Crab art. Nature can outdo any human artist.
No comments:
Post a Comment