South Pacific Sailing

When I left the USA back in April there were 3 big things that I had hoped to accomplish on this trip:  live in Thailand, learn to surf in Bali, and the one thing I wanted to do more than anything… sail the South Pacific islands. 

As many of you already know, I have found my boat!  

When you start searching on the internet, there are actually a lot of options and great websites dedicated to helping boat owners and potential crew find each other.  It’s just a matter of finding the right fit.  There are crew positions where you actually get paid to work (typically on mega-yachts where you work for a very wealthy family – but it’s just that… work) and then there are crew positions where you pay to be on the boat (typically on sailboats and you are basically there to help the captain sail, explore and share in the experience, and have a lot of fun).  This is exactly what I was looking for….

The boat I have decided to sail aboard is a 58-foot sailboat currently in Cairns, Australia. 

Schooner Seawanhaka

The owner (Bill) is a former District Attorney from Oregon and he has been sailing for over 20 years.  He left the USA in 2004 and has been sailing his boat in the South Pacific ever since.  His long term plan is to eventually sail the boat around the world.   He’s hoping to have about 3-4 crew along for the journey and one of the crew could possibly be this girl from Cairns who is a dive instructor!  Bill is very active and says that we will be doing a lot of swimming, snorkeling, diving, hiking, cycling (foldable bikes on board), exploring, and interacting with local villagers.   Right up my alley :)

 Captain Bill

The leg of his journey that I will join begins on the Great Barrier Reef.  From there the plan is to sail to the islands of Papua New Guinea, cross the equator into the many islands of Micronesia, including Palau (my dream destination and one of the most remote and best dive locations in the world), head back down towards the “Spice Islands” of Indonesia, and finally around May 2011 he plans to dock in Darwin, Australia. 

Palau

Depending on how much fun I am having, I have the option to stay on the boat until we dock in Darwin.  That would be about 9 months of sailing and exploring places and cultures most people have never even heard of.   I can’t think of anything better :) 

Currently the boat is going through a major overhaul in Australia and Bill hopes that it will be ready to sail in August.  So at the end of June I will be heading over to Bali, Indonesia with hopes of finally learning how to surf and will be in that region until the boat departs from Australia sometime in August.

VISA Run

Upon arrival into Thailand you receive a VISA to stay in the country for 30 days.  After that, you need to leave the country and come back in order to stay longer.  If you arrive by land you are given another 14 days and if you arrive by air you get another 30 days.  I guess you can do this as long as you want but it does become somewhat of a hassle – always having to leave the county.  But then again it gives you a reason to get out and see other surrounding areas. 

There are actually tourist agencies that sell “Visa Runs” and they will take you on a mini-bus to the nearest boarder so that you can get your passport stamped and will bring you back that same day.  There is a fee for this and since I’d be paying regardless I decided to head over to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (or KL as the locals call it)for the weekend (the closest non-Thailand airport to Koh Samui and also one of the cheaper places to fly into).

I flew on this budget Malaysian airline called Firefly and it’s so budget that it lands at a completely different airport than all the other flights.  The airport is actually the very old KL airport and fortunately everything about the airline and the airport turned out to be great. 

It was only a 2 hour flight and then a 30 minute taxi ride to get to downtown KL.  For those of you who have no idea, KL is a huge metropolis.  In a way it reminds me a little like Chicago.  Skyscrapers everywhere, above ground and below ground trains and monorails, very high end shopping, and surprisingly lots of green area (parks, gardens, etc).  Not to mention the traffic rivals LA traffic.

I stayed at a hostel recommended by a friend of mine called BackHome Kuala Lumpur.  From previous experiences I always write down the address of the place I am staying and since I thought I would do it on the cheap and take the bus from the airport, I drew myself a little map of where the hostel was located.  Good thing I did that…  The taxi driver had no clue where this place was and loved that I had my little map to guide him. 

The hostel was actually really great and is definitely a great way to meet people!  I was surprised to see that a lot of the people staying there were closer to my age than to the 20 something crowd that I normally see in hostels.  I shared a room with 3 other ladies all traveling by themselves.  One from New Zealand, one from Spain, and one from Australia.   There was a nice air-conditioned lounge area where we would spend our evenings catching up on the latest movies (all pirated of course).

Kuala Lumpur is known for a few things.  One of those being the Petronas Towers, the tallest building in the world until 2004.  There is a sky bridge on the 41st floor that they allow 1300 people each day to visit.  Tickets are given out on a first come first serve basis once the ticket office opens at 8am.  A fellow “hostel” guy from Canada went early in the morning to get a ticket and said that there were SO many people waiting in line and by the time they got to him all tickets were gone.  My first night there I decided to go check out the Petronas Towers at sunset and watch the lights come on.  It was a 10 minute ride on the underground train and the station where I got off was right at the base of the towers.  Pretty impressive sight!

Another thing KL is known for is its Chinatown and lucky for me the hostel was only a few block away.  Chinatown is a sight to be seen, heard, and tasted (and Linda, you would not like the smells).  It’s famous for its stalls of imitation good (primarily fake purses, watches, CDs, DVDs) and food from all over Asia. 

I had cheap dinner here both nights and since food is served from street stalls, normally they put out small plastic tables and stools for you to eat from.  The second night I ended up getting into a conversation with a local Malaysia woman who was still single after 47 years and was in love with a man from Burma but because she was so poor she couldn’t afford to travel and would probably never see him again.  Ah the interesting conversations….

The next morning I flew back to Thailand and noticed a handful of people who had been on my flight to KL – obviously they were doing the same thing I was…  VISA Run.

Fisherman's Village

I’ve been in my place now for almost 2 weeks and am loving it!  I’ve been trying not to use the air conditioning since I have to pay for electricity and the owner suggested that I just “learn to live with the heat”.  It’s been going pretty well so far. There are ceiling fans in all the rooms but still sleeping at night is hard especially since the overnight temperature is in the upper 80’s! 

This town I live in, Fisherman’s Village, is exactly what I was looking for.  There are 2 streets and one of them runs along the ocean.  Along this street there are upscale boutiques and gourmet restaurants with seating on the beach.  With my budget I will never set foot in one of these places but I still enjoy looking at them.  The actual town consists of wooden and original Chinese shop houses which were build by Chinese immigrants who flocked to Samui in the previous century.  The whole place has a really laid back and friendly feel to it.  There are a lot of expatriates here from the UK and France and most of them own the restaurants, hotels, and boutiques.

Every Friday from 5-10pm they shut down the 2 streets to cars and scooters and have “Friday Walking Street”.  Around 6pm the streets are full with people, both Thai and foreign, but the majority are Thai from other areas in Koh Samui.  There are lots of street vendors selling all kinds of interesting thai foods (grilled meats, quail eggs, ceviche, thai curry and noodle dishes, grilled corn on the cob, coconut ice cream just to name a few).  There is also live entertainment like Thai dancers. 

So what do I do with my time…

Those of you who know me well will not be surprised to hear that I have joined a gym.  I actually splurged and am paying more per month than I was paying in the US and for a lot less gym.  The gym is a tiny little room (the owner lives upstairs with his entire family) with NO air conditioning.  There are 2 treadmills, 2 bikes, and a rowing machine along with a few dumbbells, and several pieces of weight lifting equipment.  There are also 2 saunas.  I’m baffled at who would want to use a sauna when it is like a sauna outside every day.

Another favorite pastime of mine is visiting the market.  I pretty much go every day and here you can get Thai dishes really cheap (under $1).  Plus there is air-conditioning which makes for a nice break from the heat. Walking around the market is a very interesting experience.  They have so many different kinds of meat for sale.  I have seen frog meat and wild boar just to name a few.   

Life on a Scooter!

Today I had a total blonde moment…. 

I decided to rent a scooter for the week since it’s about $5/day and gives you so much freedom to get out and explore the island.  I had rented one a few days ago so I felt like I knew what I was doing.  When they gave me the scooter, it was really low on fuel.  Here there are not many gas stations.  Instead you see stands along the road selling “gasoline” in used glass bottles.  I figured that I had enough gas to make it to the market so I didn’t bother filling the tank.

After coming out of the market I went to start the scooter and for the life of me, it would not start.  I figured that maybe it was because it ran out of fuel.  I started to walk down the street knowing that sooner or later I would come across a stand selling gasoline.  I ended up buying a bottle from this woman who owned a street side clothing store (very random locations these gasoline stands).  I emptied it into the gas tank and it still did not start.  After asking a few random people if they knew what the problem was I decided my best option was to find the guy who rented me the scooter. 

I left the scooter in the parking lot and flagged down a songthaew, which is Thailand’s version of cheap public transportation.  A songthaew is basically a covered pickup with two benches in the back.  They each have a designated route, much like a bus.  Most post their destinations on the front of their truck but unfortunately not always in English (and trying to read Thai is absolutely impossible). 

About 15 minutes later I made it back to the rental place and I ended up riding with the guy on his scooter (it was pouring rain at this point) back to the market where my scooter was.  For him it started right up.  Seems that with Honda’s you need to have the kickstand UP in order for them to start.  I guess with Yamaha’s that is not the case (and that is what I had used the other day).  

Talk about feeling like an idiot…

Full Moon Party

Here in Thailand the island of Koh Pha Ngan is famous for their monthly “Full Moon Party”.  Back in the 80’s this beach party started with about 50 people and since then has grown to over 10,000 people.  The party starts at sunset and continues until sunrise. 

Since the island is only a quick ferry ride from Koh Samui and my friend Sarah’s brother Ben and his friend Eric were going to be there I decided head over to see what all the hype was about. 

A 30-minute ferry ride later I arrived to Koh Pha Ngan.  It was only 4pm but already I could feel the energy in the air.  The streets were crowded with people getting ready for the party, painting their bodies in UV paint, wearing neon colored clothing.  Down on the beach the bars and hotels were setting up their sound systems, dance stages, sectioned off “sleep areas” for those who might want a little nap during this madness, and of course first aid stations (many people end up cutting their feet on broken glass). 

Lined up and down the beach were little stalls selling beer and “buckets” of mixed drinks.  Here if you want a mixed drink they pour a half pint of alcohol and some kind of soda into a plastic bucket and serve it to you with several straws.  One bucket and you are pretty much done.

The people started to flock to the beach around 7pm and by 12am the party was in full motion.  There were so many people crowded on this little strip of beach that you could barely move.  Each bar was blasting a different kind of music and it seemed that everyone had a bucket in hand.

By 4am I was done with the party madness.  Unfortunately our hotel was right where the main party was happening so trying to actually sleep was nearly impossible.  I think it was around 8am when the music finally stopped.  Eric (who took all the pictures I posted) happened to be out and about during that time and said that there were still a few hundred people out dancing and having a great time.

It was definitely an interesting experience but for me once is enough…

Home Sweet Home

After days of endless searching I have just signed a lease on an apartment I will call home for the next 2 months (maybe longer).  There are actually quite a few long term rentals to be had on the island but not many within my price range had my 3 main requirements: air conditioning (a must during the hot season), wireless internet, and a kitchen.

The rentals that were about $300/mo had no air-con and the kitchen consisted of a tiny refrigerator and a microwave.  Acceptable to some but not me.

The rentals in the $400-$500/mo range had my 3 requirements but were far from anything meaning I would have to rent a motorbike in order to get anywhere.  It’s common knowledge that Koh Samui has some of the worst drivers anywhere.

The place I ended up renting is in the $600/mo range which is much more than I wanted to spend.  I actually spent the night rationalizing spending this much when I could spend half that amount (and likely suffer from heat exhaustion).  The next day there was an email from my friend Jimmie (who knows Koh Samui like the back of his hand) and without even asking his advice he said that I should settle down in the Bophut area of Koh Samui which is exactly where this place happens to be (and very close to the beach).  I smiled at that coincidence, contacted the owner, and signed a lease.  I move in on Monday.

Becoming a Night Owl

The hotel I am staying at is really great and is owned by this young Czechoslovakian couple and it seems that every guest (except for me) is from Czechoslovakia.  They're a great bunch of people and they tell me that you don’t typically run across too many Americans here on the island or even in Thailand.  Too far from home I guess. 

For the past few days I’ve been researching places to live for the next month or two which has been great since it’s too hot to do anything during the day but stay in the air conditioning or swim in the pool/ocean.  But even then, the water is just as hot as the air so there’s really no relief (John, you would love it!). 

I've realized I’m going to have to change my normal pattern of going to bed early since night is when the temperature is bearable and everything comes alive.  Maybe I’ll finally be able to train myself to stay awake past 10pm :)  

3 flights and 28 hours later …

I have finally arrived in Koh Samui :)

And it is crazy hot (see below "feels like 113 degrees")!!!

Earlier, while waiting for my connecting flight at the airport in Phuket, Thailand I decided to take local currency out of the ATM.  I approached a row of about 7 ATM machines and feeling a little overwhelmed, chose the one that seemed most respectable - The Bank of Bangkok.  The ATM machine took my card and I asked to withdrawal 3000 baht (about $100) and just as it was making the sound like it was getting ready to give me the cash the electricity in the entire airport went out.  A moment later the power came back on, the ATM machine spit my card out, but right after that the machine stopped working – no money.  I had a feeling that they charged me for the money I never received so I went online to check my bank balance sure enough, there was a debit for $93.65 … On the positive side at least the ATM machine gave me back my card.