Ao Lo Ba Kao

So I booked the Phi Phi Islands tour knowing I would be spending 3 nights in Phi Phi later because every tour is about 50/50 on cancelling due to lack of tourists and I didn’t want to miss seeing the islands in case everything cancelled in Phi Phi. I wasn’t disappointed. Well, after I got over the morning. I woke up and it was pouring rain, dark grey, gloomy. You start to question your plans for the day, but I remembered the positive thinking parts of Think Like a Monk and told myself to grab some coffee and fucking handle it. I was really upset I didn’t make time for myself to meditate and do breathe work like I do on most mornings and to no surprise, I was grumpy as fuck the entire morning. I don’t and won’t preach about my awakening experiences on this trip because that’s too fucking cliche, but I will tell you this: the book says the only way you know meditation, breathing, etc is working is if when you don’t do it… you miss it. I’ve been doing a half ass version of all of these things now for a few months and really went for it on this trip…it works. I’ll stop there.

We got rained on for an hour straight. It was cold for the first time in almost a month, everything was wet. I was not happy to say the least. Trying as hard as I could to be grateful, to think of the positives, but sometimes you’re just pissed and can’t shake it. We’re about an hour into the boat ride to Phi Phi and almost at our first stop when the clouds clear, the rain stops, and the sun is trying to break through. We arrive at Phi Phi Lagoon and I start to feel like a big dummy for being such a brat (to myself, not anyone else), IT’S BEAUTIFUL. I haven’t seen anything like it before. A giant emerald green pool with cliff rock formations surrounding. I am so thankful for the lack of tourism because there are about 10 other boats when typically there’s literal traffic coming in and out, 50+ boats. I jump off the boat and go for a swim, just tread water and float on my back staring at the cliffs overhead.

At that point I tell myself this is a learning lesson and one I’m so grateful for because until you experience the shift in mindset from negative to positive, you won’t realize negative energy is 100% wasted energy. My negative energy didn’t awaken the sun gods, it didn’t do anything to help anyone including myself. It probably made everyone on the boat terrified to say hi to the poopy American. Reminding myself I’m in Thailand and not at my job I hated over the past 2 years didn’t work at cheering me up, nothing did. I can only hope next time reminding myself of the time I wasted on negative energy for a couple hours of shitty weather, will change my mindset. Visualization is a powerful mediation technique and one I’ll include in my practice moving forward. Ok let’s move on.

Next stop was the Viking Cave. It’s called that because there are Viking writings inside the cave but unfortunately it’s closed off to tourists. Sad because that’s the shit I live for, real history is fascinating to me. I’m obsessed with ancient civilization, ancient treasures (don’t ask why, I can spend a hour on Google searching for lost treasure, it’s a thing) etc. I’m secretly a dweeb, a big soft nerd, surprise. Snorkeling around the corner was the real treasure though and I’m really sad I forgot my waterproof phone case on the boat. It’s about a 150 meter (you get it yet?) swim to a private small beach with cave-like rock formations hanging over the white sand (just like Railay). Everything from the beach to the boat was snorkel town. The guide said anyone that spots a black tip reef shark is lucky/gets good luck. Guess who spotted one? This dweeby soft nerd. He/she was like 1 meter (not a yard or 3 ft) long, little dude/dudette. All types of colorful fish. Characters from Nemo were all there (I fucking love that movie).

Next stop was Maya Bay where Leo Dicap’s movie, the Beach was shot. It’s illegal to go onto the beach, but we got close enough. The guide made a joke, “Line up to take pictures with Leo (me) at the front of the boat.” I laughed, saw a few smiles, but that’s about all. The audience was literally all the same as the trip the day before. Maya Bay is picturesquely beautiful and maybe one day I’ll risk Thai prison to swim to shore. Next stop was Monkey Bay where you can stop to hang out with the monkeys but the guide informed us we would get close enough for pics but the monkeys here have known to be a little too frisky. Cheeky little fuckers have bitten a few people and swam up to boats and tried to steal them like little Jack Sparrow pirates (only one of those is true). Final stop was Bamboo Island. Pristine white sand beaches, water waist deep for meters and kilometers (catching on yet?), and a box lunch courtesy of the tour that was actually quite good. Fried chicken was fire. After lunch I found a nice cushy spot to do some breath work and the mediation I missed in the morning, felt amazing.

In all, it was a perfect day, even after the cold and rainy morning. That night, I had to do my 3rd fitting for the suits, return my bro-to (that’s a play on moto), and buy my mom some gifts so I ran out of time to get dinner. I Googled the only place open by my villa since I had to walk and it was late, and found a pho stand. A woman with a few tables and chairs and a food cart she was serving out of. It honestly looked sketch but all street food stands aren’t very inviting. It’s soup so it’s the safest of foods to eat (bacteria gets killed when water boils) so I said fuck it. I also was in a meh mood since I had just got finished dealing with snake oil used car sales suit man so I needed some comfort food.

This woman was serving up the most delicious chicken soup I have ever had, better than any pho in SF, SD, or anywhere else. It was 40 baht per bowl, that’s just over $1, and you get a good size bowl with all the fixings you want to add, and a big chicken leg. I had 2 bowls. She spoke some English and she knew I liked it after ordering a 2nd bowl but when it was time to give her 80 baht, I told her “You should charge more,” and handed her 200 baht (just under $7). She didn’t know what to do, I honestly think I made her feel uncomfortable but my intention was so pure. I told her it was the best chicken soup I have ever had and I wish I knew about her stand earlier since I leave tomorrow.

On to Phi Phi where I’m back to resort life at the SAii Phi Phi Village Resort. I’m actually typing this up right now in a beach chair at the SAii and the sun is setting behind me and the hills. It’s starting to sprinkle a little and I don’t mind it at all, but then a rainbow forms like I’ve never seen. A full rainbow from one side of the sea horizon to the other perfectly wedged in between the the 2 hills and also perfectly in front of my view of the bay. The sky turns burnt orange, pink, purple and it’s one of those moments where your jaw drops in awe, and I look around to see everyone gathering from the resort with the same expression on their faces.

There’s also a “Love Tree” here where you and your sigo buy a heart and put your names on it then hang on the tree. I think I booked a honeymoon/anniversary resort on accident… I’m used to everyone staring at me awkwardly except this time it’s because I’m alone, not American.Read more