Now where were we? Ah yes, Vietnam. But before I get to that, please allow me to interject my latest trip. Because I write so infrequently, I suppose it seems all I do is vacation, but there really were some toilsome weeks of work in between. The term ended on the 24th and Nabeel and I hopped on an overnight train to Surat Thani. From there, we took a bus to Krabi, then a ferry to Ko Phi Phi, and voila - well, almost 24 hours later - we were lounging on one of the most spectacular islands in the world. Because of its beauty, much of this island has been grossly overdeveloped and gets a bad rap as a tourist trap. But here's the secret to paradise found: go during off-season and flee the main beach for the tranquil east coast.
We went straight from the pier to Pak Nam Beach and its only resort, Phi Phi Relax Beach Resort, which offers clean, modern bungalows with little daybeds on the porches from which to gaze at the ocean. The beach there is nice as well - a long enough strip of sand for a decent walk. The water all along the east coast is calm and ideal for swimming.
If I'm on an east coast, I love getting up for sunrise walks on the beach. At least for the first couple of mornings until the novelty wears off and sleeping in takes precedence.
After a couple of days on Pak Nam, we moved a couple of bays down to Rantee Beach, probably my favorite. The sloppily built bungalows are about as basic as they come but comfortable - if you don't mind the occasional critter stopping by. In a bit of irony (and bizarre design choice), these tiny shacks boasted the best toilets around - gleaming white porcelain with an automatic flush. The best part about Rantee was that with only a few other bungalows occupied, we felt like we owned the beach. I could have stayed a lot longer than the three days we did if not for tiring of the limited food options.
In the end, culinary boredom is what drove us further south and around the bend to west-coast Long Beach. More crowded than the previous two, but not nearly the party of Ton Sai, this beach offers a nice compromise. There are a few good Thai restaurants to satisfy the palate and the beach is quite peaceful in the mornings and late afternoons (of course, this is off-season - not sure what it's like during tourist time).
The views from Long Beach are truly stunning.
Long Beach's greatest perk, though, is that it's easy to leave. It's located toward the end of the peninsula so you can cut over by land to to its parallel neighbor on the east coast. And this beach happens to be the best of all. There's no accommodation whatsoever, only a little snack shack and a long stretch of beautiful sand. By hiking over there in the late afternoon and early morning, we had hours of being the only people there. I had a hard time believing this was the Koh Phi Phi that's constantly accused of being too overcrowded.
After a good eight days of reading by the ocean, swimming in the calmest and clearest of emerald waters, and sipping mango lassis and spiked lemon shakes, I was as relaxed as I've ever been. That was a true vacation and one I didn't want to see end. But inevitably it did and now I'm back at work, already brainstorming about the next holiday. Hmm...
