Aileen Through the Looking Glass

Serendipity ... My arse.

The word "serendipity" comes from the island of Sri Lanka and means a beautiful happening by chance. I don't know what bloody dictionary the Sri Lankans were using, but it wasn't the same one as me.

I have tried to be fair in my mind to the place for a week, now. I know I was very tired when I arrived - it took 21 hours exactly to get from my hotel in Koh Lanta to my hotel at the Elephant Orphanage at Pinnehwala. It is also not the fault of the island that it was the worst room I have ever been in - I am still recovering from the sores that were a gift from the wildlife that lived in my bed. As you arrive at the airport, it is quite surreal as the Duty Free area has nothing in it but 23 identical shops all selling giant fridges, tellies and washing machines. Now I don't know about you, but I have never been struck by the need to purchase White Goods to take to the beach.

Another idiosyncracy of the island is that noone will either sell or buy the currency except on Sri Lanka itself - I appear to be not the only person/country that has fallen out with it. I am met by jeering scorn in the two countries I have been in before and since when I have tried to carry out a transaction, and so am left with a large quantity of useless and annoying currency.

Anyway, the elephants did seem to be well looked after, if slightly exploited for the tourists. I guess it is still better than being shot though. At least I hope it is. Does anyone remember Dumbo's mother??

Kandy was a noisy and busy city in the same way that Jabba the Hut is slightly overweight and grumpy. It is a mad, heaving, dusty, noisy smelly nightmare to which I hope never to return. I arrived there after being sold an immense quantity of Ayuverdic "medicine" by the biggest chancer I have ever met, and by god I've met a few. Dr Sekarin had cured his own epilepsy - 7 seizures a day - after his own pharmaceutical medicine didn't work and made him go bald - I know we've all read that side effect on the back of Neurontin packs, guys. Anyway he didn't know what I did for a living, so it was all quite good fun, and if I hadn't been laughing so much I might not have bought so much bollocks, however pure, natural Sandalwood Oil is good wherever it comes from.

At Kandy I was staying at the Swiss Residence which is "A perfect blend of the Swiss and the Sri Lankan". I mean, can you imagine the city fathers standing around having a quiet smoke and saying to themselves, "Now, we've got the temples, and the botanical gardens, what we really need is a blend of Swiss and Sri Lankan to really finish it all off..."

All I can say is that it looked and felt Italian to me. I do not know why, but as I am fond of my European brothers, I just had a stiff drink and went to bed.

Over so soon...

I can't believe I am writing this from Singapore Airport having left Thailand after what seems like such a short time. Of course it has been a month, but I have enjoyed it so much in Koh Lanta that I am very sad to have gone.

Its been quite a surreal day, to have left the island at 8:ooam this morning and to be standing here at 5:30pm in Singapore is quite a feat. I like to think the second bus driver drove like a mentalist due to my small, blonde smiling, but I think it was more likely the fact that the wonderful Abdul, who owns the Palm Beach resort where I stay, made two phone calls yesterday and suddenly there was a car, a boat and two buses all lined up. Abdul is apparently "well connected" on Koh Lanta - we don't ask, but as you all know I have a well developed 'list' in case I ever meet anyone like him.

I ended my last week on the island in style with more dives and a visit to the local Thai Boxing stadium, which is a raucous night out for all the family. Our local restaurant waiter was fighting, having KO'd his opponent a fortnight ago. He is called the Palm Beach Barbecue Boy, which is brilliant, and he fought brilliantly. I appear to be one of those awful bloodthirsty women who yell at boxing matches - go figure.

Anyway, off to Sri Lanka now,  but I have enjoyed Koh Lanta so much that I have cancelled Australia - boring, and crap diving - to go back to Thailand, and re-join the gang and learn how to become a Dive Master, so I might be able to earn some money out of this lark, but mostly cos I can Dive, Drink and Smoke, all day every day. Its a bit like Heaven.....

For Dad and James

I have a horrible feeling that this might be too dark to make out, but this is a picture of the Biggest Team in Lanta - bless them all in their Celtic tops. They are top of the League here too! IF you click on it you might make them out.

I think their might have been a team in Rangers tops next to it, but we weren't really bothered about that one...

I Found Nemo!!

The Blog has been a bit quiet in the last week because I have discovered a new passion, and have been out scuba diving for the last 7 days. I went out snorkelling last week and really enjoyed it more than I thought I would, given that I am terrified of fish - or I was I should say. I decided to give the scuba diving a shot so I could see more of the lovely fish and coral they have here, and I absolutely LOVED IT!! I find myself constantly talking in cliche and superlative because unless you have done it, it is really hard to describe how beautiful, peaceful and priveleged you feel floating around down there with all the fish doing their thing.

I passed my Open Water dive course no problems and then started straight on to my Advanced Diver. I went to Hin Deng on Tuesday, which is listed as one of the world's Top 10 Dive sites - and rightly so. The Manta Rays were not out to play, but I am going back next week as they have to be seen to be believed. My favourite is a tie between the "nemos" and the Porcupine puffer with its face shaped like a box and its big eyes and smiley face, I have made friends with two of them, and they are so inquisitive and sweet. The major coup came yesterday when Tommy and me found a Turtle - so cool!!! Tommy is my Dive Instructor Extrordinare. He is Japanese, and unbelelievably cool and laid back, and has done over 1050 dives. He also popped down to 70 M once in Australia just to see what it was like, I think he is part fish and part bionic.

Anyway, I am having a wonderful time here, the Dive crew are all great fun, and great drinkers, and I really don't want to leave. They have said I should stay on and do my Dive Master and come back and work there maybe. God, wouldn't that be great....

Koh Lanta - Old Town Festival

Last week was the annual festival to celebrate the official end of the Monsoon season (no-one has told the weather, unfortunately!). I met some lovely people on the Dive boat when I went snorkelling and they invited me to go with them to Lanta Old Town, on the other side of the Island which is less predominantly Muslim, and more Buddhist - in fact the inhabitants are called Sea Gypsies, because of the amount of time they spend at sea, fishing.

We had a lovely evening, despite the downpour, and when the rain had cleared, all the locals go down to the river front to put their "offerings" into the river. These are basically small boats made of flowers and fruit, with sparklers and candles on them. After a while there was a beautiful flotilla of sparkling lights across the bay.

After that there was a fireworks festival that put the Hogmanay Fireworks in Edinburgh to shame. It was fantastic, with fireworks I have never seen before that skite across the sky after each other before falling to earth. All in all it was a really fun night, as you can see from Lucy and my face in the picture.

Koh Lanta - What a night

I'm now on the rather beautiful island of Koh Lanta across from Krabi and Koh Phi Phi. Its rather a different place to either of these, and is about 20 years or so behind in terms of development etc and a lot poorer and more basic. For all that, it is a really nice place to be with lots of friendly locals and tourists so I am staying here for a while to relax. And by the looks of this beach, you can see why...

This is the beach right outside my resort. By the way, something I should have mentioned, if you click on the picures in these posts, you get a much bigger version to see.

Last night was an experience to remember though. We had the worst electrical storms I have ever seen, really terrifying to be honest.Incredible rain and the loudest and most dramatic thunder and lightning you could imagine. The bar was hit by lighting, unfortunately while I was in it, upstairs, and as we were all huddling downstairs in this bamboo hut that is the bar/restaurant, it got hit again, putting paid to that old saying once and for all for me - it bloody does strike twice! Anyway, everyone was fine, and I now run like hell at the first sign of flashing lights back to my comfy bungalow, made of lovely bricks and mortar -

Anyway, I don't want to alarm anyone, everything is fine and its a really nice place when the weather is being normal, and tonight is the full moon festival which also marks the end of the Monsoon season - hopefully!! I am off to the old town tonight with some lovely folks I met on my snorkelling trip yesterday - more of that when I get the pictures back. So, I'll sign off now as this post has taken me 50 minutes as Broadband is but a dream here...

Koh Phi Phi

This was always going to be the most difficult diary entry, and it has not failed me in that. Koh Phi Phi as many of you will know is where the Tsunami hit particularly badly and where Adrian Lester was killed along with his dad and sister, and therefore has a particular poignancy over and above the normal for me. I was very much dreading coming here, but the last thing I expected was for it to be so beautiful. As you approach from the boat it is truly breathtaking, with pure green seas and rugged cliffs and forests.

Having expected to hate it, I then felt rather disloyal in finding it so pretty and alluring. As I walked around the island, I was struck by how little sign there is of any of the mass destruction and horror that took place here. I know it has nearly been a year, but there is a real feeling of happiness and bustle.As the days have gone on, this has begun to piss me off more and more which I know is utterly irrational and unfair. The only way people on this island have to survive is to make money from tourists, and so they wish to get on with the business of doing that as well as possible, and are achieveing that end. The place is full of holidaymakers and some travellers. I really hope they get rid of all of them before the families of the deceased arrive at Christmas, I believe the Thai Govt has hired all the hotel and hostels for that purpose. I also hope they build some sort of memorial before then, because all there is is a tiny garden. 

The only habitable area on this enormous island is a space of flat land the size of a football pitch between two high pieces of large land, so you can imagine why there was so much destruction when the water came through the middle ground. The photo to the left is taken from my room, and a hotel used to sit there, plus numerous bungalows and hostels. It is all being rebuilt at the moment, and life does go on here, although there are hardly any local children left, only grown ups. Holiday makers come and drink themselves stupid, and sunbathe. I guess what it boils down to is that everyone is having a good time, and all I can think is that my friend died where they are dancing.

Some Photos

Many thanks for your comments so far, I am enjoying reading them. I am glad my big brother liked his joke so much he posted it twice! It was very funny, however.

Here on the left is Ao Nang beach just outside Krabi which was my first real day as a traveller - I got a bus all by myself and found a lovely spot - along with about a hundred other people! Still, rather a nice way to start things off.

This is Koh Pi Leh (I think that's what its called, I don't have my rough guide with me - doh!) where The Beach was filmed, thereby ruining a beautiful piece of nature as it is now filled with pretentious backpackers everyday saying "wow, man, yeah" etc. It is protected as much as possible and you cannot officially stay over on it, as it is a bird sanctuary - a bit like Ailsa Craig for my Scottish readers.

Krabi

Feel like a proper traveller now, as have just been screwed by the airport taxi service, but that is all part of the fun. I decided to try a local custom today to get into the swing of things. Its called "the local bus". Great idea, transport waits at a prearranged spot, chap drives to where you want to go, and you then recompense him for his trouble. Fascinating, not sure if we have it at home, but may give it a bash again sometime.

Krabi is the main port town in the area and is very much there for the locals, but is also full of travellers passing through. I particularly like their refusal to translate anything at all into English - cos lets face it, why should they? I realise I sound sarky again, but am actually serious this time. It makes it all much more interesting particularly when buying food. In order to avoid any confusion i ate where the locals eat, from a cart on the street. Very civilised, with tables and drinks and you get what you are given - Dad, try not to faint as you read this. Don't know what the hell it was, but it was lovely.

On my next post I am going to try and get the hang of posting photos from a cafe computer so you can see what I am seeing (not just the computer, obviously) It really is the most beautiful place I have ever seen.

3 Omelettes later

Well, have arrived safely in Krabi, after it being breakfast for 14 hours. Nice to leave Glasgow on a freezing morning and arrive on a boiling morning thousands of miles later. Kudos as ever to Singapore airlines for having 60 films to choose from - The Wedding Crashers - great way to start the day. This website will in no way be a British laugh at Jonny Foreigner and his amusing ways, but occasionally there are some amusing cultural differences which I will share with you. Today's straight from Rough Guide, is that "Men finish each sentence by adding 'Khrap' on." I know, its like shooting comedy fish in a barrel, but couldn't resist.