Tuesday, October 31, 2006

One week with the Sea Gypsies

Get there ASAP, before it becomes overcrowded and corrupted by tourism and easy dollars!!!

Koh Lipe is a small Island located in the South Western Thailand, in the Andaman sea. This Island is part of the Tarutao national park, spreading over a small archipelago. Most of the Islands are wild. Nobody lives there permanently. Koh Lipe is the only inhabited island.

To reach the Island from M'sia, it's a hell of a journey... Count 24h, two buses, three boat hops (including one with the most noisy engine I ever heard in my life (and will ever ear because I'm deaf now), one cab ride. But believe me, Koh Lipe is worth it!

The Island is really like in the movies: thin white sand, lagoon blue water, coral reefs, multicolor underwater life, etc... We lived in a very simple bungalow with a perfect view on the lagoon. We shared our room with plenty of animals, including a fleet of cockroaches, a giant worm and believe it or not, a spider bigger that my hand!

One remark, though: I read on the 1999 Lonely Planet about Koh Lipe that it is a wild Island with almost no facilities for tourists, and that opportunity is given to the visitors to live like the fishermen. On the 2003 edition, some bungalows and guest houses + restaurants are mentioned. And my 2006 experience is that there is a lot of tourism facilities! Especially on Pattaya beach. And not only there are already a lot of them, but also there are a lot being constructed currently... I even got to meet a French girl who settled there, living from necklaces she sells to the tourists! Until recently Koh Lipe was wild and authentic, visited by only a few respectful tourists looking for true experience. My sad feeling is that this time is over, and Koh Lipe is "growing" very fast. In a few years it will just be like Koh Phiphi or Koh Lanta, i-e transformed into a giant recreational park for tourists in spite of its own soul...

However even if it seems pessimistic, there is still hope for those looking for an adventure a la Robinson Crusoe: the neighboring Islands are still untouched (Koh Adang, Koh Rawi, etc...) For a few bahts a fisherman will drop you there for a week... That's actually what we planned at first for this trip, but due to several reasons we couldn't do it :'-( Next time, for sure!

Koh Lipe is inhabited by a handful of sea gypsies, or Chao Lae, the Thai for "people of the sea". Traditionally, they were nomads who traveled from island to island fishing and collecting shellfish. Ethnologists believe their ancestors were some of the first inhabitants of this area. Most of them settled now and they live mainly from fishing. They ride the famous "long-tail boats": their propellers are at the end of a pole, so the person steering the "long-tail" boat looks like a gondolier. We had a chance to walk through their little village, we could see how those gypsies live their life outdoor.

This sounds like they are a bunch of people having a very peaceful and simple life, by the sea, self-sufficient, etc... However the reality is a bit darker than this perfect picture: I had the chance to meet Chris, a German guy who has been wandering in the area for the past 7 years, and who lived the last two years on Koh Lipe. He lived like the Sea Gypsies and and was adopted by them (they named him after the Thai for "our older child"). He had a chance to realize how dark the future is for this People: first they have not been granted citizenship by the Thai government, although they were the very first inhabitants of this land centuries ago. However the Thai government conceded them ownership of lands on the Island. But there came the ruthless Chinese who offered them to buy their land for a few fistful of dollars... Ugly scam! However the Chao Lae are not educate, they are simple people living by the sea. Of course they accepted! They have now just enough land to built their houses that's all. It so reminds me of pioneers buying off Indian lands with alcohol. On top of that they suffer strong racism from the other few inhabitants of the Islands. They are really regarded as inferior human beings. Add to this that they are exposed and were strongly hit by the Tsunami two years ago... And they are still smiling at us. One of them invited us to have a curry dinner at his place and was delighted to help us the best he could when my friend Guilhem lost his passport... Really really nice people.

Overall this was a great trip! So good to leave the noisy KL for such perfect place. However I keep a slight taste of bitterness because I was expecting a truly wild Island... Now I'm informed, next time's gonna be just perfect :-)

PS: pictures to be posted soon!

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Off to Koh Tarutao, Thailand!

Long time no post... I have been kept really really busy by my job lately! I didn't even have a chance to have dinner with my dear one in the last two weeks :-(

But half of next week is public holidays in Malaysia (combinaison of Indian Deepavali festival + muslim Hari Raya celebration for the end of the Ramadan). And tonight I'm off to Koh Tarutao in the Southern Thailand with some friends! Plan is: reach one of the desert wild islands off Satun region and settle there for some days, living like Robinson :-) Hum... Ring a bell? "The Beach" maybe ;-)

Checklist:

-matches: ok
-fishing gear: ok
-booze: ok

Alright Charly, I think we're good to go!...

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Long time no see, huh?

About one year ago I graduated from Ball State University (IN, USA). A former classmate (my former roommate actually) just sent an email to all the alumni last week in order to get back in touch and write a newsletter to know what each one is doing with his life... I am still in touch with a few, but I will really appreciate to get a chance to get back in touch with those I regret not to be anymore! Thank you for this great initiative, Garth!


Only one year ago, and all this seems so far away for me! So many memories suddenly resurfaced. This email relates to a point of my life were I was a heedless student... Not that I am all stressed out now, but the gap between student life and professional life is a huge one. Don't give me wrong, not that I don't like the way it is now, it's just a bit of nostalgia! To be fair, the mood within our class was really positive. I was part of the so called "CICS mafia". I felt more welcome in the USA than in my own country!

This year in was definitely one of the best. First overseas experience, unforgettable travels across Canada, USA, Mexico. North America is so appealing for travels! I also got to met really different and interesting people... When I got back to France for a short while after this year spent in the US, I really felt this was not the place I wanted to be!




Huh!... I gad forgotten how curly my hair gets when I live it for a while...

Small world...

Last Friday I had a great dinner at a colleague's place, with home made crepes enjoyed while chitchatting. Really great time!

The funny thing is that his girlfriend happens to be the best friend of my brother's former classmate... How small is the world!

Friday, October 06, 2006

Kuala L'impure

I can't pretend I wasn't warned about this because it happened to almost all of my expat colleagues here. I have been briefed many times. I heard many stories. But it was meant to be, I guess: I have been victim of bag snatching last Thursday night :-(

After a great gathering at Guilhem's I gave a ride back home to a friend living in the opposite side of KL. She sat behind me on my motorcycle while Marie was following me on hers. It was around 2a. As I just got my new motorcycle I don't have the rear fly case yet so I don't have a place where to put my handbag. So I dropped it in Marie's motorcycle front basket, along with her purse.

We have had a very good evening at our friends place. We were happy. We felt comfortable and secure in this district of KL we know well. So we didn't act especially carefully. There was not much we could do anyway: two guys riding on custom bikes came from being, snatched our two bags and flew away. For a sec I thought about chasing them, but I might I put myself in much bigger trouble, not even mentioning the risk for a car accident.

Content of the bags:
  • our two wallets, including several hundreds of ringgits, 3 credit/debit cards
  • one digital camera + a 1Go flash drive
  • two cell phones
  • Marie's eyeglasses + my sunglasses
  • two international driving licences which happen to be not renewable from overseas
  • my Malaysian motorcycle licence which I had obtained the very same day!
  • and last but not least: the keys to our apartment
So there we are, in the middle of the night in KL, with no money, no ID, locked out of our apartment, and in the urge of finding a way to cancel our credit cards...

We filed a report at the police station until 5a. We called an overnight locksmith who tried to took advantage of the situation and asked us an insane price to open our door. So we sent him back to his bed. We ended up waking up a friend (thanks again Jerome!) in order to sleep two hours before waking up with the dawn to call the real estate agency for a spare key. Couldn't get a hold of them, so we finally borrowed some cloth from Jerome (yes, Jerome, the tall guy... almost 2m long! We looked funny...) A quick shower and let's look fresh for an intense workday which ended up for me in the late evening... What a day!

I won't let this happen ever again!

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Bali forever!

Bali is great! Bali is full of variety. Bali is a glimpse of Paradise! Bali absolutely deserves the worldwide fame it is entitled to. However it's really surprising to notice that what it's mainly famous for is not the best part of it, namely Kuta!

Anyway, I'm too lazy for the full story, so here is a must do/"mustn't do". (disclaimer: all this is just based on my humble own experience)... Let's keep the best for the end and start with the (few) mustn't do:

The South West coast (Kuta, Seminyak, etc...). It's like Cancun for the American springbreakers, except you replace Mexico with Bali, American students with Aussie ones and pesos with rupiah. In a nutshell: beaches packed with tourists, seafront covered with MacDonald's, nightclubs, etc... In a word: you won't find authentic Bali there. Great waves, though: we enjoyed bodysurfing for one or two hours before taking off to KL on the way back.

Bali being on a volcanic hotspot, there are of course a lot of craters here and there. One of them happens to be particularly impressive. According to our guide, GunungBatur is the largest crater in the world (17 km diameter, he said). It was erected hundreds years ago. But then 1962 a second eruption provoked a second crater to appear inside the initial crater. We climbed this inner crater, and from the top, at 1,800m above sea level, the view is just breathtaking. One can walk the whole tour on the crest of the volcano. Needless to mention the perfect 360 degrees view. We could stare at the lake and villages laying inside the outer crater, as well as at the Agung volcano some miles away and the long lavas trail leaking from the inner crater. Just perfect. OK, if it seems so perfect, then why did I mention about Gunung Batur in the "mustn't do" list?? But then, I have to admit that part of the pleasure has been spoiled by the "GunungBatur Gangsters"... A few local inhabitants decided to bar all the slopes to the volcano and despoil the tourists passing through. If you don't pay, it's easy, they beat you, and I am not sugar coating it! Don't give me wrong, it's not that I am not ready to participate and help developing this very remote and rural area. But thing is, they steal 80 USD from every tourist. 80 USD! In one day those guys make the money it takes 6 month to the farmer next door to make! And it really looks like it's not shared at all among the Batur community... I can't help but just hate being screwed like that! Of course, no way I could pay that amount. So after 1 hour bargaining, I cut down the price by 8. And to finish with a positive thought: the trek was a real delight. My advise if you wanna climb a volcano in Bali: forget about Batur and drive 20 more miles to reach Gunung Agung which is supposed to be more wild although as beautiful!

Well, even after a few minutes brainstorming, those are the only mustn't do I could come up with! On the must side:

Ubud, its artist galleries, its Hindu temples and just the atmosphere in those tiny streets. Balinese people are really friendly. At some point you wonder if it's just for marketing purpose, but after having some talks we couldn't identify any ulterior motive. It is natural for Balinese to be smiling. At least I want to believe it...

The North coast (dark volcano sand). The Liberty wreck is really worth some dives! It is just incredible how dense the underwater wildlife is down there! Anywhere you look at there will be some weird colorful specimen... It's like making 10 dives in one! We took some underwater pictures. Soon to be on this blog. Beyond that, we felt like the North coast is much closer to the traditional life. It hasn't been spoiled by tourism and easy made dollars, yet...

Driving in Bali is a truly intense experience, especially at night! First, there are very few signs to find your way. Buying a detailed map is really worth the money! Plus, the road are really narrow! At some point we ended up being lost in a very remote area, and the road became no larger than a bike path... Also, it reminded me of Senegal in Africa were the inhabitants settle along the roads. You can drive half a hour and still feel like you are in the same village, a huge village. But actually this is not a village: there are at best two rows of houses and then the jungle... People live on the road. At night time you can see barbecues setup on the sides of the road, people actually sitting on the sides of the roads, etc... On top of that, add a crowd of motorcycles and you as a driver get really nervous!!!

The mountains, and the wonderful rice plantation landscapes. Even better than in the National Geographic. You got to stop by a little town and stare at the vista while tasting some unusual fruits you never had before.

I am in love with Bali and I plan on discovering the Island further anytime soon. To be continued...