Last Island

We are on Koh Lanta, the last island we'll visit in Thailand...and appropriatly so. We started off with the very developed Koh Samui, fun but not very culturally rich. As we have progressed it seems that the culture gets richer and more real. That said, the 2 coasts are completely different.

To start, the gulf coast is buddhist, this coast is muslim...which creates a very different feel. Geologically they are very different too. This island is by far the least developed and least touristy. It was strange when we arrived, it had a weird air, it felt funny to be here. The first beach we looked at was pretty ugly, so we headed down the coast and found a fanstastic place with a great beach. We even have hot showers, aircon, and a bathtub! All for about $12/night split 3 ways. Anyway, we couldn't figure out why this island felt do weird, until yesterday. I went for a walk down the road to find a payphone to call alex. The walk was very interesting and made everything make sense. This island was absolutely devistated by the tsunami and very little has been rebuilt. You can feel the loss here, it's all around.

So today we hired a taxi for the day to drive us around the island, it was really amazing. This island is not as dramatic as some of the others environmentally. The follige could be from home with palm trees added in. But people actually live here, and not necessarily off of tourists. It really felt like it could have been on the mainland..only with some really great oceanviews. We saw so many interesting people and their homes. The most dramatic part was that it is mostly muslim here, so all the women have saris on..even on the motorbikes. It was really cool to see the entire family on one bike (we've seen up to 5 people on 1 bike throughout this trip). We went in and out of small streets, there would have been some amazing photos in there, but it's not worth offending people. We went to another strange market where there were only a few other tourists. It was pretty intense and claustrophobic. It's weird, I don't know if it's the current events in the world or propoganda being effective...but I actually felt kind of uncomfortable in the market. It kind of made me paranoid about being american. It's hard enough to travel as one, but when everyone around you is muslim...i felt like i shouldn't be there.

This island is definitely more conservative too. For example, at our hotel there is a separate place to sit if you are going to drink with you're meal. Alcohol is not allowed in the restaurant...which totally makes sense. We even saw a sign that said "wearing a bikini on a motorbike here is like going naked in you're home country." The people seem more humble too, less abbrasive.

I feel like i've gotten a well-rounded idea of what the islands of thailand are all about. I'd have to say though, for anyone considering going...the gulf side is where i'd recommend. It just has a better feeling. But you better go soon cause Rachel was right, it's not going to be long before we can't go anywhere. People really do hate us...everyone...they hate us. Fortunately lauren and i are charming enough that we can convince people that we are not representative of those who run our country!