Kata to Kathmandu

Do forgive me readers, I realise that today marks the 1 month anniversary since my last post, where I left you on the warm shores of Kata Beach.  Since I arrived in my new digs life has been fairly constant (in a good way), but add to that no internet (connected to my computer at least) and I seemed to develop writers block.  I promise this will not happen again.

Before I go into what exactly has been keeping me so occupied, let us cut back for a moment...

Kata Noi Beach

view from local bus

My time in Phuket was well distributed between soaking up Vitamin D on the beach, savouring seriously good Thai at my local canteena, discovering different haunts around the island, meeting up with the local English congregation, seeking out legitimate massage parlours (avoiding 'the happy beginnings/happy endings' style massages which are pretty common in the south and are barely more than a soft rub with a few knuckle cracks here and there - slightly disappointing) and...attempting to go witnessing…

taxi Thai-style

The Sunday after I arrived I had an adventure making my way into Phuket town for the meeting.  I set out with high spirits on a local bus into town and then took a motorbike taxi (my favourite mode of transport in Thailand) to the meeting – very cool!  When I arrived (on time might I add) I found the kingdom hall packed with brothers and sisters from all over the world: Japan, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Lebanon, the UK, France, Australia... some in Phuket on vacation, others, indefinitely.  It felt like a mini international convention with lots of excitement in air.

I met a lovely brother from Wollongong who had just moved to Phuket after serving in Myanmar for the last 4 years with his wife.  After the meeting he took me along with an Austrian brother (the first stone mason I have met to date) and a couple of German sisters to a beautiful beach called Nai Harn for the sunset…it was a goooooooood sunset and probably appeared even more beautiful as we only enjoy the sun rising on the East Coast of Australia. 

Sunset at Nai Harn

The rest of my solitude was spent at Kata Noi, a beautiful little beach just south of Kata, with a few less bare bottoms littering the scenery.  I found a little hideaway on the southern end of the beach just under a  bar called ‘on the rocks’ (literally on the rocks) where I attempted to study but found myself mostly siesta-ing…it is hard life, but someone has got to do it...

Kata Noi

My first attempt at witnessing, though I set out with great determination, did not exactly happen.  After taking 'the long and winding road' to the territory at a coastal town north of Patong Beach, called Kamala, there was some confusion with the directions resulting in my pacing up and down the highway for an hour or so.  And so after glimpsing the inviting waters of Surin Beach I finally relented and opted to dive into the water fully-clothed instead…lovely!

Surin Beach

Inu and I

My second attempt was much more eventful.  The morning of my departure I went witnessing with a lovely Japanese sister called Inu who had lived in Sydney a couple of years back and had been in the Cambodian congregation.  Her sisters had previously been pioneering in Nepal so it was nice to hear some of their experiences.*  We had a couple of nice discussions, one with an American man, and another with two English lads in Thailand for Muay Thai (Thai kick-boxing...whatever blows your hair back I suppose).  Interestingly, the hardest people to witness to in Phuket are Germans and Australians...

After we finished, a Finnish sister and a English sister from Portsmouth with her three gorgeous kids (with officially the cutest accents - think young Fanny Price from Mansfield Park) took me for lunch via a beautiful lookout from the southern end of the island.

After 'le grand tour' Eleanor and Zander showed me a couple of things about Thai food...

Back at my hotel I squeezed in a massage, followed my a quick swim and then found it was time to say goodbye, and commence the journey back to Bangkok...

I slept wonderfully on the return trip, so much so that I forgot one of my bags (to all those who have travelled with me, yes, I'm sure there were a few kodak moments of my deep, open-mouthed slumber).  Alas, though I was truly proud of my keen bartering for a taxi back to Khao San Road, my pride quickly dissipated into sorrow as I found myself in another taxi backtracking to the bus station in search of my forsaken bag.  This time my tears seemed to take affect and the lovely taxi driver took mercy on me and helped me track down my missing goods to a nearby bus shelter...Triumph!

The last couple of events in Bangkok were a little frustrating but happily they were all forgotten when I hopped into 'the world's best taxi' - a self declared title of my taxi driver in the photo below...This man, a retired soldier, collects currency from all around the world as tips, and has turned his taxi into a forex museum.  I hesitated to believe at first that it was 'the world's best taxi' until he showed me notebooks no. 49-51 (as in there are another 48 notebooks before that) containing the testaments of his loyal customers throughout the years.  And if that was not proof enough, he then showed me (whilst driving) a dvd of a local Thai reality tv show interviewing 'the world's best taxi'...too funny!  

best taxi in the world...

And so ended my Siam sojourn, and after a slight delay in Bangkok terminal I found myself winging my way up through Myanmar and India.

Peering down through the window on our descent, it seemed more like early morning before the sun has risen rather than late at night, the sky a lighter shade of indigo contrasting to the shadows on the plains. I saw dark hills bursting through the clouds, then windy roads etched into the earth, then gradually lights started to sprinkle the landscape...and then civilisation...I had arrived.

Kathmandu, Nepal...

* Inu's sister travelled to Nepal with my new flatmate Ritsu...'it's a small world after all...'