I have spent the last three weeks beach hoping throughout Thailand and Khao Lak still blows me away. Not only is the water a thousand shades of blue and the sand perfect, but unlike most of the other beach area I went to, there are kilometers upon kilometers of straight beach. This means I can go for long walks along the beach uninterrupted and find a quite place on the sand all to myself. It's official - heaven is a place on earth.
I spend my first afternoon walking along the infinite beach of Khao Lak marveling at the water. There are actual waves here (nothing you can surf on, but significantly more so than anywhere else I've been). After a kilometer, the water calls and I run in. It is refreshingly cool after my walk in the sun and I struggle to think of a better place to be in early January.
I've come to Khao Lak to get on a liveaboard to do some diving in the Similian Islands. The diving is supposed to be some of the best in the world - with hopes of seeing Manta Rays and Whale Sharks - so I keep my fingers crossed.
Unfortunately, before I can go on the liveaboard, I need to get my visa renewed. I sign myself up for the visa run - which I will not go into detail about other than it is a miserable day. Basically you and a bunch of other people pile into several minivans, drive to the border, stand in line to get stamped out of Thailand, take a boat across to Burma (ours broke down on the way over), stand in line to get stamped in and out of Burma, take the same boat back, stand in line again to get stamped into Thailand, and pile back into the minivan. Not only do I have a hard time standing in long lines that move unbelievably slowly - but at each point I outlined there is always someone from the minivan who didn't realize what they were supposed to be doing and now we have to wait for them. Ugh.
But the reward is 10 more days in Thailand and my lovely Khao Lak beach.
1 comment:
Sounds like a visa run is just slightly less complex than a Tak Reqs signoff.
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