Driftwood of Pileh Bay

Engulfed in an aqua elixir, I fill my lungs with solitude and lay in the typical tourist position - star-fished, buoyant, and ironically not too dissimilar to my inner driftwood that found me here, floating in the animated blue waters of Pileh Bay, Ko Phi Phi Le, Thailand.

My senses devoured the milieu in sheer gluttony. Eyes relished the view of hanging flora on floating cliffs. Skin quenched my yen for cool translucent water. Ears savored the sound of under water calm and peaceful asylum.

As I float with my eyes closed, I recall back to a darker time where I was studying for a uni exam, stressed and fatigued while attempting an all nighter. I remember how in that moment I longed to be weightless, floating in such an oasis. I didn't know it tangibly existed beyond my delusional 2am reveries, until now.

Our means of transportation to this utopia is a wooden long tail boat, known in Thailand as the Ruea Hang Yao. The long canoe hull is decorated with coloured ribbon and flowers, the kind you see in the postcards. I sat at the tip of the boat and I held the compass - it was a nomad's nirvana.

The moment I jumped from our wooden boat into the turquoise water, I felt the rhapsody and adventure through the soles of my pin-drop feet right through to the soul of my inner most being. I was lost in my own slice of paradise until it hit 10am when a new splash of colour was intrusively added to my panorama; splotches of uncouth yellow life jackets. The party goers from Phuket had arrived.

It's best to voyage around these islands early in the morning on a Sunday when a lot of tourists are still passed out on the beach near Bangla Road or unexpectedly waking up next to a lady boy cabaret dancer or drowning their hangovers in the opulence of banana pancakes Thailand has to offer. This should bide you tranquility until 10 o'clock.

It was time to head back and preserve the memory while it was pristine. It may have been the stinging sea salt in my eyes or the nausea from undulating waves, but my vista was that of an oil painting flashing before my eyes. Splashes and strokes of turquoise, green, grey, blue.

Unlike most places in Thailand where you can leave your favorite place with a memento of sorts - namely a tailored suit, a personalized Phuket fanny-pack or a mini tuk tuk replica, I left the quintessence of my Thailand escapade with no tangible souvenir, however the oil painting illustrated in my head was a keepsake that money could not buy.