Have you ever played Yatzy? It's a game of life and death (only kidding) involving five die where you have three goes to roll 15 poker like sequences - one pair, two pair, three of a kind, full house, etc. You also have to roll 3 of a kind of 1's through to 6's, which when added up gives you a score of 63 and a bonus of 50 points if you make it. The ultimate roll is five of a kind or Yatzy giving you a sweet 50 points and sending you on your way towards victory. There are two types of players; the lucky and the unlucky, and the luck most certainly depends on whether you're Swedish or English (or a complex combination of both), or perhaps on the number of Changs consumed, this is yet unknown.
We had to leave India at last, visas were running out and we had visitors (read Yatzy competitors) coming to see us. The Andaman Islands are about 250km off the Burmese coast, i.e. very close to Thailand. Still we had to travel 355 degrees of a circle, on four flights over 3 days, via Chennai, Delhi and Bangkok to finally arrive in Phuket. The Andamans really did seem remote then, so when Jude arrived from Birmingham, via Dubai and Kuala Lumpur, with mask and snorkel at the ready we all felt equally jet-lagged.
Phuket Town seems to be disliked by visitors (probably because it doesn't have a beach), but it is as brilliantly understated and genuine as I remember it when I came to Thailand in 2002 as a wide-eyed 19 year old out to see the world. We slept off our tiredness after having enjoyed great food and cheap Chang (in preparation for the Yatzy tournament), before jumping on an overpriced speed-boat to Koh Mook where we spent the first days fine-tuning the Yatzy rolling techniques whilst awaiting the arrival of Joachim and Marie-Claire. This generally involved resting in the hammock outside our exceptionally fancy bamboo hut, kayaking around the huge limestone cliffs shooting up from the emerald sea and building on the tan (well, Jude was trying to catch up). Obviously we also consumed Chang, particularly whilst watching the sunset, and we also celebrated Christmas, Thai-style, eating BBQ fish and wearing silly hats.
The fabulous five was complete on Boxing Day when J&MC rolled in, and the tournament was about to begin. Joachim had to lay down the rules, which he did with exeptional enthusiasm, before we could engage in Yatzy battle. In between games Chast (aka, Cheese, Chief or Chis), our bamboo hut host, took us out to some spectactular Trang province snorkelling sites as well as to the famous Emerald Cave - an amazing lagoon that you reach by swimming through an 80m dark tunnel, which allegedly used to be a pirate hide-away. The snorkelling was some of the best I've ever done (no need for Scuba) and we saw a huge puffer-fish and swam in and out of carved-out caves.
Jude got off to a flying Yatzy start but her form was hampered by an eye-infection which consequently meant she couldn't drink Chang and steadily Joachim began catching up. By the time we reached Koh Lanta, most of us, apart from Marie-Claire, were playing rather well, but then MC prefers a Mai Tai. On Koh Lanta we celebrated a magical New Year's eve on the beach with cocktails and fire lanterns after an equally magical dinner at the Red Snapper - one of these incredible Asian fusion restaurants, i.e. Thai food with a great twist (great find Jude, and a very generous treat J&MC!).
It was incredibly difficult to do the usual thing and find somewhere to stay as you arrive, and on Koh Lanta we ended up in separate places with Jude, Ruth and I sharing a bed. Still, the beaches were empty and the bars too. The complete opposite was true for Railay beach and Ton Sai were we headed to with sore heads on New Year's day. This was my favourite spot in 2002, I remember sitting on the beach more or less alone, and there being 2/3 resorts on Ton Sai, but now this incredibly beautiful place has been over-run by noisy longtail boats and too many people. Adding to the experience we all got the Ton Sai Nora bug, except Ruth who seems to have an iron-lined stomach.
Still, we lazed the days away by the pool, or ring-fenced a spot on the beach, where we concluded the Yatzy tournament which Joachim elegantly won after rolling enough Yatzies to last a lifetime (we all agree that his Chang diet might lead to future doping-suspension). On the last day, J&MC set off for a luxury last few days in Phuket, Ruth and Jude went for a jungle hike where Jude got jumped by a monkey who stole her Snicker and left a nasty scratch on her back (rabies check in the UK), whilst I went climbing on the famous Ton Sai limestone cliffs with Sash, a friend from Ben Nevis who lives in Bristol. Before we knew it, it was just the two of us again, sad to see our fantastic five broken up, but very happy to have had just over two great weeks of seeing familiar faces and catching up with life at home.
As I write this Ruth and I are sat pool-side on a roof-top in Bangkok awaiting our flights back to India (this backpacking thing is hard). We are going back to the Andaman Islands and to ANET to take part in a tree-house building project and help set up an artist in residence programme. We rushed back to Bangkok after Ton Sai, fought our way through the infuriating Indian bureaucracy to finally gain a new visa. The week long wait for it has been spent exploring futuristic Bangkok and cooling off in chilled out Pai in the north, whilst reflecting on the different experiences we have had.
Thailand is an anomaly, a superstar country compared to India with it's clean streets and efficient infrastructure, with sexy shopping malls and futurama people, soaring skyscrapers and chic designer hilltowns. It is unfair to compare yet hard not to - Bangkok is what Delhi seems to aspire to, the south-western beaches share the same sea as our beloved Andaman Islands, yet they seem a world apart, the northern hill town of Pai is reminiscent of a traveller-friendly Leh, only on a smaller scale. Thailand has been an odd break on our travels, a sort of holiday from travelling. It's a country strangely close to home (let's face it, we're not the only westerners here), and we have realised just how much India requires from you in order to get under your skin.
Which is exactly what it has done. Thailand is easy, it's fun, the food is great and everywhere is clean yet the overwhelming feeling is that it is not challenging enough. India on the other hand is intoxicating, and we like how our preconceptions are constantly questioned, so we're going back to the dirt, and to those empty (and I mean empty), pearl white beaches!
