So, I made my triumphant return to thailand, by land, through Malaysia.

I made it to Krabi. Ok, yep this is Thailand. I remember the sounds people make when they talk (it’s a rather nasal language), the money, the tuk tuks, the food, the street sides. So many things that are all very Thai.

But Krabi is not my destination, I am going to the promised land, a place whispered from backpacker to backpacker. The legendary place where you can escape it all! All the touristy bullshit that has taken over major attractions in Asia? No, this place has none of it. Sounds too good to be true, there’s even been movies made about such places… “It can’t possibly exist anymore” is what I thought, until I made it there.

All I had to go off of was the name of the place someone told me almost a month ago. I find out how to get close by boat, and then I hike off by myself into the jungle in the rain with my full pack for almost an hour. I get there and find the first establishment with people in it. A bar, they welcome me in while I relax. They ask me where I am going (a very common thing to be asked) I say I don’t know and their eyes light up. “Welcome home! You can stay here as long as you like, we treat you same same like family.” I look to the wall and read off the colorful sign “why not?”.

So I lived in a Pirate themed bar for a week. It was low season so there weren’t many people around, it rained everyday varying amounts, but we had a good small crew of travellers and locals always hanging out at the bar. We jammed all day long, played with toys, played pool, poi, slacklining, didgeridoo and when the weather was nice we got to take in the lovely scenery. Aaand we got delicious cheap Thai food freshly made and delivered right to where ever we were at almost any hour.

It was also fun because I was pretty much the only native English speaker there, and a lot of the Thai people had very poor English (one guy couldn’t even talk) but somehow we found ways to communicate and connect. At times, there were 10-20 people, all from different places, laughing their asses off. After it all, my Thai has improved very little, but I see more clearly into the way that they talk and joke, and I can be funny even without knowing much.

Ok Thailand, you’ve already blown my mind again… I think the rest of this month should be pretty fun!

P.s. this post was written weeks ago but a faulty phone screen has prevented me from posting it. Right now it is working enough so that I can post. Please excuse all spelling mistakes as I am relying heavily on autocorrect to type and it is not perfect!