Khao Lak- Aurora of Thailand

Our trip so far has been amazing, in large part due to following recommendations in the Lonely Planet Guide to Thailand- we have had incredible diving on Koh Tao, rock climbing in Railey & snorkeling off Ko Phi Phi. So it was a surprise to us when we finally arrived at our next destination, the coastal town of Khao Lak, to find Thailand's version of Seattle's arm pit, Aurora Avenue.

Lonely Planet's write up for Khao Lak said that this coastal gem in particular had been hit really hard by the 2004 Tsunami and was having trouble rebounding with its tourist flow. This description coupled with Khao Lak's proximity to the diving off Similan Islands convinced us to take the 4 hour journey up here from Ko Phi Phi (2 hour boat ride & 2 hour bus ride).

When we got off the bus we saw just the opposite of Lonely Planet's description, the town was overflowing with tourists, which we assumed contributed to its eye sore of strip mall stores lining the busy highway (e.g., Seattle's Aurora Avenue- including the seedy massage parlors). We also found that the beach was entirely cut off to the general public by overpriced mega-resorts. This part reminded us of Cancun, Mexico, a beach that has had it soul carved out.

To make matters worse, a huge rain storm began pouring right when we were exploring town (we were completely soaked in the first minute, see photo below). The town has no sidewalks so we were walking on the side of the road. The motorcycles and scooters racing by seemed like they were intentionally swerving to hit us and if they missed they seemed like they were at least making an effort to splash us from the huge puddles forming.

The silver lining on the storm cloud. When we finally cut through a resort's property to get to the beach it was amazing. The rain stopped, the clouds parted and the sun shined down on the biggest waves we have seen so far in Thailand. We joined a bunch of other people and jumped in the ocean and did some impromptu body surfing, it was incredible.

On our way back we found that on a second glance even Khao Lak has some great tucked away secrets, just like Aurora. Or as Luke would say, every once in a while the sun does shine on a dog's asshole. We found our cheapest bungalow yet (it's about a ten minute walk from the beach, including a harrowing dash across the highway) and had dinner at a great bar where we had two pitchers of Chang Beer (Thailand's equivalent of Miller High Life) - photo of Jen washing her Khao Suck sorrows away with beer none the less! Dinner was served by a Lady Boy (more on these coming in future blogs). Levi had a tasty all you can eat Thai BBQ for 200 baht (US $6) that included chicken, pork and squid, this is almost like Melting Pot sytle - you're given a tray of raw meats and an interesting bowl that is filled with a moat of broth and other make yourself soup ingredients then a circular steamer in the middle that cooked the meats - delicious! We are giving Khao Lak one more night & then doing two dives off the Similan Islands on Friday.