We arrived in Pedang Besar on the Thai-Malay border where we switched to coach class after passing through immigration and having "zee papers" checked and we rode the train another hour to Hat Yai, Thailand, an unremarkable town where we ran the obligatory "deer in the headlights tourist gauntlet" sponsored by the local touts. We paid about double the going rate for the van ride to Krabi on the Western Thai coast four hours away. Krabi is the gateway to the islands of Western Thailand. Like a mother rushing her child to the hospital our driver weaved and passed slower trucks on blind hills forcing oncoming mopeds to swerve to the shoulder. An added feature of our ride, one for which we did not have to pay extra, was our collision with a moped. SLAM! Right into the side of our van. The moped driver fell to the ground in a skidding mass of flesh and plastic. On foot he caught up with us at a traffic light yelled some words in Thai and raised his fist. The driver calmly drove off when the light turned green. Hours of detention and statements flashed in our heads, conditioned by our life in an overly litigious California. But here they dust themselves off and move on. Some quicker than others.

Seeking to get back on budget we located a guest house for $5 a night. It felt like a prison cell, no windows, concrete walls, shared toilet. But such is the price of budget travel. Paying a premium for healthy food and safe transport and lodging in Africa stressed our budget by several thousand dollars so we sought to make some sacrifices to get back on track. Sharing a room with sticky fingered geckos was a lot better than with sharing it with roaches.

We allowed ourselves to follow the well traveled tourist path and signed up for a boat tour of the amazing karst limestone islands dotted across the large bay between Krabi and Phuket. After snorkeling for an hour we visited an isolated Muslim village built at the base of one of these limestone islands. Walking around the market we bumped into a man with a lanky white handed gibbon that was more interested in chewing on Lisa than posing for a picture. He was beautiful. Black fur, long lanky arms and a snow white face and paws. He liked Lisa a lot.

We then traveled in a long-tailed boat powered by a six cylinder car engine attached to a 15 foot propeller shaft which acted to stabilize and balance the weight of the engine which was turned by hand to redirect the boat's direction. We visited Ko Tapu, otherwise known as Francisco Scaramanga's island lair in the James Bond film "The Man with the Golden Gun". Go ahead an jog your memory: www.thaistudents.com/movies/bond/golden_clips3.html. We didn't see the evil Scaramanga or James Bond. A bit disappointing.

The following day we traveled by ferry to Ko Phi Phi made famous in the movie, "The Beach". (Good movie. Rent it !). Upon arrival we immediately enrolled in a three day SCUBA course, a life long dream of both of us, but not such a burning dream that we would brave the cold murky waters of Monterey to conquer the learning curve.

Each night we returned to our bungalow to read a new chapter and prepare for the next day's dives. On the boat at 8:30 we were escorted to points around the neighboring island of Phi Phi Le where the film, "The Beach" was filmed and where no tourists were allowed to stay overnight. After cross checking our gear we stepped off the back of the dive boat into the salty 85 degree crystal blue waters of the Andaman Sea and for the first 20 minutes practiced our emergency procedures like taking our masks off at 16 meters depth, emergency ascents, and buddy breathing. Then the fun began as we gently propelled ourselves through the depths flirting with lion fish, clown fish, leopard sharks, trigger fish, moray eels, and hundreds of other species. Occasionally we would be swarmed by thousands of small silver fish that moved unison following the lead of the fish in front. As he twitched a thousand fish behind him seemingly twitched at the same time. It appeared that the school was one very large fish until you swam through the center and the silvery body split into two. We spent 45 minutes to an hour underwater on each dive exploring the vertical wall of corals built up around the edges of the karst limestone island. Massive brain coral, fan coral waving in the current. We found a pocket of fresh water which flowed from an underground cavern from the island. The boundary of the fresh water and salt water, called a thermocline, was clearly visible through our masks and appeared as a blurry layer much like looking through a really old piece of glass. We swam through it and felt the chill of the fresh water against our exposed skin. It was freaky! After calculating the residual nitrogen in our blood after our two dives each day we retreated to the firm ground of the island.

Imagine a peanut shaped island the size of Lexington Reservoir with the slim waist lined by beach on each side. Between the beaches huts and buildings are erected for restaurants and shops. One side of the island's waist is deeper water where boats set anchor and the other side is less submerged offering a long graceful expanse of beach at low tide. Sprinkle the area with several hundred young vacationing Europeans covered in tanning oil. There are no cars on this island just narrow walkways double the width of a sidewalk. With shops competing for the $$ of the captive tourist crowd survival means differentiating yourself from your competition. One ingenious way the Islands' restaurants have been able to do this is by playing pirated copies of newly released films on DVD for their customers. So next to the menu displayed at the entrance they place a list of the movies and times they will be showing that evening. Lord of the Rings, two weeks after it was released in America, Two weeks notice, Red Dragon, as well as many classics. "The Beach" was particularly popular. It works. People sit down to their chosen flick and order a plate of chicken with chili and basil over rice and lots ot beer to kill the burning and they keep drinking as long as the movie plays. Movies by night Scuba by day. Not a bad life. In these areas that serve heavy tourist economies trying to talk with locals about their lives is met with blank stares followed by, "you want massaaaaaaage?" This was not the place for magical global connections but a great place to relax and reflect on the issues of quality of life.

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