Thailand: Good Luck for You. - Day 8 (Koh Phi Phi Don)

We decided we earned ourselves a breather and a lazy lie-down on a beach before setting off for the other half of the trip.
Sadly, due to strong wind on the eastern side of the island, we had to abandon our plan to go to the Viking cave and the other side of Koh Phi Phi Lei. Bad luck. Although who knows…
There was a nice Zen Buddhist story about luck:
An old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. "Such bad luck," they said sympathetically.
"Maybe," the farmer replied. The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. "How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed.
"Maybe," replied the old man. The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. "Maybe," answered the farmer. The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. "Maybe," said the farmer.

a shrine in the woods

rough way to Long Beach

People said, Long Beach was far enough not to be overcrowded with people or boats but close enough to reach it on foot in 40 minutes from another side of the island.

So, you never know what could have been better. Anyway, Long Beach seemed the best alternative. Take a natural path along the tree roots near the coastline and for a while you will feel like in an adventure movie.

We made a short stop on a smaller beach on the way and there I could finally tick off an important point off my ‘Thailand-must-do list’, that is to get a Thai massage.

I chose the one with aromatic oils in a hut up on a rock overlooking the beach and views of Koh Phi Phi Lei. Thai women, so petite and fragile, make it hard to believe they have such strong hands. Your mind slowly drifts away with the pleasant scents and with the sound of the waves, gentle clunking of the sea shells in the wind and a child doing his homework next to me, reading incomprehensible thai sentences corrected occasionally by his mother, my masseur. Your look gets hypnotized by the water shimmering in the lowering sun, and then – ‘crack!’ – under her firm grasp one of the backbone vertebras sets into place. 

After such a revitalizing experience we sat on the long beach restaurant among lush vegetation and looked at the white sand and the sea, feeling like in a movie, and sipping at so loved fresh fruit shakes.
‘What differs this beach from a Spanish one?’ – ‘Definitely the absence of roaming vendors shouting out ‘ Cervecita bier, limonada!’ and Chinese women echoing ‘ masaje, masaje’!

Sitting on the beach in my usual manner, I caught myself on a thought that I was trying to figure out which would be the best way to take a picture of what I’m seeing around. And it was one of the times I surrendered.

A photo will be always interpreted by the viewer. It will raise his or her own feelings (or their absence) about it. Their minds will fill in the missing details, complementing the picture at their heart’s content.

So I thought, what’s the use? No use trying to capture the sun nearing its dawn, the lonely longboat, the calmed sea, the breeze and the waves touching my skin. I’ll leave this precious moment just for me.

 I’ll leave this precious moment just for me...