Tioman … then and now, untouched as ever!

Canoes stacked by a beach cabana, Paya beach

The full moon is silhouetted against the sea, smothering the waves with silver reflections. Sitting on a dune, we watch the continuous ebb and flow, each with our own thoughts. For me, the sea has always been a confidant, a friend absorbing all it is told and never revealing those secrets; always giving the best advice — its meaningful noises can be interpreted any way you choose... The fresh wind fills the senses with the power and mood of the sea; everything is transformed by its touch; even Comeback (the dog) gazes, his odd little nose aloft, at the silver ribbons unrolling before him several times a minute.
-Che Guevara, Motorcycle Diaries

This is why the Motorcycle Diaries is amazing. It’s not the greatest piece of writing or doesn’t have lofty observations. But it has layers… every so often, you will re-discover a passage, a part of the journey that will make you think, ‘Dang! That is exactly how I felt when I was at so-and-so, and when that happened’. This book could have been anyone’s journey … it could have been your journey!

I was re-reading the Motorcycle Diaries around the same time that I had gone to Tioman for the first time, couple of years back and I recall thinking how aptly the above words fitted the few days spent idling on this island. There is something to be said about just watching the endless ocean, and letting the motion of the waves take over you. Every single activity seems to take on an added depth when watching the sea – the coffee you sip, the book you are reading.   The sea here is calm and beautiful and it is easy to lose yourself in the beautiful interplay of blue and turquoise even as the day's heat seduces you into a lazy lull. And that first splash of cold when you dive in. And after all this, there are still the nights…

When I returned to Tioman, this time to Tekek beach, I was a tad worried it wouldn’t live up to my memories. But I was overjoyed and even surprised to find it just the way it used to be – rustic and under-developed, even after 2 years. My last trip had been on a long weekend, and we were scrambling to get the accommodation and travel sorted out and it seemed as if every single “resort” was booked out. Was this the ‘untouched’ island people spoke off? I expected to see crowded beaches and half of Singapore camping there. But when we arrived at Paya beach, it was a heady relief to see we had the beach more or less to ourselves.

Once past the not-so-pretty Tekek ferry terminal, the island opens up with the thick tropical forest rising in front – tall, green and dense, and almost reaching the skies. The road branches into 2, following the curve of the sea. Along the way are some wooden long houses, randomly dotting the roads, some have small grocery stores or restaurants, the odd souvenir shops, a garage… and there is that odd broken truck by the side. In the distance, there is smoke from some cooking fires. The road itself curves into the forest, which takes you through the heart of the jungle to Juara, the beach on the other side. The so-called resorts are in fact collection of wooden long houses, quite basic in the luxury they afford. Life takes on a slow and unhurried pace. So did our routine. 

I do wonder if I will tire of beaches, and it feels like I will after every trip. But within days of returning to regular life, all I long for is the calm of the seas.

Some FAQ:
Getting to Tioman is still a bitch (sorry, but that is what it is). But may be that is what keeps it rustic too. We tried a taxi (highly recommend it) for $150-200 one way from Singapore to Mersing. The ferry from Mersing to Tioman, however, still demands patience and god’s grace. Also see this link for 5 ways to get from Singapore to Mersing.

Choose a good beach too. Personally, I found Salang beach had too many chalets lined up one after the other. Tekek, is the main town on the island and the airport is also here. But this beach still felt more spacious. From Tekek, one can get to ABC beach and also Juara quite easily.

Try the Sunset cafe in ABC for some divine pizza's. The walk from Tekek to ABC can be quite nice too.

Also, the jungle walk to Juara is interesting. It takes around 2 hours, and it is recommended to hike in decent shows (i.e. not flip flops).

S at work, building a cabana by the beach...

Ayer Batang beach at night

When inspiration turns into a trip... lost in Palawan's islands

5 days of exploring deep blue seas, remote islands with no names, white sandy beaches lined with swaying coconut trees and many sunsets. From Coron to El Nido, Palawan.

It was one of the busiest, intense times at work – I can’t remember when exactly – and I was taking a moment to decompress, flipping through NY Times when I read about vacationing on a bunka (boats), off the islands of Philippines. The author wrote – “We were in the middle of nowhere, paradise-style: a sea of high-definition azure stretching to the horizon, dotted only by distant uninhabited islands. After a few days of sailing, life had become a hazy routine: eat, snorkel, chill out. Repeat. We were in the middle of nowhere, paradise-style: a sea of high-definition azure stretching to the horizon, dotted only by distant uninhabited islands. After a few days of sailing, life had become a hazy routine: eat, snorkel, chill out. Repeat.” And I remember thinking that this is how one ought to explore islands. This is exactly how I wanted to explore islands! And that is how the trip to the Philippines came about… I considered different destinations and kept discarding options, I recalled this article, which had seemed like a dream then and thought, why not?

Unlike the popular variety of 1-day island hopping trip that were offered by tour operators in Palawan, TaoPhilippines offers a 5 day expedition starting from El Nido or Coron. My introduction to Tao itself was there website, which is extremely forthright in stating that ‘This is an expedition… we don’t promise that all will go well. And if you aren’t prepared for this or for camping and roughing-it-out, this is not your thing’. Which was exactly my kind of thing. Tao itself was started when 2 friends ran out of money exploring the islands of Philippines, so they decided to take other travelers on their journey’s to make money.

Our trip started at Coron (in the North of Palawan) and over 5 days we sailed towards El Nido (a beach in the South of Palawan). We were 22 of us along with around 10 from the crew. I had read it would be 5 or 6 people on board, and in my mind this number was a big crowd. But it turned out to be perfect – in many of the islands, there were almost none others but us. There was no set itinerary and each day we would set sail, with the expedition leader deciding the route and destination for the day. Through the day we would stop at different spots to snorkel or enjoy a beach or visit a small village. At nights, we docked at an island and we stayed in open huts or cabins. Sometimes the islands had big settlements; sometimes it was an island that was 15 minutes wide, walking. Dinners were simple and were around a big table where we came together and kicked back over beers.

At one island stop, the boys-on-board played basketball with the local kids. At another, one of the village houses had an age-old karaoke plugged into a TV, and we whiled away the night singing all from Bryan Adams to Elton John to Billy Joel. On one of evenings, as I was enjoying the sunset, I was surrounded by the local kids, and unlike the usual ones who tend to be shy of strangers, demanded I take photos of them. On the last day, the boats rudder broke and we had to sail straight through the day while the crew was manually guiding the boat.

I imagined I would have loads of time on my hand during the trip to idle away. Idle away, I did, but time flew too quickly and looking back those 5 days have meshed together to one long image of the sun, sea, starry nights and happy faces. It was a trip like no other for me!

Read the NYTimes article here. For more details of the trip, go to TaoPhilippines. Don't forget to check their FAQ page which has quite a lot of details about getting to Coron/El Nido in Palawan.

PS: Now that I do go back to article to link it here (funnily enough, I hadn't read through it for my planning), it sounds very very similar to my experience, including the karaoke!

Easy, breezy...?

It was easy…  is the one thing that keeps coming back to my mind, thinking of my first solo trip.  It was like a breeze, with days flowing one after the other. And just like that, it was over! I did prepare myself for a lot of ‘me-time’, but through the trip I ended up meeting people who found their way to me.

The highlight of course was the island exploration trip in Palawan - when I was reporting in for the trip, the lady at the counter asked if I was alone and gave me a curious look. I asked if there were other solo travelers, and she scrambled through all her papers for the longest time and said, ‘don’t worry, there is M also’. 2 out of 22 - you do the math! But from the moment I walked into the pre-briefing room and squeezed in between R and W, and one person took a dig at my vegetarianism, I knew it was going to be ok. And it turned out to be fabulous – over the next 5 days, I’d like to think we all discovered a little bit about each other, swapping travel and life stories, had some in-depth discussions on love, life and such matters with a few, and sang karaoke like no one was listening (well, no one was listening in fact. We were in a remote island with a handful of houses and using an age old TV-karaoke set up at one of the villager’s homes). It was the best and has made me have a re-think that ‘group’ trips, which I am usually not a fan of, may not be bad after all.

On the other hand, there weren’t major earth-shattering revelations or self-discovery moments.  But as always, I love hearing other people’s stories and their views on life and what they want out of it.  And of course, fellow travelers want to know more about India, and there were good many debates on the country and for myself, if I was / should be doing more.  All this leading to a many introspective moments.

I probably packed in a lot less in the itinerary than I would have if I traveled with someone I think. I gave myself more time so I could figure things out as I cruised along, and sometimes that means delays and change of plans too. (All of which, could be entirely avoided if the trip was fully pre-planned, but where is the fun in that?). And sometimes, I did get a bit lazy too… But hey, the feeling that there is nothing that is a ‘must-do’ is liberating.

All in all, I do realize, it may not always be this easy, but I couldn’t have asked for a better start.

PS: I did post from time to time on FB some of my reflections, so some speak-easy style posts on their way!

PS2: And yes,  Palawan definitely has some crazy beautiful beaches!!! some photo highlights here...

The many islands we passed over the course of 5 days, Palawan

One of the beaches we stopped at...

Divers caught in action

Bohol's Chocolate hills...

The church at Loboc, which was my base in the island of Bohol

Uncharacteristically Bangkok

And I was wondering how I found myself conned into carrying on with a trip to a country in the middle one of its worst floods in a decade. Yes, I was on my way to Thailand and the cab driver cheerfully informed me that Bangkok had had an ‘emergency’ alert on the floods just that afternoon… I have heard many stories of the one dreadful rain in Mumbai, which saw people stranded in offices, buildings, buses for hours together; I can only imagine the upheaval to life and yes, also worry I may get caught in it. I expect a wet, gloomy and damp Bangkok, and but instead a warm and slightly sultry evening greets me, not a whiff of rain in the air. It was a quick trip, and it was almost surreal to imagine just kilometers from where I was traveling to the Chao Phraya was swelling with abundance and threatening to destroy.

Some random thoughts from an uncharacteristic Bangkok trip.

Suvarnabhumi ... meaning golden land. There is a nice thrust to the syllables (we call it spashtam or pronouncing with emphasis) as the name rolls of my tongue. As I say it, images of civilization in the heights of glory, rich kings and queens, an abundant land flash by and leave behind the sense of hope and vision behind the simple name. The name has its origin from Sanskrit.

Can't remember when I last saw this many pink taxis.

A one day trip is too short. I remember scenes from the movie Hangover 2 and see nothing like it.

This skyline has nothing characteristically Bangkok... I am glad for the smaller number of glass walled tall skyscrapers. With these multiplying, pretty soon, I worry one Asian city may look like any other.

A view of the city

A lot of the signs, name boards are in Thai and it is hard to spot the English text amidst it all... makes me think how so used to the prevalence of the English language I've become.

Thrilled to find the traditional namaste (put your palms together and bow so ast to welcome) is still in use. Immediately, I feel a sense of regret; we (in India) have lost so many of our smaller, yet characteristic elements to blend with the West. This is not what makes or breaks us as a nation. Still.

The Marie Claire in the coffee shop is on Thai. So are the international titles – Gossip Girls and Peter Mayle’s books.

All books in Thai

Don't get to have my favorite pineapple rice. Lunch is in a government company cafeteria. For a dollar.

Doesn't matter how cheap the food is, I still don't find as cheap books as in India.

The sky train is hardly crowded... My colleague says people have headed home early to avoid the floods... the Chao Phraya is harder to reign in.

And before I know it, I am back at the start. Warm and safe. Suvarnabhumi.

The mythological story - Churning of the Milk Sea - from one of Vishnu's several avatars portrayed in the airport