June 29, 2005

Kata and Karon

I had intended to go swimming today but the red flags were out on both Kata and Karon beach. Goh has a row of beach chairs that he rents out for 50 baht each. They had probably been full when he had been working on Dec 26th. He saw the water go out all the way to the small island in the middle of the bay which must be more than a km out. Thankfully he ran the other way and the wave was blocked from going any further than the road because the beach has a slope and is lined with trees. Karon wasn't as lucky and there were people and bulldozers out today restyling the beach and walkways. Today Goh had the time to sit with me on the sand, as the chairs were already swept off, but there was nobody to sit in them.

On Karon, I waded just to get a little bit wet. I was only in less than knee high and the force of the water pulling back into the sea was so strong I had to struggle for balance. The waves were about a metre high and the undertow about 1 foot. Imagine the waves 10 times as high with 10 times the strength coming in and then pulling back... I just started to understand how the water had been so powerful as to break through the concrete walls on PP.

I ate a delicous crispy catfish. It was cooked with fried basil leaves and sticks of peppercorns with a little bit of red chilies. This was at Natural Restaurant which is overloaded with plants and decorated with statues and violin clocks and goldfish in tanks inside a TV shell. A very romantic atmosphere for me and the mosquitos! P

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