Back in 2008 I took a month off work and traveled to Singapore, Thailand, and Cambodia. Without a doubt one of my favorite trips to date. I was living in Manhattan at the time and was ready to take a break from that island and see some more of the world. Luckily I had some good friends staying in Singapore, so it was an easy choice to start my trip there for two weeks and then head off for my maiden solo voyage abroad. There are many experiences that I could share with you from that trip, but one that I have some decent photos from is probably a good place to start. I went kayaking for the very first time, in the Andaman Sea no less!

From Singapore, I flew to Phuket, Thailand, and as happens while traveling, I met some new friends right off the airplane. We ended up staying at the same guest house, shared some meals, and met up a few days later on another island. I love that part of solo travel. It’s so easy to meet people, especially when you are all new to a foreign country and aren’t quite sure where to go.

The sightseeing kayak tour was set up ahead of time with the same guide used by my friends the previous year. Early one morning I was picked up in a nondescript van and was driven over an hour north of the town of Phuket, along with the only other tourist on the trip. Mark was also a photographer, and at the time was living in what sounded like a very interesting and unique place in India called Auroville, a self-described ideal or universal township. We got along great, and we were thankful to have the guide and tour all to ourselves since it was technically the offseason.

Some of the details are blurry at this point, but I think we then got on a passenger boat that took us another hour along the coast to our guide’s boat with the kayaks strapped on top. We then proceeded to explore the south end of Phang Na Bay. We would land our main boat on the beach of a tiny uninhabited island and then take the individual kayaks out on excursions from there to anything interesting within paddling distance. One of the coolest places we visited was Koh Hong. At low tide, you could kayak through a passage into its hollowed-out center or lagoon, formerly a cave system that had collapsed long ago and filled with water, all surrounded by high cliffs.

One cherished memory is after spending some time on another gorgeous island, walking along the sand taking pictures, Mark and I were called to lunch. No sooner had we reached the guide’s blanketed spot on the beach, beneath a towering rock face, when a man in a boat arrived to hand-deliver hot Thai food right where we stood. It was hard to believe. Talk about service.

Since I decided to try my hand at kayaking for the first time on the sea, it was challenging to keep up with Mark and the guide, who were both very experienced. At one point I thought for sure I would tip over and fall in. On the dark side of one island, where the water dead-ended into a sharp and porous rock face, the water was so rough, it took all my strength to get through it.

After 24 hours of multiple flights, and long van and boat rides, I was there, and it was all worth it. At the end of that tour, I was dropped off on the large but more remote island of Koh Yao Noi, where I spent the next few days. I distinctly remember during that visit riding on the back of a scooter at night, looking up at the milky way galaxy, feeling very full of awe and delight. There are more stories to tell, like visiting my friend in Pattaya, while he was acting in a Jean-Claude Van Damme film! That was crazy. Let’s save those details for another day. What an amazing trip! The next post will be about Angkor Wat and Cambodia.