The kite, the sea, the wind, the drinks & the babes. Khai Wee or better known as Andy, one of our fellow kitesurfers, the most passionate among the lot, talks about his experiences along the journey to Hua Hin, Thailand. All in the name of kitesurfing…
For those who are not familiar with the term “flashpacking”..it’s simply a more luxurious way of backpacking where your choice of accommodations are not limited only to hostels, chalets or guesthouses and you can afford to have a higher daily traveling budget
. Actually I was supposed to go with my then girlfriend(ex-gf now)…quite obvious we broke up before the trip hence i go alone.
Having said that, I started my journey from Malaysia on the faithfull day of 9th January and back to Kuala Lumpur on 31st January 2009.To add salt to my wound..I was travelling with 2 of my best friends and their wife and girlfriend respectively. Well, the plan was that we travel as 3 couples…but shits happened sometimes
Come to think of it now…it was a blessing in disguise coz I would have to spend more for 2 persons.hahaha…the kiam siap(a chinese dialect slang which means stingy) side of me.
my plan was to spend a few nites in Bangkok with the boys and their other half, then move on to kitesurf in Hua Hin and the rest will be decided later…my travelling motto was to go with the flow,u see.So as anticipated, the 1st few nites were uneventful and predictable…shopping, eating, drinkin..nothin much really…same same but different like what the Thais would have say it.
The journey really started when i left Bangkok alone to Hua Hin…i’ve never been there. And I was really looking forward to kitesurf there. I boarded an early morning bus with my oversize bagages comprises of a kiteboard bag, my kite(packed into a 60 litres backpack) and my backpack…i was looking like this humty dumpty walking around with my kite bag on my back, backpack hung in front of chest(my leg was never visible) and my kiteboard bag over my shoulder. till today i still can’t believe i did it. that was pretty much how i travelled for the next 3 weeks from hua hin to koh phan gan then koh samui and back to bangkok and eventually flew back to Kuala Lumpur(home).
I contacted Yo before i arrived in hua hin, my kitesurfing friend whom i got to know in a competition in Kuantan,Malaysia(he was the 1st runner up in tt competition). He owns a kitesurfing school in Hua Hin, the plan was to meet up with him so tt he’ll bring me to some nice spots to kitesurf. True enough Yo didn’t dissapoint me. I was goin places to kitesurf in hua hin with him and his fellow instructors and students.
so after 3 hours of a fairly comfortable bus ride from bangkok.I finally arrived in hua hin. i was dropped in the middle of the town with NO civilised or shall i say proper taxis in sight. so as i was walking around with all my baggages…an elderly man(well in his 60′s) came up to me in his bicycle trishaw asking me to hop on…i was like ‘u gotta be kidding me,man’..i mean come on…i weigh about 70kg and my baggages were nothing less that 20kg…..the old man could have gotten a heart attack in the midst of cyclin…so i walked on tellin him off….after 10 minutes of walkin pointlessly and still with no proper taxis in sight. i relunctantly gave in to his persistent assurance that he can do the job of fetchin me to Yo’s school which according to Yo is only max 15 minutes away from where i was by TAXI(the ones with four wheels and an engine..that is)
so i hopped on…surprisingly we managed to put all my baggages in the trishaw…as i expected it…we were movin like a bloody snail…there were times that the poor old man has to jump off from his bike to push us(me n baggages to the other side of the road to avoid being hit by passing cars coz we were just too fuckin slow) the trip to Yo’s kiteschool took us 30 minutes….i was so glad that we make it alive and gladly handed him a 100 baht note and pityfully asked him to keep the change (the supposed fare was 60 baht)….
upon arrivin at the school, Yo was already there waiting for me…all he said to me was ..welcome n let’s go…take ur board n kite ..they r waiting for us…well, what happened was the beach in front of the school where we were supposedly to kite surf is too narrow to launch and land our kite due to high tide…therefore the rest of the gang has gone to a place which is 30 minutes away by bike to kitesurf…Yo came back purposely for me…how thankful i was…so off i go with him to the secret spot.
after 30 minutes ride on Yo’s bike which half of the time i was trying not to let my kiteboard fly off…he was travelling so fast and i was carrying this board which measures 144cm in length…not an easy task indeed…believe me!!!!
Finally we ARRIVED!!!!….and YES….it was all worthwhile…it was blowing like crazy…the wind was so strong ..at least 18-20 knots….the guys were already setting up their equipment. Without hesitation i took out my stuff to set up while looking out to the sea…the image was a sea of rough surfs with big chops everywhere with strong COLD wind…yeah i forgot to tell you…the water was freezing…i’m talking about 16-17 celcius water temp…it was damn cold!!!
but i couldn’t care less…i didn’t travelled this far to chicken out by the cold water…fuck it…i’m goin in…i quickly pumped up my kite, set up the lines, put on my 2 layers of rash guard. i signalled for YO to help me launch my kite…he asked me whether i want to eat 1st..i told him no thanks…i’m fine..come on,i didn’t come here to eat …i came to kitesurf..i don need to eat man…
he launched my kite…the beach was not very wide but enough to launch…the surraounding was this quite little fishing town with a stall nearby that sells some local thai food n drinks. once i got my kite up i quickly grabbed my board n head out to the sea. i can still remember the 1st step i took into the icy cold water…..my balls shrinked!!!!literally!!!that was how cold it was…well to late to chicken out now..i’m already half wet….so i dived the kite and went on my board….
suddenly…something magical happened…i don feel cold anymore…my adrenalines took over and i was as happy as a little kid playin with his toys…total freedom,i felt the calmness of a single minded focus which is me,my kite,my board,the wind and the sea..all in one…no worries, no thoughts…nothing!!!! ..with that i kitesurf for at least a good 3 hours non stop…that’s life dude
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