It’s already been a couple weeks since we pulled into the marina on the north side of Phuket island, where we intend to leave Tamarisk until we depart Asia in a couple months. We’re accustomed to seasonal weather delays like this one by now, and although they can be frustrating on the one hand, they give us necessary time to do repair work and make plans and arrangements for our final (and most logistically complicated) passages back to the Mediterranean Sea. More importantly, they give us time to explore inland in a way we probably otherwise wouldn’t if we were free to keep sailing uninhibited by mother nature.

So we’ve buttoned up the boat and embarked on a new land-based voyage that will take us through Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. As we’ve done a couple times already on our voyage, the next few weeks will be dedicated partially to our usual sight-seeing and routine, and partially to researching charity related causes in this poverty stricken part of the world. We’re joined again by Elliott from Focusing Philanthropy (“FP”) and will be visiting some NGOs already supported by FP, some which are candidates for future support, and generally trying to form a better understanding for what needs exist in this part of the world and how they can most effectively be tackled with donations from FP’s supporters. All this gives us a rather unique opportunity to see the world from a distinctly non-touristic perspective, and we often discover things suddenly become much more interesting once we get off the usual tourist track.

For the time being though, we’re sitting here on Khao San Road, arguably the most absurdly touristic street in the most absurdly touristic city in the entire world. And we’re reminded of this each time we step outside the hotel door when the ridiculous offers begin flying at us from every direction: sight seeing tours, taxi rides, cheap suits, rubber band helicopters, balloons filled with laughing gas, grilled scorpions, things that make frog croaking noises, knockoff Viagra, and of course prostitutes…. all of it at bargain basement prices we’re crazy to pass up. And as interesting as that probably sounds, we suggest tempering your enthusiasm because the novelty wears off rather quickly. Unless there’s a reason we need to return to Bangkok in the future, this might be our last experience on its shady streets.

So we’ve now lined up our Vietnam and Myanmar visas and are ready to head to Hanoi, Vietnam tomorrow morning. We have a string of charity meetings lined up for the next few weeks, so we’ll be moving quickly and trying to squeak in some sightseeing whenever we can. Off we go!

Thailand’s west coast is world famous for its stunning vertical cliffed islands, idyllic white sand beaches and turquoise coves. A few have have made their way into popular movies like Leonardo Dicaprio’s The Beach and the James Bond film The Man With a Golden Gun. All the fame has caused the area to become a bit of a tourist trap with no shortage of excursion boats and and cheap trinket shops, but we’d generally agree with most of the praise this place gets. And we’re the first to admit the unique beauty has left us slack-jawed more than once.

It’s the rainy southwest monsoon season, which means we’re dealing with unpredictable weather many days. More importantly though it means our movement any further west from here is effectively blocked by the opposing wind. So we’ll be basing out of this area around Phuket until at least late November when the northwest monsoon develops, which will power us through the next (and final) major leg of our journey. We’re perfectly happy with this forced “delay” – it gives us plenty of time to explore the Thai islands, discover what notoriously crazy Phuket is all about, and also privides an opportunity to do another major road trip, this time through Thailand’s neighboring countries in south east Asia.

For the past couple weeks though, we’ve been focused on the smaller islands east of Phuket, and have been bouncing around like a pinball, rarely stopping for more than a night in each place. That changed a few days ago when we arrived in Phi Phi Don, as a big weather system is now ripping through and pinning us down here. Our pathetic attempt to leave yesterday for Phuket lasted just 10 minutes before 35 knots of headwind and 5 meter swells quickly forced us to make a U-turn, and we’re now settled back in the shelter of Phi Phi Don’s famous Tonsai Bay. We’re joined again now by Antra who we last saw in Indonesia a couple months ago, and like a true adventurer, she’s been nonstop smiles while bouncing around with us in the monsoon, and we couldn’t be happier about this addition to our team.

The Mallaca Straits aren’t known for being a spectacular destination for cruising sailors. Its fame instead comes from its history of rampant piracy, which fortunately for us, no longer is a concern. Sailing here these days is mainly about getting through the Straits without hitting anything, and stopping at the four or five semi-interesting places along the way, with the main goal of getting to the more interesting waters of coastal Thailand now just a few miles to our north. The additional concern at this time of year is the southwest monsoon now in full force, meaning foul weather can be expected on most days and the risk of vicious squalls is looming issue.

And so our journey up the Straits has been a fairly typical one… boring at times from a touristic and sailing perspective, but fascinating in some unexpected ways. Around the cities we’ve seen construction and infrastructure development happening at a pace we’ve only ever heard about… cranes swinging from half built skyscrapers, brand new billion dollar bridges, and what appear to be new fully developed city suburbs without a single resident (we believe the funding coming mainly from China). We’ve read about places like this, but to get a glimpse of it first hand has brought new meaning to the phrase “developing world”.

On board Tamarisk the consuming issue has been the weather, with only a few hints of sunshine during the past week, and thunderstorm dodging being a daily routine. As we approach the Thailand border here in Langkawi we’re now entering a more scenic sailing area with rugged lush islands appearing from all directions. Although we haven’t done much exploring on them yet, we’ve found shelter from the weather and enjoyed the view from their leeward shores.

We’ve completed our outbound clearance from Malaysia and fully stocked the boat with “duty free provisions”…. a boom industry here in Langkawi. In practical terms, that means we have a huge amount of alcohol on board that we purchased at about a third of normal store prices, and if we can smuggle it past the Thailand customs agents without getting levied there, we’ll have saved a handsome sum. Phuket is the first port of entry in Thailand, and legally we’re obliged to go straight there for quarantine, immigration, and customs clearance. Like most sailors who make it up to these parts of the developing world though, we interpret these rules loosely and will be spending a few days exploring the more southerly Thai islands before making our formal arrival in Phuket. So with that we’re hitting the “publish” button and casting away from our last Malaysian port, and putting our 42nd country astern.