"The Beach"

It was the night of September 1, 2006. No matter what I tried to do, I couldn't fall asleep. I was in a comfortable bed, the air conditioning kept me cool, and my belly was full. But I couldn't fall asleep... my mind was racing too much, because the next morning I was going to be playing in my first college football game returning punts against Wake Forest in North Carolina. The anticipation kept me up all night, the excitment mixed with some nerves. Why am I telling you this story? Well, there have been very few times in my life where I've had the same feelings that kept me awake that night in the hotel room in Raleigh-Duram, North Carolina.

Last night I had those feelings.

Most of us have seen the movie "The Beach", Leo DiCaprio's movie with him and the unreal beach. It was filmed on an island called Ko Phi Phi Leh, right next to the main island of Ko Phi Phi Don where I was staying. It is a small island in a chain of small islands that is protected by the goverment, which means construction is regulated or prohibited. Construction on Ko Phi Phi Leh is prohibited and therefore there are no accommodation options. Day tours come in and they come out, and public transport to this island does not exist. But since the movie came out, Ko Phi Phi Leh has become the biggest tourist attraction Thailand has ever seen. Hundreds of people each day flock to Maya Bay, the beach made famous by the film for its unbelievable water color and limestone cliff back drop. After much investigation, swimming in peace and quiet without boats and people is impossible, and from 9:30-3:30, forget about even snapping a picture of just you and the wonderful background. The beach is way too small and the boats and people are too a-plenty. As I wrote before and as cliche as it sounds, this beach was what sparked my interest in Thailand. If God came down to me and said, "Max, I'll give you this beach to yourself for 30 minutes, but in exchange you have to wipe out all of your memories of your 10 weeks of travel," it wouldn't even be a thought, I'd take that deal in a heartbeat. Obviously, this deal would never even be an option, and unless I yanked the motors off of every boat within a 100 mile radius, I was going to be sharing it with hundreds of others. So how was I going to make sure I had this beach all to myself, even for just a little bit?

I wrote that when I arrived on the main island of Ko Phi Phi Don a few days ago, I found this awesome deserted beach with a few locals living there. One of the locals is a squid fisherman, who fishes all day, comes back to the shore to pick up his wife, and sells the catch at the night market. Khai, the squid fisherman, was nice enough to give me a lift all the way back to the main beach I was staying at one day when it started pouring. So I went back to that beach the next day, and with the help of a translator, worked out a deal with Khai. Khai agreed, as I expected he would, and I told him I'd see him tomorrow. So how does all of this relate to the night before a first game and staying awake all night and blah, blah, blah?

The alarm on my phone went off at 5 a.m. It didn't wake me up, though, as my eyes were wide awake the entire night. Sleep? Impossible, with the thoughts of what was about to happen. I woke up four other people in the dorm who also wanted to come along, and we got ready. At 5:15 we stopped at a market and stocked up on chips, cookies, water, and bananas. We had a thirty minute hike ahead... Khai was waiting for us at the deserted beach with his long tail boat. I walked as fast as the group would allow, back through the rocks, over the hills, and past the jungle. It was just before 6 when we reached the deserted beach, and waiting for us was Khai, right on time... he was about to take us to "The Beach", and god damnit I was going to be the first one there.

With Charlie and Jordan from London, KJ and Stian from Norway, and Khai the boat driver, we set out for the famed beach at 6:15 in the morning. I was going to have that beach to myself, and I was just minutes away. We pulled into Maya Bay at Ko Phi Phi Leh at around 6:45 and sprinted to the sand. We sat on a tree stump and dumped out all of our snacks. We waved good bye to Khai and thanked him for the ride and the bananas he gave us. We dug into the cookies and cereal we bought, chugged some water, and looked in awe at what we had infront of us. Here it was, the famous beach that was so nice a movie was shot here. Here it was, the biggest tourist attraction in all of Thailand... And I only had to share it with four other people. And all we did for 30 minutes was sit and repeat to eachother, "We're here... and it's just us."

The boats started pouring in at 9:30, and by 10:30 it became a circus, not a beach. One of the Norwegians and I took a swim to one of the corners of the bay where there weren't many boats, and when we returned we couldn't even see the sand because it was end to end with boats. The sand was as crowded as it was for the Full Moon Party, but by that time we didn't care. We knew it was going to be like this. And it was all okay, we didn't mind. Let the tourists snap their "priceless" photos with 2,455 people in the background. Have fun snorkelling with 490 people next to you. Have a good time dodging a speed boat trying to dock on the beach. We had our two and a half hours of absolute solitude, and there wasn't a tourist or a boat in sight.

It was just us... and "The Beach."