Strikes and Gutters
Trip Start
Feb 27, 2007
1
14
30
Trip End
Jun 01, 2007
Haad Rin Noi, Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand
Monday, April 16, 2007
At the same time, more seems to have happened in this past week than in the month of travel before. I'll try and briefly go over the stories.
1. I first arrived in Samui - a sort of touristy destination - but I stayed at an extremely laid-back little resort made up of tiny beach bungalows, perched on the northern point of a big beach. On the first day I went down to the restaurant/beach and started to kick back. Next thing I know this older guy askes me where I'm from in the states. Turns out this guy was Lebowski, only more successful. His name was Laird Baker, and he was a quite a talker. Apparently, he was a tour manager for the Grateful Dead in the 60s and early 70s, rode with the Oakland Hell's Angels, and had all kinds of stories about people like Janice Joplin and Jack Kerouac. It was a super-weird, 2 and a half hour conversation that spanned from the guy's home in the mountains of California (where he grows - you guessed it - wine grapes and weed) to "the goddess" and how the universe can't possibly be empty. I had a great time listening to all of it, though.
2. I've learned a lot about different languages in the past week. I've learned some Thai phrases, including how to say thank you: "Khap khun krahp". I've also learned a little of the Queen's English from some friends I made at the Samui resort. Some examples - "Chip Bitty" is a french fry sandwich, and "severely twisted" means you are wasted. One interesting mix of the two languages is "super mow", another reference to drunkenness.
3. Thailand has an annual New Year festival called Songkran, which is a 3-day event that, this year, fell on April 12-14, the New Year being located on Friday the 13th. Fireworks and beach barbecues were some of the celebration rituals, but the most interesting and fun one was that on the streets, at all hours of the day and night, there are people with buckets of water and water guns, and they pretty much hose everyone walking or driving by down. Also, they tend to throw talcum powder on people right after. The water is supposed to be good luck for the new year. When my British and Canadian friends and I went out, we brought no electronics with us, having been told beforehand we would get drenched. The locals were right, I've never seen a bigger water fight in my life. People even get in front of cars and vans on the roads, stop them, and make them roll down their windows for a proper soaking. To make things more interesting, on the night of new year's eve a HUGE rainstorm blew in at roughly 3 am. I and the people I was with were at a dance club, deep in the heart of the trance-fueled dance floor. All of a sudden, I noticed we were getting sprinkled with water. There were some water guns in the club, so I just assumed that was the source. Then the water got more and more intense. I didn't know what to make of it until I looked straight up. There was no ceiling above me - the club was sort of half indoors and half outdoors. We were getting rained on, and it became positively torrential. Everyone on the dancefloor started cheering and dancing with more enthusiasm - it was the perfect beginning to the new year! Returning home, I didn't have a stitch of dry clothing on me, and I loved every minute of it. I think that it was one of the craziest experiences I've had on the trip so far.
4. Got my pocket picked by a Kathoey (Thai for ladyboy, pronounced Ka-tóy). When you're walking on the streets they try and come up to you, offering all kinds of weirdnesses. The best thing to do is to keep walking and shove them away as they try and grab onto you. Unfortunately, one got to close to my friend and I because just after, I went for my wallet and it was gone. Luckily for me, there was no money in it, so it hasn't been a problem - but it HAS been annoying to cancel my credit card and ATM card, I had tons of contact info for people I've met on the trip that is now probably laying in some gutter by Chaweng Beach, and the wallet itself was a special gift that I am bummed to have lost.
Those are the major highlights of the past week. I am still wating for some photos from a buddy of mine, and it's also a little more expensive to use the internet here, so I'll wait to post pics. Until then, be well!
