Koh Phangan II: Nomads
December 27, 2015
So since the other three have gone, it's been a quiet couple of days here in Phangan with Lenny and Felix. Frankly, if it weren't for the Full Moon Party, I would much rather we were on our way to our next destination, as this measly island starts to feel stifling and stagnant. We've pretty much exhausted most of the things to do here, and at times have resorted to staying back at the hostel for lack of anything better to do. It doesn't help either that for the last three or four days, it's been raining down a sickly amount, making a putrid soup of all the litter sown like seeds across the island. As a result of both the weather and our general malaise, we've bucked the trend of partying each night and instead downloaded some movies to watch as the hostel. To the amusement of our roommates, they would walk in at midnight finding the three of us squeezed into a single mattress, giggling to Love Actually (a Christmas classic) or shrieking from The Conjuring. They probably had to peer into the darkness of the room to make sure that their three male roommates didn't suddenly turn to females overnight (as is otherwise common in Thailand). One of the streetside shacks we've called "ours" was even kind enough to accommodate our request one night to watch The Secret Life of Walter Mitty on their DVD player, as the traffic snaked and squealed behind us on the main road. Our affinity with movies the last couple of days has been so strong that I'm considering starting the Ko Phangan Film Appreciation Society, which could be just as quickly dismantled due to its reliance on illegal torrents and bootleg DVDs.
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| Me and my unfaltering quest for the love of dogs |
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| Pupster and I |
The rain, nevertheless, would never be enough to stop us from pursuing foolhardy adventures. This mentality is also the reason why insurance premiums for males aged 17-24 are so expensive. Having already forgotten the lessons learnt from Doi Ithanon, we rented bikes for a day to explore the rest of the island. We hurtled down the empty mountain highways like a dandy outlaw motorcycle gang, teasing the nonexistent speed limit as the road tossed and turned but making sure our hair looked good after taking off our helments.
We uncovered the nicer part of Phangan, to the north and east, where the low-lying swamps were replaced by unsullied jungles and the listless open beaches were replaced by spectacular coves. We spent only half an hour at Salad Beach, but really took our time to enjoy Thong Nai Pan Noi, which even Lenny at this point could pronounce without adding in extra syllables or sounds. We'd lie on the beach, adjusting to our reduced company, and chat as the sun ran its finger down our skin and the surf cracked upon the sand.
At this point, it's just about expected that an accident would occur. This week's incident was the product of an ambitious attempt to reach Bottle Beach on our bikes, even though a considerable stretch of it was downhill and on coarse, unpaved ground. On the maps, there's a big exclamation point and the words "Warning: Dangerous Roads" stamped on the turnoff. To Lenny, this was an open invitation from the King of Thailand himself to come test the quality of his roads. Halfway down the first hill, less that fifty metres into the turnoff, my bike skidded on the rocks and slipped underneath me, gouging out a good part of my knee in the process. Of course, this injury came at a time when my number twos were just starting to resemble something solid and the burning sensation in my sphincter was going away. There's no escaping Thailand.
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| All patched up |
I ended up having to get three stitches for my knee, as well as paying out about AUD$400 for damages to the bike. No beaches prescribed for me, and I'm on a brew of antibiotics for the moment. This is the same predicament facing Lenny, as he too had to finally get medical attention for the cut on his foot from nine days ago whose infection had ripened nicely. Felix too has been floating in and out of feeling unwell. So here we are after half the group have left for Australia, a bunch of cripples doddering across Thailand like war veterans, being cajoled by Lenny into his next bad decision.
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| First time Lenny has his thumbs down. The nurse was brutal with cleaning his wound, as if she was trying to exorcise a devil from it or something |
A couple of injuries didn't stop us from undertaking some great hikes. We went and saw Phaeng Waterfall on a day it wasn't pouring, and we even succeeded to ascend Khao Ra, the highest peak on the island at 630 metres in an hour. It was a demanding climb especially towards the end, and probably ranks up there with Grouse Mountain in Vancouver. What made it more enjoyable was not only the views of the surrounding islands from the peak, but the hitchhiking that we did to get there. We'd flag down pickup trucks on deserted rural roads with only stray dogs for company, and when they were gracious enough the three of us would pile in the back and think why we would ever pay 100 baht for a taxi again.
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| The view from the top! |
Christmas, for better or worse, was spent on Ko Phangan. In the German tradition, we celebrated both on the 24th and the 25th equally, indulging ourselves by going for breakfast and dinner at a fancy seaside resort. We caved in to the inflated prices and replaced our beloved island fruit shakes for cocktails, and caved in to our desire for Western food by ordering sumptuous burgers. Lenny must have been particularly enjoying it, since his epileptic eye kept winking at me the last few days (this could also be a delayed effect from the excessive strobe lights in Chiang Mai clubs). He was also very sweet enough to buy Felix and I fake football kits as presents, and while most locals here have made it very clear that I look Thai, I'm sure that a fake jersey would help Felix camouflage himself through the use of the unofficial national attire.
We enjoyed our meals at the resort so much that we resorted (pun intended) to stealing pizzas from other tables when they weren't looking. On Christmas Day itself, the skies cleared and we were treated to a spectacular sunset from our table overlooking the water just as our deluxe burgers were making their way onto our table. It was luxurious, and although by no means the best Christmas I've done, it was definitely a memorable one.
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| Pre-Christmas Eve: The first time we haven't gotten noodles or rice for brekky |
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| Christmas Eve with these two |
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| Christmas Day |
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| Cocktails and cigarillos: ein bisschen das Leben genießen |
The event on the beach was replete with the same sorts of things we'd seen partying on the other islands, except on a much larger scale. There were fire dancers and people jumping fire ropes, and I had to repeat to myself to avoid those things. The crowd as the same juiced up set of tourist partygoers, absolutely defiling and otherwise nice beach by dumping bottles and cigarettes everywhere. The sand was somehow permanently slick with liquid, although whether it was seawater or alcohol I do not know. I think it was definitely worth attending, especially to see Lenny trip over a set of steps and plant face-down in the middle of a street vendor's stall, but I doubt I would do it again.
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| Befriended these bunch of Americans from our hostel |
At the moment we're in Bangkok now for one night, and boy are we exhausted. It's around 1 in the morning, and Lenny has only recently transitioned from drunk to hangover. In the airport, we tried the hottest curry I've ever tasted, that sent all three of us into sweating fits. It doesn't sit well in our stomachs even after a couple of hours. The boys are upstairs in the bunks having a snooze after a quick visit to the Red Sky Bar and a trip down Khao San Rd sober for once. Luckily we're only staying here for one night, as we're reminded how maddening it is to constantly have to barter all the time, and Bangkok just has this ridiculous stench of sewage that comes out of nowhere but hits you in the nostrils with a one-two punch. Tomorrow we take a 12 hour bus ride to Cambodia, and I just hope we bring enough Hong Thong whisky on the bus because the thought of having to sit through a 12 hour bus through rice paddies and banana plantations on those buses sends more shivers through me than that curry did earlier today.
