Travelogue Four: Time Drifts By...
May 2nd, 2003
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Hi everyone!
This installment is brought to you by Andrew today (okay, he wrote it the other day but still...). Congrats to Rob aka Odeo for winning the contest- the stinging water was jellyfish! just very very small see through nail size ones. Of course Rob had the advantage of diving in Thailand himself on Ko Pi Pi and getting stung too, well maybe it wasn't an advantage really. Lots of love to you all!
*steph*
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It’s Friday, May 02, 2003 according to my computer, which I have to trust, since I have lost all internal perspective of space and time. Of course, time is relative anyway. While it’s 5:55 pm here, and the sun is getting low on the horizon, and the longboats are sputtering back to their home bays with the last passengers of the day, it’s 6:55 am in Toronto. Many of you are just hitting the snooze button for the first time, trying to put off the inevitable start of the workday.
"Thank Goodness, It’s Friday, you mutter while you, depending on your inclinations, light up your morning smoke, guzzle a litre of coffee, or grind a few carrots in the vegimatic. "Only one more day of crap before my exciting evening (choose one): a) drinking and dancing at an ultra-cool party; b) having a few pints at the pub with the co-workers; c) watching the City TV Great Movie at 9 pm; or D) doing laundry.
Steph and I are beyond all this drudgery now (with perhaps the exception of laundry). After five weeks in Thailand, time is no longer a compass in our lives. With out Outlook Calendars free until March 2003, our days and nights tend to blur together. We’re on Standard Coma Time. Suddenly, Dali’s artwork seems less inspired and more a reflection of an exceedingly unstructured life. Monday droops into Tuesday, which morphs into Wednesday, before suddenly reappearing after Sunday with an ugly hangover and needing a shave.
"Big Events that help distinguish one day from another include: finding a new (often bigger) insect, discovering a tasty dish on the menu, locating a still-cheaper internet cafe (our best pick has new computers and charges only 30 baht per hour, or about $1.00 CN), or seeing a tried-but-true movie on satellite TV (like Sixteen Candles for Steph, or Mission Impossible II for me). Steph and I realize that writing this particular travelogue and making it somewhat interesting is going to be a bit of a stretch, since we simply haven’t done anything since Travelogue III.
OK, I’m exaggerating -- we’ve done a few things. We did have a fantastic visit with our friends Aubrey and Lara. Like the beautiful jet setters they are, they breezed in from Bangkok and landed at the neighboring island of Samui, then took a short speedboat ride over to Phangan. The rang us up to inquire as to whether we would be partaking in the aforementioned Full Moon Party, which we declined, but instead promised to meet them at their bungalow the next day.
Our private Full Moon was a quiet, but pleasant diversion at Haad Khom: we had a full-on fire and a few drinks before retiring to our less-than-comfortable bed (which was not so much infested with ants as simply overpopulated). The next morning, we hitched a ride into the smelly fishing village of Chalok Lum, rented a scooter, and putt-putted our way to the west side of the island.
Aubrey and Lara were staying at Haad Son Bungalows.(See http://www.phangan.info/haadson) It was a step up from our residence in the way that Whistler is a step up from Blue Mountain. Haad Son had, for starters, a paved road. (Haad Khom’s roadway would’ve stopped the US advance into Baghdad; the ruts were deep enough for kayaking during rainstorms, and only Teflon coating could have reduced the traction of the loose gravel.) Even more impressive, Haad Son had a pool! And a beautiful, shady chill space! And 24-hour electricity! And really, really good food! Aubrey and Lara were checked into the nicest (read cleanest, newest, almost bug free) air-conditioned bungalow, driving despair deeper into our hearts, and making us cling to our friends tighter than ticks (which is very clingy, if you haven’t had the firsthand pleasure of tick company). We stayed for lunch, dinner, after hours entertainment (Scrabble), and only when it was clear we wouldn’t be offered a bed for the night did we wish Aubrey and Lara safe journeys and headed home.
Our remaining time at Haad Khom became an excruciating endurance test, especially after our new friend David left for Bangkok on the 19th. Steph and I realized that a big part of our enjoyment of the Haad Khom had been David’s presence. Without him, the endless relaxation, the swimming, the beautiful sunsets were all a little flat. Thankfully, a few days later, David sent his sent his honey, Danielle, down to Koh Phangan for some R&R. She brought news, fresh stories of travels in Laos, and a warm energy that help pass the lazy days away. To keep our spirits high, we circled the date on our calendar: on April 27, we would have stayed at Haad Khom one month (satisfying our discount agreement) and could move on to Haad Son.
Move we did. We’ve been lounging by the pool now for five days now (or five years - who knows?) -- and are enjoying the change in scenery and diet. Our bungalow is on a ridge overlooking the ocean, and has shuttered windows that we leave open all night. The insects are sparse on this side of the island, but there are still a few mozzies, so we sleep with the mosquito net down at night. It’s very romantic - like being in Africa, or living a scene from The English Patient.
The staff here are completely different than the last resort. They are working all the time, cleaning the bungalows, sweeping up blossoms from the lawn, raking the beach. They like to sit down with us when we order food, patiently waiting for us to make up our minds about dinner. They are friendly and smiling, and very laid back. They try really hard to communicate with us, but a lot of the information gets distorted during transmission. Example: The breakfast patio was shaded by a coconut palm. I asked if a coconut had ever hit anyone eating. (Don’t laugh. Falling coconuts are a leading cause of head injury here.) The staff spent the rest of the day trimming the tree and cutting down unripe nuts, presumably because they thought I was worried. I felt terrible. In any case, the language barrier leads to the simplification of speech patterns, making us think along the lines of 1984’s NewSpeak: "Day warm. Maybe rain later? What to do? Ah, go to town, use internet, get doublegood pizza.
But I digress. Easy to do since, as I mentioned before, time has no real meaning. Our stomachs and the rise and fall of the tides guide our days more than quartz crystals or precision Swiss movements. The next Big Event that we are waiting for is the arrival of Jason and Kelly, followed shortly thereafter by the lovely Susan. We’re looking forward to the company, the delivery of some new paperbacks for that voracious book-eating machine named Steph, and being able to have a conversation in real time (using polysyllables). Have good day! Thanks for emails! Remember Mom. Talk later, OK?
Andrew and Steph Koh Phangan, Thailand
