When I first envisioned this trip, I was to start on the other side of Eurasia. The idea was to practice my shamefully bad language skills along the way. I can speak a little French, less Arabic, and even less Korean. The idea was to work my way across North Africa, practicing French and Arabic where I could, and then go along the north side of the Mediterranean, getting more French practice, and making my way to St. Petersburg, where I would take the Trans Siberian Railway to China, where I would try to learn Chinese by immersing myself in it for three months...because, well, it's more useful than Korean.
So, I've decided that even though I'm in Thailand, I might as well give it a go anyway, so I picked up a copy of Herman Hesse's Siddhartha at one of the local second-hand book stores. This actually has special significance to me since, since I read the book in English many years ago, and it ignited in me a passion for Buddhism, which is at the heart of why I'm doing this trip. Also, although it didn't occur to me in the bookstore, the last time I was in Thailand, four years ago, I read Steppenwolf (also by Hesse).
I'm making my way through Siddhartha in French pretty well. I can understand about eighty per cent of it, which I find really surprising. I've been getting to practice my spoken French too. The cool thing about where I'm staying is that it's full of French speakers. The person who secured the place for me is a French Canadian, and my neighbors are from France. I was even invited to a neighborhood party full of French speakers. It was good fun. I got drunk and stoned with a bunch of older French people!
That kind of behavior though, was more or less a one off. I actually haven't been drinking, or smoking a lot...although this is definitely the island to do it, for those inclined. Especially on the south coast, of the island, where ninety per cent of the traffic seems to be. More on that in a minute.
Aside from the occasional hiccup, I've been walking the straight and narrow path. I've been settling into my little home here, and keeping mostly to myself. I've established a pretty good routine, actually. Most days, I wake up early, anywhere from six to nine, and go for a jog. Then, in no particular order, I do yoga, meditate, go for a swim in the ocean, read, and make something to eat. That usually brings me to about noon, at which point I jump on my scooter, and rip around the island, mucking around until late. Then I go home, and read for a while, or make something to eat.
I may be getting a little too settled in here. The local animals are getting friendly. There are of course, dogs and cats, but there are some more interesting animals as well. A pair of strange, and hilariously noisy birds are to be seen (and heard) every morning. Sometimes, one of the them breaks into my kitchen looking for something to eat. He's gone in a flash when I come into the kitchen, but I throw a bit of cereal out the window, and they are happy to eat it. Also, Although they were at first very shy I now realize my house is crawling with gekos. I love them, because they eat mosquitoes. There are even a cow and a young bull kicking around.
I get stir crazy fairly easily though, so at midday, instead of communing with various animals all afternoon, I've been exploring the island.Despite this, I think I went an entire week on Koh Phangan without seeing Haad Rin, which is the best beach on the island, and home to the monthly full moon party. I think it might be a record. Most people that come the Koh Phangan are only here for a couple of days for the big event, so for them, it's off the ferry and to the Haad Rin area for libation and debauchery.
I seriously considered not even going to the full moon party, as it's sort of anathema to my purposes here. But, I thought, why not at least take a look around and snap a couple of photos. Well, I got out of there at about eight thirty, just about the time people started dancing to techno, chugging down buckets of alcohol, and playing with fire and kerosene. Basically, the party was just getting started, and would continue for another eight hours or so.
Frankly, I was frightfully bored. But so it goes, when you're in your early thirties and traveling solo for purposes of self-discovery. Honestly, I don't know what I'm still doing in Koh Phangan.
No, that's not true. It's a beautiful island, with excellent food, and some really great beaches and a good climate. Best of all, it's got some great roads with lots of good corners and plenty of ups and downs. More than anything, I've been enjoying ripping around on the scooter I've been renting. I suppose Koh Phangan as good as any place to get grounded and contemplate my futher travel plans, party people not withstanding.
Speaking of my travel plans, it looks like I'll be meeting an old colleague from my days teaching English in Tongyeong. The plan is to meet in Bangkok for Songkran (Thai new year). From there, I plan to do a yoga retreat in Cambodia and then possibly meet two other former colleagues from Tongyeong in China. Vietnam and Burma will have to wait, I guess.
Tune in next time, where I'll be coming to you live from...
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