Buckets in Bangers, Birthdays on Beaches
on My Thai (Thailand), 22/Jan/2011 14:27, 34 days ago
Well, the big 3.0 has finally arrived....I was so excited to have a much needed week away from work and began it in style (well, perhaps not‘style’...maybe ‘enthusiasm’ is better) last Thursday.Being the end of our working weeks, my fellow volunteer and nearest neighbour (a mere 30 minute bus ride away!) Nicola and I had decided to make the most of our proximity to Bangers. I think we’ve both been feeling frustrated work wise and, without wanting to sound like full blown alcoholics, thought a good few drinks were warranted and needed! It was my first taste of Bangkok nightlife and I think we were both feeling a little giddy about staying out past 9pm. Tragic, really!So, in honour of my old age, we’d planned a few harmless hours around Khao San Road.After work I hurriedly packed for my trip and then bussed it to Nicola’s plush apartment, dumped my rucksack and taxied it into Banglamphu.How can I describe Khao San...?It reminds me of Fresher’s Week at university: full of people who’ve just touched down and are all wide eyed and eager for whatever Thailand has in store. And just like Fresher’s Week, you’re bound to spend the rest of the year trying to live down whatever took place in those first few days! It’s sort of infectious...as we discovered to our cost! We’d both been saying beforehand how ill equipped we felt for any kind of social situation though - it having been so long since either of us had experienced one!After grabbing some food, the drinking began and I hold Nicola to blame for everything that happened from this point on! Her orders were that we drink‘buckets’ – who knows what was in them but the results were lethal! Anyway, over the course of many drinks the night’s highlights included being hideously embarrassed by a ‘Happy Birthday’ serenade, smoking a minty hookah, watching an impromptu Irish dancing session and learning more about Iranian national service.So we ended up sat on the street as it grew light– me trying to sober up and Nicola searching for yet more buckets! At this point we lost each other, or rather she disappeared! Let’s not go into the rest of the day’s events, just say that I eventually caught up with her that afternoon and rescued my bag in time for the night bus to Trat. Still, it was a good night and it’s encouraging to know that someone of my advancing years can pull off an all-nighter. It’ll most likely be another 3 months of sobriety now before we’ve recovered enough to venture out again!I took the last bus to Trat that night and, having missed out on sleep the night before, managed to grab a few hours during the journey.Arriving in Trat at 4am, I’d arranged for a free pick up from the speedboat company that would take me to the pier. Instead I was met by a con merchant who fed me a line about why it would actually cost me 300Baht, which was more than my bus fare from Bangkok had been. Well, at 4 in the morning I could not be bothered arguing so, making my dissatisfaction known, paid up and took the most expensive sawng tao ride of my life through pitch darkness to the pier in Laem Sok.After a few hours of waiting, the sun finally rose and at 9am the speedboat was away! Koh Kood is close to the border with Cambodia and, despite being one of Thailand’s larger islands, is still relatively undeveloped.Birthdays I normally find a tad depressing so, being away from home, I thought I’d better celebrate this one in style!Having said that, I felt a little guilty about choosing the resort I did. The only place I’ve every stayed that I considered ‘posh’ was back when I was 11 and, having cancelled a planned trip to Florida due to my mum being ill, we stayed at ‘The Grand Hotel’ in Torquay instead. I remember getting my own bedroom and eating cake with cream so thick you could stand a spoon in it.This remains my marker of a high class hotel! So, dipping into the ever diminishing ‘mortgage fund’, I took a deep breath and though ‘You’re only 30 once!’.I guess the view was ok,if you like that kind of thing!Shantaa, the resort, was amazing! I had my own‘villa’ (or ‘posh shed’, as I liked to think of it) with a stunning and uninterrupted view of the shore and the staff were all so lovely. I hadn’t even mentioned my birthday but on the day itself got a candled cake and a present! ‘The Grand Hotel’ was starting to have a bit of competition in the high rate hotel stakes!Quite literally'a loo with a view'While there wasn’t much to do or see, it was nice just to relax...at least for the first few days. After that, I’ll be honest; I was starting to get on my own nerves! I mean, who goes to such a gorgeous place and starts worrying about meeting their end from a falling coconut? Also, the place was so nice I foundmyself tidying up before the cleaners got there in the hopes they wouldn’t realise what a slob I was and that I just didn’t belong somewhere that classy!On the birthday itself I rented a scooter and decided I’d race around the island,Easy Riderstyle. Yeah, turns out I’m really not as cool as I’d like to think I am!Rush hourAfter a bit of advice from the lovely resort manager on‘taking it easy’, I revved my way down the sand track and onto the ‘main road’.About 5 minutes after that I learn lesson number 1: trying to stop a bike while revving the engine doesn’t work! I mean, surely that’s a design flaw – to squeeze the break my hand was automatically pulling the throttle as well (or whatever the motorbike term is for ‘vrum vrum’). This resulted, perhaps unsurprisingly, in me veering wildly across the road and landing in a rubber tree plantation. Apart from wounded pride there were no casualties but, while pushing the bike out of the bushes, I was wondering how I was going to explain breaking the bike so soon after being let loose on it! After a bit of help from some friendly and helpful locals I managed to get the engine going again andwas on my way.I was feeling pretty cocky and confident on the paved roads but, unfortunately, there were only a few of these on the island. Other than that it was rocks, dirt and sand– none of which suited my erratic speed control! Safe to say, I now have a few bruises from pushing the bike out of various unfavourable situations but it was all good!On my ride I saw a monkey riding pillion, another climbing a tree for coconuts, a waterfall, yet another gorgeous beach, a fishing village and acres of forest as far as the eye could see. After that it was back to the resort for an extortionately priced massage and more delicious food. All in all, not a bad way to spend a birthday!For most of the week I just lazed about reading and listening to music on the beach.Books read:·       A Brave New World Aldous Huxley·       Girl with a Pearl Earring Tracy Chevalier (Does this count as chick lit? I hope not– I’m far too much of a snob for that!)·       ½ ofLondon Fields Martin AmisHoliday soundtrack:·       She and Him·       Sun Kil Moon’sTiny Cities·       Staple Singers·       John MartynAfter a day of travel I made it back to‘The Armpit’ yesterday evening and am now trying to ignore the fact that I’m back in work tomorrow!I guess there’s something laughable about the fact that you can get the post holiday blues...while in Thailand!Still, it’ll be interesting going in tomorrow morning and seeing whether anyone noticed my absence!In just over a week Fhon, the VSO Education Programme Manager for Thailand/Burma, will be coming to check up on me. While I’m bothered about the report I’ll get from my organisation, I’m hopeful it’ll be an opportunity to share my concerns and refocus my activities here. One can but hope...