I stood and stared curiously at the man infront of me. He was certainly taller and no doubt stronger than me, but I wasn't scared. I'd find out later that he had recently been training as a Muay Thai boxer and so any physical confrontation probably should have been avoided at all costs; but, in my eyes, I had little choice. What did he expect me to do? He had asked me a question and the small crowd around me were awaiting an answer.
Had I been sober I probably would have reacted differently. But in my hazy Rum ridden state there seemed no other option and besides, a few seconds had now past and the situation was becoming ever more risky. So I reacted as any man would. I clenched my fist, slowly raised back my arm and in one swift movement thrashed him across his Tom and Harrys. For a moment out eyes met. Mine crossed with fiery determination and a aire of curiosity; his initially aglaze with a smile that slowly drifted to a sickening fear. I paused and explained, 'yes. Yes I do know what the capital of Thailand is'. To smooth things over, I went for a drink or two. In fact, my for my first week in Thailand that's pretty much all I did. I had arrived on Khao San Road, for some, backpackers paradise - but it was messy. There were other sides to Bangkok though. The Grand Palace and Wat Prakeaw were golden and sparkly to attract the simplist of simpletons and so I was VERY attracted to them. Likewise, it was pretty amazing seeing the Emerald Buddha statue at Wat Phra Kaew. The background behind this being that despite travelling for hundreds of years across South-East Asia as an intricately carved wooden statue, only when it was damaged by a lightning storm in 1434 was its emerald treasure truly uncovered. It was impressive, until I got told off for taking pictures. Bangkok has odd smells. One corner whiffs you with incense, then some-kind of meat based concoction and finally with a derrière pong. I haven't seen any other pong yet, but that seems as easy to get to as a tuk-tuk. It's very easy to get a Tuk-Tuk. For the perversely tempted, Bangkok is the city of temptations. Heading south, next stop was Koh Phangan's Full Moon Party and a stay at The Dancing Elephant. Despite being somewhat disappointed with the lack of flamboyant trunks (although I did later purchase some pretty luminous swim shorts) I at least found myself some Yankedoodles, Criminals, Double-Dutch, Beefeaters and Canadians to hang around with. Some Green Curry later and (as usual) we went drinking. The beach, the beach, the beach was (at least partly) on fire! Fire ropes, fire limbo, fire hoops and fire entertainers flooded the sand; whilst, the air often had a few fireworks.... But at least there were a few buckets to deal with any imminent dangers. Unfortunately, I suspect these buckets would worsen the situation, containing as they did a full bottle of rum, a red bull and a can of coke (and by suspect I mean know, a firefighter kindly told me so). Thus, it was quite hot. So as a group we elected to cool off. Not in that nearby sea, no, instead we had the bright idea of delving into the on beach foam party. If you the reader (and I talk to you specifically not in that novelistic or radio presenter manner of making you feel individual and special, but rather as the readership of this blog is likely to be totalling one) take any advice from this blog be it this - beach foam parties are not a good idea. I left dressed as the Sahara. After a day on the beach, we spent the evening watching some Muay Thai Boxing. They were bashing each other for sixes and sevens. As some of them only looked six or seven, this made for quite a disturbing sight. Although, a few fights and drinks later we were all going at it hammers and tongs - I'd feel guilty later though, perhaps the tongs were a bit much. Hours later we were listing to the words "Barbra Streisand", "Riverside" and "We no speak Americano" on repeat until the cows came home. I did not bring any cows home, just a headache and some dirty clothes. The morning after, people hobbled and stumbled to find cups of tea and their own choice of fruit juice. Some hobbled more than others as many were burnt, scared or had some rather unfortunate sand rashes. But this wasn't everyone. Crashing through Amongst the zombies came bright eyed glowstick lovers with more energy than the duracell bunny. It was 12.30 and for some the party was still in full swing. Something tells me they weren't on the mango juice. Walking on the beach the next day was like walking in to a pub in Bermondsey, as I found myself trying my best not to be glassed - or at least my feet did. Instead, we jumped on a boat and headed over to the other side of the island to somewhere where this problem would siece to exist - the inappropriately named Bottle Beach. We spent the day playing ultimate frisbee and cutting up coconuts. I was going to start drinking again, but I lost my bottle... Ba dum dum splash. Partied out we headed to Koh Tao to baske in the sun and swim with the fish. It rained. However, after a day of rest, we went on a boat and snorkled around all of the bays. I saw sharks, Tiger fish, and more colours of fish than a rainbow. We finished the day at the picaresque Japanese Garden, it was a good way to finish. P.S. You look really good today and that top really suits you.
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Samuel FryTraveller Archives
June 2011
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