Dharma bums

Dharma Bernie has already told the story about how we got to Koh Phangna, but, like all good stories, there is another story. After we’d spent a few days in frantic Bangkok last year, we knew that THIS year’s trip would have to include some down time on the beach. While doing some deep research on the trip, Normano googled ” Nude Beach Thailand,” and up popped Haad Rin on Koh Phangna in the Gulf of Thailand. We arrived at the pier in Haad Rin after a 45 minute ferry ride from Koh Somui. The ferry had been packed, probably two airline flights worth, and it was raining and the sea was rolling. Don B was up on the deck with a bunch of drunk Irishman. They were sailors on leave (literally – fisherman from the Irish Seas) coming to Koh Phangna to get drunk in wild – and the couldnt’t wait. One these guy drank two beers and a half pint of Old Bushmill during the 45 minute trip. The others weren’t far behind. Whoo-ee!!!

The ferry arrived and the Bums headed into Haad Rin. The small town has achieved a sort of international recognition for it’s monthly “Full Moon” party – a “must do” for the backpacker set. Every full moon, approximately 30,000 backpackers and fun seekers come for the party. It’s kind of like a monthly ” Burning Man” with fireworks, fire dances and trance music but without the the desert – or the art. Even in between the full moons, it’s a hot location, and it would soon be Saturday night in Haad Rin.

The plans for Koh Phangna had solidified last fall following a call from Normano to Don B. “Don,” Norman sad, “I think I’ve found the place. Go this this link I’ve sent you.” It was for the Light House Bungalows – the very last guest house on southern tip of the island. We couldn’t get there by car – we’d have to walk, it was so isolated. It was perfect!!

The Bums walked through the narrow concrete street of Haad Rin, through the tattoo parlors, Thai message shops, liquor stores, restaurants, moto rentals, guest houses, and Internet cafes. The sounds of Bob Marley, the Eagles, and English Soccer games fills the street, along with motos racing by, and locals asking us if we wanted to book a tour, get a message, or have some food. Most of tourists looked different than the Dharma Bums…less experienced…thinner…more tatoos.

We walked through town till the road ended, then kept walking along dirt roads, following the signs, up this hill, down that hill. Finally we’d reached the end of the beach and development and the only thing we could see was a wooden walkway along the rocks, above the water, curling around the point. We followed it until we finally reached the Lighthouse Bungalows. It was all that we’d hoped for – beautiful view, quite, with a constant sea breeze. We walked in to meet Carla, the owner’s girl friend and day manager, who was expecting us – and we were set.

We soon fell into an island routine. Get up pretty early (for Haad Rin), have breakfast, then beach time or blog work, followed by more beach time, then a nap, then back into town for dinner, then back to the Lighthouse. Carla told us about a shorter walking route the Lighthouse, walking directly along the beach.

Normano quickly found a local restaurant that became our home away from home. The place was called “Mam’s Resturantt” and was run by a woman named “Mam” though she was not the woman of the title. Pretty soon, it was breakfast, lunch, and dinner at Mam’s. I wouldn’t say Mam’s was a “hole-in-the-wall” – it wasn’t that nice – but the food was definitely local and great fun to eat. We began to work our way through the menu. Mam explained that she worked all the time, too much. She was always there – litterally. She slept on the floor, and if somebody came in early, she’d get up to serve them. And she kept late hours, too.

We wanted to see what the Haad Rin party scene was all about. After dinner at Mam’s on Saturady, we headed down to the beach. It was 8 pm or so. There were tables and chairs set up all along the half-mile beach. Local staff were busy preparing for the rush, setting up “whisky buckets.” “Whisky Buckets” are the Haad Rin way (and probably a lot of other places out here). A “Whisky Bucket” is a small plastic bucket, a pint of cheap/potent liquor, some mixer, and straws. You get the fixen’s a bucket of ice, the straws – all for 150 bhat. They probablly had 200 buckets set up just in the area we were in. And it was that way up and down the beach. It’s a sure and cheap drunk. That’s the way they roll here!

Normano bought a bottle of wine, and the Bums settled down on the beach to watch the party unfold. After a while, the wine was gone but the party had not begun. Normano decided to head back to pad; Dharma Bernia and Don B would stay abit longer. – But our research latter told us that the Bums would have to wait a whole lot longer – the Haad Rin Beach Party starts to pop about midnight and is really underway from 2 – 5. Unless they roll back the beach party to an earlier time, like they’ve done with Midnight Mass, the Bums would not make many of these parties. – After another beer, Dharma B and Don B headed home.

When they returned, the found that Normano was getting to know the neighbors. He introduced “Chili Willie” and his friends. They were Austrian, and you could tell that Chili Willy had done some living and knew the score. His friends were cool, too: 36 year old Roland had a shaved head and was working on a string beard from his chin that was already 4 inches long; Hans knew about Jimmi Hendrix.

The next morning the Bums headed back into town for breakfest at Mam’s. She was tired. Her business thrives on the parties. She’s cooking all night and then sending the kids home with food in their drunked stomachs at sunrise. By 8 am she’s ready for the morning shift – us. We had breakfast – by now we were way past the “American Breakfast” – going local – and then walked around to survey the damage. In they alley ways, local people sorted through the bottles and trash, sorting it for pick up. Down on the beach, drinking straws scattered all around were the most visable sign of the scene the night before. That and a few really destroyed looking tourists.

Haad Rin is changing. The nude beach is gone, replaced by bungalos. It’s now commerce with a capial “C.” There are signs for rooms, bungalos, “Tribal, Funky, Progressive” Happenings . There is also building everywhere. More bungalos, and even hotels. Who knows, maybe condos will be next. But on my last day, we talked with Dam, the owner of the LightHouse. He’s a local, has studied economics, worked as an accountant in Bankgok, and has a ten year plan for his place. I asked him if Koh Phangna will be the “next Koh Somui” (which is seeking to be the next Phuket). He said it would be better, that they had learned from Somui. This time, the local people are holding on their land, not selling it to developers. He’s got a bar in town, down where the parties happen. The proceeds of the bar – from the Saturday night and Full Moon Raves, are funding the fullfillment of his dream. And he’s adding to his land.

Sunday morning and we were in Siem Reap, gateway to Angkor. We were off the road. The first order of business was to have a doctor look at Don. Neil and Don headed off to the Clinic while Normano and Bernie checked out the local breakfast scene.

The doctor was from Thailand. After inspecting the wounds, she numbed things up, and then cleaned and stitched the wounds. Neil took pictures. She complimented Neil on his wilderness emergency treatment. After watching her work, Neil was ready to add emergency stitches to his first aid repertoire (and getting some of those cool needles for his first aid kit). By 10:30 we were heading back to the hotel. Don had 7 stitches, prescription drugs, and instructions to come back tomorrow. (Because this is a family oriented blog, we are not posting Neil’s pictures – unless you ask)

We hired a car and driver to take us Angkor. For the uninitiated, Angkor is actually a very large area with numerous temples, including Angkor Wat. Neil had recently visited here with his sister Natalie and was well prepared to be our guide. We visited five temples over the course of day, with stops at the makeshift noodle shops and water/snack shops along the way for sustenance. Our driver waited for us between temples and dodged the police guards to avoid paying fees (he complained that they shouldn’t be out on Sunday, saying they were just out there to collect money for themselves on their day off).

While we were climbing through the temples a guy (Aussie by accent) came up and pointed at Don’s bandages and asked “Motorcycle?” Don said “yes” and the guy laughed and proudly held up his arm to show a really ugly scar. “I got that on a motorcycle in Thailand last year” he said. Don hoped his scar would turn out a little better.

I can’t really describe the temples other than to say they were awesome. The sheer scale of each temple site was hard to fathom, the size of the stones and buildings were most impressive, the carvings and detail were everywhere. Unlike the temples we’d visited the day before, there were also lots of tourists. Because the temples themselves were so very impressive, the tourists weren’t too much of a distraction – but I wonder what it will be like in 5 or 10 years when Cambodia really gets into the international tourism business (and you can see that Siem Reap is building the hotels for that future). We took plenty of pictures, but they don’t begin to capture the place; hopefully these pics below provide some sense of our experience:

The trees reclaim their territory from the temple

Gateway

Patio

Buddha

This monk said prayers for us (we would need them)

Dancers

Approaching Angkor Thom

Stonetemple

Gonzo

Bernie & Don

Peaceful face

Churning the milk

Neil and Bernie

Dharma Bums

Neil paced our visit perfectly. By late afternoon, we were hot, tired and nearly overwhelmed by the beauty and experience of the day. We finished with Angkor Wat, the most famous of all the temples. What to say…except it is incredible. As we finished our visit to this most awesome temple, we stopped for a rest and a treat, and then  contemplated the temple and our day.

The size, beauty and sheer mass of the temples are amazing. It is also sobering, to think of the wealth and power of the civilization that built it and then disappeared. Like the tides, civilizations rise and fall …and the jungle waits.

As the night fell, we headed back to town. We were ready for a rest, a shower, and then a taste of Siem Reap. It was a full moon…

That night we headed out to the streets to find dinner. There were a lot of people on the streets, and that made it kind of wild because the streets were torn up with sewer construction. It was even crazier because the crews were still working on the streets even though it was night time.

We headed over to an area where there were restaurants and bars. Music blasted out from the bars, mixing on the streets with the sound of construction and children selling books and post cards… moto drivers asking if we needed a ride – or a massage… disco music, rock and roll, traditional Cambodian music and barkers outside the restaurants extolling the virtues of their menus. Don stopped to buy some postcards from a group of children, and we picked and Indian Restaurant.

After dinner we headed up the street to find a pharmacy and a bar. One of the little girls from group that had been selling postcards followed, calling to Don and complaining that he should have bought her post cards instead of from an other girl. As we walked along, she became more violent and began to curse him. She was 9 or 10 years old. She called on him to buy her post cards. She followed along cursing and complaining…just a little girl but a very foul mouth. “You are a bad man. Fuck you. Bad things will happen to you” — it just kept pouring out of her (and we wondered where she learned English – particularly this brand of English).

We went into the pharmacy to buy some bandages. She waited across the street. When we came out, she took up her complaints again, calling out above the sounds of the street construction and music from the bars. As we were walking down the crowed street, with the little girl following and cursing, Norm felt somebody bump into him and try to reach into his pocket. The street was packed with people…locals, tourists, and who knew what else. It was getting pretty weird on the streets of Siem Reap.

We went to a bar for some Beer Lao. The little girl followed, cursing and complaining. At first it seemed like a “shakedown” of some sort, but she had now spent a good ninety minutes in this pursuit. She seemed to have totally lost it. “You shit, you bad man, you motherfucker, I curse you” etc, etc. She just went on an on and seemed totally possessed by her madness. We stopped for another beer and she stood outside and continued her cursing. Finally Don went out to talk to her.

She said that Don had talked to her first but then bought postcards from another girl…he should have bought her postcards. She told him she was ten years old and got stuff to sell from her boss. She began to calm down a bit. Don paid a dollar for a dozen cards. He said it was for his karma, and he wondered about post-traumatic stress.

We finished our drinks in peace and headed back to the hotel.

That night, “Undercover Brother” dubbed in Khmer with English subtitles was on cable TV. Who knew how it translated or if the locals knew it was a comedy?

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