After sorting out the payment for the lodging and everything, we dropped our heavy packs in the room and went downstairs to unwind and let the heat leave our bodies. Our hostel was a really nice place fitted with a clean kitchen, nice living room (fridge included), and a breezy patio.
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| Sweet relief |
We took a seat at the table on the patio and let relief set in. There was still plenty of daylight left, so we began discussing our options for the day. There was the beach, and of course exploring the town. My fatigue from the heat was still weighing me down considerably, so I was in no mood for either. We decided on both checking out the town and making our way to the beach after a shower and a shave... and some more time relaxing in the shade with a cold drink, of course.
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| The view from the patio and Canadian Phil |
It was my first time in a hostel, and I was quite pleased. The price was enough to make me happy, but what I really liked was the laid-back atmosphere of a home that the place had. It was far from the formal atmosphere that hotels tend to have, which can be exciting, but is nowhere near as comfortable. A big part of that atmosphere was the family-like relationship between everyone in the hostel. Sure, you had to bear in mind that any of your fellow hostel mates could potentially rob you blind if you left the opportunity open, but still, everyone shared that risk. I think the fact that everyone has to be more trusting of each other in this situation lends to them being a bit more open with each other. Plus, most backpackers are cool as.
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| Jimmi in the kitchen |
Being vaguely aware of the kind of folk hostels attract (through stories of friends or stories of friends of friends,) I was eager to meet our house mates. And I wasn't disappointed. The first friend I met in the hostel was a super cool and inspiring individual by the name of Zsofi. I found her sitting on the couch with her laptop, casually tapping away at the keyboard. She'd been travelling around with her boyfriend for a while, and had landed in Thailand for an indeterminate amount of time. Zsofi didn't have a job at the time and didn't really know when she would have one, just that she would have one at some point. And yet she just sat on the couch chilling out totally relaxed, thinking about what else to do with her time in Thailand. Totally easy-going and confident. Awesome person!
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| Zsofi, keeping watch over the fridge |
After more lounging around and idle chatting, I managed to summon the strength to hoist my heat weary body up from the couch and up the stairs to the bathroom. Thai style bathrooms are really cool because the shower isn't seperated from the rest of the room at all. There's just a shower head sticking out of the wall and a drain in the center of the room's floor. So I cranked the hot water and set to soaping, shaving, singing, and dancing around the room, enjoying the sunlight pouring in through the window.
I came back down to the common room feeling totally refreshed and was ready to go. So Navid and I decided to meander down to the beach. And it really was meandering. The streets that climbed the hill our hostel was on wiggled and swerved every which way, making no sense whatever. But we stumbled along, vaguely following some informal directions we'd received at the hostel. Upon making it to the bottom of the hill and close to the beach, we found more shops, restaurants, etc. that you would expect to find in a beach town.
It was getting to be the later hours of the afternoon, and things were quiet, but in the bars and along the edge of the beach there was a feeling in the air that only now was the town awakening. Awakening, and getting ready for... something.
So we walked on down to the beach. I was hoping to get a little peace and shut-eye while I enjoyed the sound of the waves and sunshine. However, this was not in the cards for me. As I mentioned, we'd stumbled into a tourist dream vacay getaway and found ourselves on a beach completely covered with umbrellas and beach chairs. Loud, coconut and oil scented drunks milled about, raving and hawing in God-knows-how-many languages. Instead of the sound of waves and sunshine, I enjoyed the sound of drunk German and sand being kicked up by some fool as he marched down to the beach for some para-sailing action.
After an hour our so of doing my best to relax and enjoy myself on the beach, we decided to head back to the hostel and figure out some dinner. Walking back through town and passing the bars again, it seemed that the excitement in the air had intensified. The orange lights in the tiki bar had been turned on. Things were starting to get serious.
We returned to the hostel to change, I being not as rested as I had hoped and in need of some food. We took a little time to relax and talk about dinner and chatted with some more of our house mates. We all talked about who was from where and what there was to do in town. I met a Brit residing in Indonesia with a passion for professional appearance. I've never met anyone in my life so intensely passionate about something as mundane as ironed shirts. But those were his feelings and made them clear.
And as I had made clear to Navid, I myself had quite strong feelings about green curry. So we picked up and took off in search of the town's best green curry. The hill we were on was actually covered with smaller mom'n'pop restaurants and bars, so it was a matter of wandering around and falling into a seat somewhere. So we allowed ourselves to be ushered into some decent looking establishment and did just that. I didn't even need to look at the menu. It would be green curry and beer, of course. I still wasn't feeling 100% and, as we talked over our dinner, I began telling Navid about my concerns for the evening and the rest of the trip. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to go on, and the outlook for the rest of the week wasn't good either. Navid listened and nodded agreeably, saying things like, "Well, why don't we just take it easy for a little while" and "Let's have another beer" and "Let's have another beer." I was so glad to have such a patient, understanding friend. However, unbeknownst to me, the crafty devil had other plans in mind. At some point early in the week, Navid had discovered that while I do not always respond to words of encouragement or taunts, I had a particularly good response to alcohol.
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| I found a kitten! (Note: this kitten was NOT later cooked and served to us. We did that in Korea, not Thailand) |
So he ordered another round of Chang and we talked about Thailand, and I started feeling pretty good. Maybe I wouldn't have to stay in that night. Maybe I could go out and see the town's night life, just for a couple of drinks. Maybe we were going to have an AWESOME time tonight.
Before I knew it, I was ready to go. We paid the bill and walked downhill. We followed the energy that seemed to be radiating from the town instinctively and felt ourselves drawing closer and closer to whatever it was that we would find. Suddenly, turning a corner, we had walked right into the middle of IT. The streets were packed with people, roving from bar to bar, shouting across the street, clamoring and crowding at bar entrances. Bass blasted from open windows of every bar. The entire block was a seething mass of activity. The sickly sweet smell of trash in summer heat mixed with the scent of sweat and alcohol. Navid looked at me with a grin on his face. "Whatever happens tonight... let's just plan to meet back up at the hostel if need be" I said. He nodded. And with that, we dove in.
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| The only photographic evidence that this night ever actually happened. Probably for the best |
