I think every haircut should happen on the beach.

Rather than walking today, I took my linens to Silver Sands and came home to wash a few items I didn`t finish off with yesterday. At 10:30a, I headed down for my 11am hair appointment with Tahn. Everything was ready to go. She has a kit with all of her tools, a gown from her hair school, a smock for me, and a surgical mask which people who cut hair wear while they work. With me in my place, she gets to work as I gazed off at the fish boats working on the Andaman Sea. They cut your hair fairly dry here, only using water from a spray bottle. The whole process took about 45min, cost 100baht, and turned out great. She did a fantastic job. After the cut, I headed home, grabbed my empty water jug, returned it to the main house, and carried a full 20litre bottle home. I was really humid today due to the rain we have been having, so I was drenched when I was through with the 200m walk. I had some lunch and took a shower, while I listened to music on my 11-2pm generated power. Tee-ha stopped by later on, to let me know that on Mar 15th, My BBQ bar, was having fireworks at sunset, followed by a free seafood BBQ. I thanked him for the information and will more than likely check that out. I decided to treat myself for dinner again, so I walk to Silver Sands for a few sunset beers, and then I continued down the beach to Bamboo Bungalows, which is one of biggest and oldest resorts on the Island. I had a dish called Phed Prik Moo for dinner, as well as a few more beer, and it was really nice. The resort is very beautiful, and the food was delicious. After I wrapped up there, I headed back down to Beach bar, where they were having a fire on the beach. We all sat around, and I had a nice conversation with a German woman about her travels. At about 11pm, the group of Germans headed back to their resort, and the rest of us headed into the main area and sat around the bar. We all chatted until about 1:30am, when we went our separate ways, and I headed up the pitch black road towards home.

I had my first "golden shower". I really don't see what everyone is raving about?

I should clarify. I awoke at 6am to the sensation of water spraying onto my leg from above. So I reached down, and yes, it was in fact wet. I got out from underneath my mozzie net, and looked up to see one of the Tokei that I share my bungalow with, on the beam of the pitch of the roof. Right above where my leg would have been. Bastard!After my walk, I stopped into the Beach bar, and set up an appointment for a haircut at 11am tomorrow. Tahn, the girlfriend of Danny the owner, has many trades to earn income from. She ``runs`` the bar for Danny, as he can not legally work, she has a Thai massage business, she cooks, and on top of it all, has been to school for hairdressing. So this should be good. It has been about 5 wks since I got my last haircut in Vancouver, so the ``do`` is a bit puffy at the moment! I chilled out at home for the bulk of the day, got caught up on my laundry, and at 3pm, I decided to actually make it down to the beach for a sunset. I had a few beers with Danny and Tahn, and stayed until the sun had disappeared behind Burma. Then I headed home for another quiet evening of dinner, music and sleep.

Back to the "grind".

I got back to my beach walk this morning. It was a really nice morning and not too hot. Today was basically spent getting back into the quiet life. There were 2 rain storms today, which seems to be happening on a daily basis. Maybe the rainy season has come a bit early this year. I spent the afternoon reading and listening to my Ipod, and my evening was spent doing much of the same. Not much to report at all.

Sala-pad... oh, how I've missed you!

I got up and decided that I would give myself some time, and take the 2pm boat back to the Island. This way I could see my friends at Kiwi and still have some time do shop for a few things without rushing at 100km/h. I head into town and see Jai and Lek at Kiwi for a few hrs. After having some breakfast and visiting, I realize it is getting close to noon, so I go back to Starcrab, grab a shower, collect my things, and clear out of the room. I used the Internet for a while, and head back from Steve. He will be in Kanchanaburi around Mar 23, so when my Laos Visa is about to expire next month, I will come back to Thailand on a 15day, to visit Steve and see Kanchanaburi and “The bridge over the river Kwai”. Should be interesting! With about ½ hr before the boat leaves, I head over to the Burmese market to buy some Sala-Pad, which is this Burmese spicy salad that I fell in love with last trip. It has got nuts in one bag, and greens in another. You mix them together, or at least I do, and eat it. I think the greens are made from chilies, garlic, and tomato, but there seems to be 3 varieties now. In 2007, there were only 2, regular and spicy. I bought 2 10packs, one for me and one for Tee-ha and his Aunt. Once it was all bought and paid for, I headed back to Starcrab, bought a beer for the boat, gathered my bags and headed for the pier and onto the 2pm boat. The trip was nice, and I chatted to a couple from Ireland. I was also given a flyer for a party on Mar 16th, on Koh Chang. I guess the girl has open a new reggae bar on a small beach there, and has arranged for a free boat to bring customer for Koh Phayam, over to Koh Chang. It sounds like a good time, but it’s a ways to go for an evening, and I don’t think they bring you back. So you’d have to stay at 1 of 2 places on this small beach. The boat pulls into the pier after 2 hrs, I head to the market and buy 24 beer, flag down a taxi and head home. I ask the taxi man to grab me some ice, and I unpack my supplies. He returns with my ice in about 30min, and tells me that while driving back with the ice, a cobra was crossing the road. He stopped the bike, and the cobra coiled up just like the movies! We both have a good laugh, and once I pay him, he drives off. I had some noodles and rice, followed by my first Sala-pad in 2 yrs. Once chilled, I enjoyed a few beers while listening to music, and saw a frog in my bungalow, which people have told me could be a sign that there is a snake around… eek! Perfect timing!

To Burma, and becoming a Thai fisherman.

I am up at about 6:30am, and out having a morning smoke on the stairs to my room, when the father gives me a wave and calls me “early riser”. I think he is amazed that I am up after drinking 5 quarts of beer the night before. He lets me know that he is heading to work for a bit, but will be back at 8:30am, and we can head off to check out his boat. I head to the Burmese market around 8am, to look for Patongo fro breakfast, but they have stopped serving it by the time I get there. It’s only made until about 8am, but you can also find it being made at roadside stands in the nighttime. In 2007, I would often get Lek to pull the motorbike over, so I could grab a few before bed. They are really nothing special. Just dough fried in oil, but they are damn good! There is a picture of them in my Facebook photos, if anyone wants to check them out. I find them the best in the morning with coffee. Especially Lao coffee, like shown in the photo. Anyway, on way back to Starcrab from the market, I cross paths with the 3 Thai men from Chumpon drinking Whiskey at a local shop. Keep in mind that this is around 8:15am and they are still WASTED. I say hello and they call me over to have a shot. I try to tell them that it is too early for me, but they will have none of it. I sit down, they pour me a shot, and I slam it back… which blows them away. I tell them in Canada, this is the way we do a “shot”. They start to pour another, and I say “Pom gin khao, mai gin lao khap”, which means. I eat food, not drink whiskey. Thank you”. They agree and say goodbye, I head to Starcrab and have some breakfast and coffee. The father shows up and tells me that he’s a bit behind schedule, as the roof started to leak in yesterdays rain, and he’s got 2 workmen there replacing some roofing tiles. We’ll be going in about ½ hr, so I have one more coffee while I wait, and read the Tesco flyer to get an idea of what household items cost for when I set up in Laos or Thailand. The workers finish up, so I grab my passport and things for immigration, and we had to the pier where he’s got his boat. He was a fisherman all his life, but now leases his boats to his brother, and acts as a mechanic when they come back to port. Each trip lasts 2 weeks, and the boats have a crew of 9. A captain, a #2, a cook, and 6 deckhands. It is really incredible that 9 people can live on this thing. The boat is big, and Thai people are somewhat small, but come on. I am guessing that they must sleep in shifts or something. He gives me a bunch of facts about how much diesel the boat uses per trip, how much fish the boat will yield, how much the crew makes per day(300baht for a low level deckhand), and what they fish for. His boats go out for small fish used in fish sauce, and squid. Nets are used for the fish, and he’s got a bunch of Burmese guys going inspecting and repairing them while we are there. A Burmese worker can not work on the boats, so they do the work while the boat is in port, earning only 200baht a day. Another fisherman shows up, and he fills the man in on the fact that I drank 5 quarts and was up at the crack of dawn. We all have a chuckle and then my host buys me a Carabou energy drink. Much like a RedBull, but is the product of a VERY famous Thai musician, for which the drink is named after. My host remembers that 2yrs ago, I joked with him about coming back to Ranong and working for him as a 300baht/day fisherman. He asks if I want to have a holiday on the boat and do a shift. I tell him that my stomach would never make a 2wk trip, so he tells me he can arrange a 3 day outing. I am guessing, it would be 1.5 day on a boat going out, and 1.5 day on a boat coming in. I politely decline, but thank him for the offer. When we finish our drinks, we hop back on the motorbike, and the to the pier for my date with immigration. I head to Thai immigration to fill out my departure cards and get an exit stamp, while my host negotiates a fantastic deal for transport to Burma. You can arrange a package deal through most of the hotels and travel agencies. The rates can be anywhere from 400-1000+ baht. There are longtail and speedboats running tourists to Burma for this Visa run, and it is quite a big part of the economy in Ranong, because it is the closest border point for many of the high tourism destination places like Koh Tao, Koh Phangan, Koh Samui, Koh PiPi, etc. Anyway, you also have to have a fresh, virtually, uncalculated American $10 bill, to give to Burmese immigration. They sell these in Ranong for 500baht, about $5US more than they are worth, but due to their scarcity and necessity, you pay what you pay. I, on the other hand, brought some for myself when bringing the $250US to my friend Jai. I will be able to do 5 of these Burmese Visa runs. For any other crossing into Laos, Malaysia, or Cambodia, you can use Thai Baht, American Dollars, or the currency of the nation you arrive in. In short time, I am stamped out of Thailand, and meet up with my host, who has arranged a round trip boat ride for 100baht. Haha! It will be a slow trip, but it will be with only Burmese people heading back, so it should be interesting. I say goodbye to my host(I will go back through this and enter his proper name once I get it down pat) and hop on the boat. The trip is pretty uneventful, so I basically take some photos and video of life in the port as we head to a Thai exit checkpoint. We all give the boatman our passports and papers, and he hops off and into the office. It takes about 10min, before he’s back on board and we head off to the open water between Thailand and Burma. The sun is getting high by this point and I forgot to pack my sun screen before leaving Koh Phayam, I will pay for this later. Due to the wind and the boat moving, it is nice and cool. This is a good thing, but can also trick you into thinking the sun isn’t burning you up. The boat continues towards Burma, and the water between these two countries is filled with boats going back and forth carrying both people and goods. As we near the Burmese checkpoint, we hand our document back to the boatman, and he once again heads into the office. Everyone gets a good look over by the very stern looking army men. With everything in order, he hops back onboard, and we continue to the immigration pier, after making one stop at a small pier to drop off a few Burmese passengers. When we arrive at the main pier, the boatman tells me he’s heading back to the first pier and will come back for me in about 20min. I hop out and head to the immigration office, trying to avoid being swarmed by all the young guys who try to sell you Viagra, Ciallis, cigarettes, and anything else you might be interested in. They are not too aggressive and they usually speak excellent English, so you can have a laugh with them. When I get to the office, one young guy offers to make a photo copy of my passport, and fast track my passport for 10baht, so I take him up on it. He runs off to make a copy(I know, never give up your passport!), and he’s back in 2 min, handing my documents to the officials. We chat for a bit, I give him another 20baht for the help, and then he’s off to make some more money from the pier. After about 10min, they call me into the immigration office, make sure the photo is of me, stamp my page, I hand them the $10US, and they hand me back my passport. Viola! Done. As I am heading back to the pier, I see my boatman, and he tells me that we’ll be ready to go in 10min. He just wants to drum up a few more passengers for the trip. I take a seat in the shade, and see that my right arm is bright red. The young guy from the office takes a seat beside me, and he have another chat until it’s time to go. I get back on the boat, and as we are leaving, the boat gets snagged on another boat’s bow rope. My boatman calls out to the other boatman, who is walking down the pier, for some help. They guy just blow him off, and keeps going. I can see that my boatman is really pissed, but he throws off his coat, and after a 5 min struggle, manages to get us loose. We slowly move down the seawall which has a road at the edge of town, and my boatman is staring the other guy down. The boat pulls into another dock, and my guy start to lay into the other boatman. Just as this is going on, the other boat pulls up, and the boatman hops on while my guy is continuing to chew him out(see the video). As the other boat pulls away, it’s driver drops his motor barely into the water, causing a rooster tail of water to shower our boat. I am pretty sure this was an intentional “fuck you”, to my guys. In the video, you can tell I am ducking to avoid getting my camera drenched! With that over we make one more stop to take some cargo into Thailand, and we head back to the Burmese check point. Once again, I hand my passport over, the boatman goes in, and in 5 min we continue onto Thailand. Thankfully, it is a bit cloudy now, but my arm is fried, so I cover it with my terry cloth “sweat” rag to avoid any more damage. The scenery goes by, and eventually we pull into a Thai checkpoint on a small island, on the outside of the mouth to the Port of Ranong. You’ll notice that I turn the camera off just prior to pulling into these military points. In 2007, the Burmese check point got really pissed when I was taking pictures while we were waiting. So now I just film arriving, and start again after we pull away. The boatman gives the very big, stone-faced army man only the passports of the Burmese passengers. I guess this is to manage the illegal cross border traffic. The big guy barks out the names on the passports, and checks faces to ensure they are the proper papers. A few people are slow to answer, and he sure lets them know they should speak up. Two of the people were missing something, so they will have to get off at the next checkpoint and get something in order. As we pull away, two guys, who seem a bit drunk, leave the checkpoint as well. One guy is a bit too slow for his boat, and hops on ours. Our boat, then pulls along side his, and he makes a skillful transition from one boat to the other. It was really quite good, so watch the video once I post it! Eventually, we get to yet another checkpoint, where the 2 Burmese passengers who’s papers were out of order, have to go in and see immigration. This takes about 15min, and while we wait, it starts to rain. Thankfully, not very hard or long. When everything is done, we pull away and finally into the port. I thank the boatman for the ride, and head up to Thai immigration where a large boat of people had obviously just arrived. There are about 20 people in front of me, and 1 official working the arrivals window. It takes about an hour, but I finally get my 14day stamp and make my way on foot, back to Starcrab. The whole roundtrip took about 3 hrs I would say. An hour to Burma, an hour back, and an hour in the immigration line. My cost, about 500baht, most others… about 1000+… hehe. At home, I shower up and watch a bit of TV in front of the fan to cool off a bit. While I lay there, I thought, “when the hell would I ever get the chance to go oout on a Thai fishing boat again”? I decide that I WILL do this, and when I get out of my room, I thank him for the trip to see the boat, and the arrangements to get to Burma. I tell my host that I will lose some more weight, and practice my Thai, and come December, if the offer still stands, I WILL be a fisherman for 3 days… Stay tuned! Feeling a bit hungry, I head out to the main road to buy some lunch and dinner. I go to a shop Lek and I used to eat at in 2007, and order Kapow Moo, rice, and a fried egg for lunch, and take an order of Phed Prik Moo w/ rice for in the night. The 2 meals and the egg cost 65baht, or $2.50 Can… ha-ha, gotta love SE Asia! With food in hand, I walk back to Starcrab and eat my lunch at one of the covered picnic tables. I forgot to mention before, that Starcrab now has a pet monkey. It amazing to watch, but it’s always on a chain, and can be sad to watch at times. Regardless, I watch the monkey as I eat my lunch, and then the host comes out to give the monkey some off-leash time. Well monkeys are pretty damn smart, and considering he’s spending much of his time on a chain, the first thing he does, is get far away from the man, and scrambles up a small tree to enjoy himself. This starts a 2hr laugh fest of watching the man trying to coax the monkey down out of the tree. Food, sweet talk and shiny objects are all use, but the monkey is too wise, and is having none of it. In some cases, he even comes down and takes what is being offered, before quickly scampering back up to his perch. It was honestly hilarious to watch. Each time the man thought he would outwit the monkey, only to be disappointed. I could tell he was actually getting a bit pissed off by the tone of his voice. In Thai, he kept saying “Come here, have this”, and each time he outsmarted, the tone got a little bit more aggressive. He told me a story of how the monkey ran away for a week, and it was his “Hoo-hoo” call that finally brought him home. So far this was not working. In the end, what did work was bringing the pet Poodle out. I guess the monkey loves to torment this thing, and could not resist himself when he saw the man with the dog. Once he was close, and grabbing the dog’s tail, the man grabbed the monkey and put him back on the leash. The monkey had lost and was not pleased, but within 5min was back to his normal routine of climbing on the roof, the first part of the tree, and onto the picnic table top. What is really funny is his diet. He gets a piece of bread in the morning when the food shop opens, some peanuts in the daytime, and another piece of bread at night. He’s also fed some fruit and things throughout the day. He hates the crust of bread, so you can watch him chew the bread, and up to the crust, and then he throws the bread to the ground when he’s done! Just like a little kid who hates crust! It is amazing to watch, and they are just like miniature people! I will take a video on the 22nd so you can all see the humor in this. I took a shower about 6pm, and grabbed one more beer before I watched a movie on my laptop and called it a night.

Off to ranong!

I am up at 6am to finish some packing before I head to Ranong. I gather everything up, have the last of yesterday’s fruit salad and the last yoghurt and then drain my ice box of the last of the water, leaving the lid open while I am away. Then over to the main house to ask them to call the taxi company to send a motorcycle to bring me to the village. I have a few too many things to walk the 45min on foot. The guy who ends up arriving, is their delivery man, who I am pretty sure was already, or still drunk. I load my bags and grab my non-recyclable plastics, so I can drop them in the village garbage, and we are off. The guy could barely keep the bike upright, so it was a little nerve wracking. We get about 5 min down the road, and the guy grabs my two plastic bags full of trash, and just whips them to the side of the road, and into a hole that some Burmese workers had made while digging up dirt to patch potholes in the road. “It’s OK, it’s OK”, he tells me. I will more than likely pick them up on my next trip into the village for groceries. We manage to get to the village in one piece. I hop off, pay him, buy my ticket for the boat, and go have coffee and a cinnamon bun for breakfast at a café in the village while I wait until 8:30am when the boat leaves. The food is good, and when the time comes, I head to the pier and eventually onto the boat. The boat is really full. Mainly with Thais, as yesterday was the Koh Phayam cashew festival in the village. Unfortunately, I heard nothing about it and missed checking it out, but it would appear that most of the folks on this boat were heading to Ranong after the celebration. Just as we are about to pull away, this drunk German guy hops onboard. He’s staggering all around and carrying a big piece of ice that he is rubbing all over himself to keep cool. He throws his bags on the pile, and then tries to help others get their bags and other items onto the boat. Just a mess and just a really idiot. All the Thai people are looking at, and talking about him. In the group of Thais on the boat, are a group of kids that must’ve been part of last night’s show. He ends up right in front of them while he’s rubbing himself down with this ice, then starts to flick the body sweat ice water from his hands at the kids while thinking he’s just wildly amusing them. Then to top it off, he rubs his wet hands all of the smallest guys head, which is a big no-no in Thai culture, as the head is the most sacred part of the body. Anyway, this guy is in his own world, but finally sees this old hippy guy get on, who he recognizes, and decides to go sit up on the bow with him. Unfortunately, this only lasts for 15min before he gets too hot and decides to come undercover. Well it’s packed and there are no more seats, so guess where he decides to plant his drunk ass?…. You guessed it, right beside me! I throw on my headphones and just trying to ignore him, which is really tough because he decides to brush his teeth, clean his ears, and pick his teeth with toothpicks into a compact mirror. This of course created a stir. A lot of turkey necking and whispering by the Thais. This continues for about ½ and hour, while he also waves like a manic to other boats and makes “funny” faces to the kids. I do my best to zone out, but after about another 20min, I feel someone grabbing at my shirt sleeve. I turn to the left, and it is this fucking jerk-off. I throw my hands up, and tell him to fuck off, but he tries to tell me how nice my tattoo is. Once again, I tell him to fuck off and not to touch me or he’ll be swimming to Ranong. Thankfully, I had to use the washroom, so I got up and just never went back. I stood by the captain and watched a bunch of ladies playing dominoes/gambling. One of the gals was a lady I see almost everyday in the Cashew Orchards when I take my m. We tried to chat a bit, and what I got from it, was that she was off to Ranong to see her family. Shortly after, the boat pulled in and the freaky German got off, as did I. On the way out of the pier, there was a big commotion, so I turned around to see the drunk from the boat, leaving the washroom without paying the 5baht usage charge. He had no idea what was happening, or just playing stupid, but the Thais from the pier were really pissed. I kept walking, and turned the corner and into Starcrab. Phase one complete. I said hello to the family, checked into my room, took a shower and watched Thai TV for a couple of hours. At 3pm, I headed out and too a songtaew to Kiwi to see Jai and her sisters. I had an order of Massaman Moo(pork) curry w/ rice for lunch and chatted to the ladies until they had to go back to work when a group of Germans, who had been on Koh Phayam, showed up to eat and wait for the night bus to BKK. I stayed for about 2hrs and then took a motorcycle taxi into the centre of town and picked up some of my supply list at a shop. I didn’t bother with Tesco this time, as Lek was not working, and the other sister’s were too busy at the guesthouse to run me up there. I got what I needed and headed back to Starcrab. Along the way, I could see that everyone from Ranong was gathering for another Sunday night showcase, like my last trip in, but it had already rained twice today, so I didn’t bother checking it out, as it looked like it could rain again at any moment. I get back to the guesthouse, unload my stuff and come out to sit with the father on the steps. We chat about hockey, Canadian animals and fish, and a bunch of other cultural differences. He invites me to come and see one of his 3 boats the following morning before he takes me to the pier for my immigration and Visa run. I accept. A car eventually pulls up and these two completely drunk Thai guys fall out. They are his friends from Chumpon, who have come for the night and have rented a room. These guys are WASTED! We all try to talk, but all they really want to do is wake their 3rd friend up, who is sleeping in the room, and get him into town with them. They get the job done, and the 3 of them head off into the Ranong night to who knows where. A little later, a Finnish guy and a VERY attractive Lao girl from Pakse, pull up in a truck. They have just come in on the bus from Krabi, and are spending the night before going to Koh Phayam tomorrow. All 4 of us chat and have a few beers, then the father tells me that there is a big football match on TV at 10pm, and that I should watch it with him. This gets the Finn’s attention as well, so he heads off to shower and I sit with the father inside and use the wi-fi until 10pm. The Finn comes back refreshed, and the 3 of us watch about 30min of the game, before the father gets up to shower. The Lao girl also comes in to look where her dude is(why in hell would he wanna sit and shoot the shit with me, when she was waiting for him?!), so I decide to let the father get on with his night, and grab one more beer to take to my room. I say goodnight to all of them, shower up, and hit the sack at around midnight.

1 month away = 1st blue day.

No walk today, as I have developed a large blister on each of the balls of my feet. It was pretty painful at the end of the walk yesterday, so I will give them a rest to allow them to be in good shape for a hectic 2 days in Ranong. I spent the morning doing a batch of laundry, making up fruit salad to use up the fruit, and giving the house a general tiding, so that no critters get into anything while I have gone. I must say, I’ve done a pretty good job at not letting anything go to waste. I have only tossed out a few oranges that were past their prime, and I will end up throwing some beans in the composter before I go tomorrow. Other than that, the shopping/eating schedule has gone really well. There have been issues with the ice, but that’s to be expected in a place like this. I really can’t imagine how difficult it must be for Chiyoko and Chris to maintain such a big place like theirs, year round. This evening, I will pack a bag of clothes, and make sure I have everything on a list, so that I am prepared to make the most of my limited time in Ranong. I had a spell of the blues earlier today. Not sure why, but I had been thinking about Enzo, my family, friends, my Dad, and Moyra. Maybe it is the fact that I have almost reached a month away, and that I have basically been in self imposed exile for 3 weeks of it. I think I will have to make an effort to get out and socialize more once I get back on the 9th. After 2 more weeks here, I know I will be ready to move on and see some friends in other places, but there have sure been some amazing moments here in the quiet. I am having crazy, vivid dreams several times a night. Some good ones, and some nightmares. I used to wonder if I was someone who just didn’t dream much, or just not remember them. It must be due to the lack of over stimulation from TV, work, and being in the city, that they have come back so strongly. There have been some real wild ones! One thing that I am finding, is that writing most of this down has been very therapeutic. There are days in a row, that I really don’t talk to anyone. This has been kind of a surrogate for that. It may read as factual and dry, but that’s the way it goes I guess. Tonight will be an early one, because 48hrs of hustle is about to begin.