hellooooooo from koh pha ngan!
well,this may be a long one as i'm a little behind on the emails as i think the last time i wrote was in or heading to sihanoukville,cambodia!we arrived after a pleasant journey to the coastal resort of sihanoukville about mid afternoon and as soon as we had gotten off the bus i recognised a name from one of the boards that the numerous resort touts were holding up as the same of which a friend of mine had previously recommended to me!(cheers nickos!)not to mention the guy was english and stood out like a sore thumb and actually comes from newmarket,15 miles from my own pleasant little hometown!we hadn't actually planned to stay at this particular place as it was a little over our budget but as we were travelling with another guy from glasgow(and a damn good fellow he is too!hey gerry! ;) they threw us an extra mattress in the bungalow and the price split three ways was easily affordable and was a lovely place to stay,very well made (it took them around a year to build)well managed,great food and a great atmosphere,not to mention our fellow travellers that we were blessed with meeting there!hey my fellow monkeys!!: )this place was named "the monkey republic" and if you're ever in the area check it out it hosts a great atmosphere and some of the best food in town!it was so nice to finally have a little bit of beach life once more after so long on the road inland albeit a fantastic time theres nothing quite like the sea breeze and the sunkissed horizon over the gulf of thailand!although we weren't right on the beach we were no more than 5mins walk away or 25cents u.s on the back of one of the numerous moto taxis that seemed to be permanently camped out the front on the main road whistling and clapping to get your attention if you so much as looked in a way that hinted that you were maybe even thinking of the beach or going anywhere other than the bar!hehe most of them were just normal guys going about their normal daily business trying to make a few dollars along the way!fair play!and so cheap it's very easy to be lazy!; ) sometimes it gets a little tedious and demanding on the beach with the various locals trying to sell you every possible creation under the sun and not really grasping the concept of no thanks means no thanks and the kids turning on the waterworks to trick you into feeling sorry for them to get a sale but its all part of the experience and is actually quite funny when you get used to it and you end up knowing and joking with most of them and playing them at their own game!although their main trick is to keep your attention on them while their little wee friends are stealing your possessions right in front of you!little buggers!they had e few peoples passports,wallets etc!hehe shouldn't laugh but you've just got to be aware n vigilant!there are many land mine victims and beggars around cambodia and this always lightens my wallet alot more than anything else as it saddens me deeply so if im going to buy something its usually from one of these unfortunate souls!one funny thing is the local policeman selling weed along the beach which made me chuckle as he'd approach you and take off his hat to reveal a little green bag of joy!one of my friends had some on the table in his regular hangout and upon the policeman sternly asking him where he had bought it he replied " from you!" the policeman laughed and said "ahh ok ok" and smiled as if he was going to arrest him if he'd given a different reply!haha nice one bro you know who you are!he hadn't of course but his quick thinking got him out of a little scrape for sure!as for many of these little discrepancies in the local law and order and many other little tricks we (ross n i) have renamed that lovely land "scambodia" and it is truly a law unto itself indeed! :) don't worry,i've given up so no near misses for me!one fine day we met two lovely english girls(hello girls!)who had met up with a couple of middle aged expats ,one from england and one from america (bizarrely the english guy taught in one of their previous schools!small world!) and had invited them to a free brewery tour with free beer and a trip to a casino after,also with free complementary beer so not ones to lose sight of an opportunity such as this we(gerry,ross and i) managed to tag along and enjoy the ride!(thanks girls!) well we didn't see much of the brewery but the bar was nice and i must say so was the beer!we tried a few different jugs of beer n then onto the casino we went!about an hour or so later,four pints heavier and three bucks lighter we bid fairwell to the casino and the free beer and later got painted in silly face paints for a giggle and headed for the beach where i then proceeded to lose my only pair of decent footwear but nevermind,i guess the beer wasn't so free after all!everything has its price!: ) even more funny than that,a certain person decided to take a skinny dip with a friend and upon his return to the shore he'd discovered that his clothes were missing!hahahahahaha not hers,just his!haha in scouring the beach whilst trying to cover his modesty he asked the locals where his clothes were and their reply was a hysteric cry of laughter!hehehe he later found his trousers,minus his wallet slung high in a tree and had to scale the tree naked to get them down!he later found his shirt!well,at least he got to marvel at the rare sight of phosphorescents that were illuminating the shore that night!beautiful!
well,after a wonderful time at this friendly,fun resort we bid farewell,leaving behind our ugly mugshots for the timeless wall collection of monkey visitors there for all to see!so if you go,get yours upon the wall and join the gang!and no throwing darts at them either!
well,if you're still awake,i'll continue!
next stop was siem reap!the khmer city in the north west,host of the ancient civililisation of the angkor people and many many of the most spectacular of human accomplishments my eyes have ever beheld!such creativity,such awesome size,beauty,and atmospheric energy that drew you deeper and deeper with curiosity and imagination as to what it was like to be there at the height of it's power and grace!the main attraction and the name most of you will know it as is angkor wat(wat meaning temple) and at the centre of this once extremely powerful civilisation!but,awe inspiring and imagination provoking as it was,it was merely a drop in the ocean and a small spec of paint within the big picture and for me not the most beautiful of all of the ruins that we saw that day!that morning we had awoken,showered and left the guesthouse by 4.30 am so to get there in good time for the sunrise.we chartered our own tuk tuk,with a laid back and helpful driver for only 12 bucks u.s for the whole day which was a little over the odds but he was a cool driver so we didn't mind!we payed our 20 bucks each for the day and continued on to the ancient site.we got there just in time foir sunrise and there was an amazing energy to the place that just felt so tranquil and mysterious and compelling.with our first glimpse of the angkor wat my heart skipped a beat and i found myself in a state of both awe and disbelief as it was a truly magnificent sight for sore eyes and took our breaths away!i'd like to try and explain every little part of this experience but it would go on for days!the sunrise was very nice and arose behind the temple giving us,and many others that had taken the time to get up so early a most amazing sight ,experience and camera opportunity of course!the centre of the wat is sort of set like a pyramid and with very tall stone steps from each of the four sides up to the pinnacle very much like the mayan temples in mexico and are tricky and testing to climb but well worth the effort and worry of falling to your doom!the whole thing had been built using very large square stone blocks and then carved into leaving what is now the most breathtaking sight!
ok now,ive been writing this email on and off for two weeks and saving it each time i manage to get round to getting to this email haunt to add some to it so if i dont send it today. 1.you'll have alot more than this to read and 2. it'll maybe be finished by 2007 so now i'll just try to be brief for the rest!also its hard for me to describe everything with the heartfelt vision i'd like to with a hangover so for that i apologise!: )
ok.from siem reap we took a very old and rickety bus through to the thai border,now im not quite sure exactly the distance but the road is so bad that it took us about 12-14 hours in total to bangkok,although the thai side is a wonderful road,th track should i say form siem reap to the thai border is not!i think in all we must've averaged around 15-20 miles per hour the whole way and with around twenty people,30 rucksacks,a few guitars n my digeridoo plus 38 degree heat it was not the most comfortable of trips!getting out of the back window to get out gives you some sort of clue!hehe we were on the back seat and now i know what a pinball feels like as we arrived at our destination feeling a little shorter than we set off due the the constant compression of ones spine!(bumpy road to say the least!)arriving with both a sore head and tail bone(coccyx)(spelt wrong probably!)due to the constant bombardment to my body from first the seat and then the ceiling!having said this it was a productive journey as i somehow managed to read nearly a whole book and although it was a rough ride,everyone had a big smile on their faces as it was either that or crying and its the sort of experience you get to laugh about when you're back into the company of comfort and cold beer!
back to bangkok we stayed a day with our friend gerry(hey again gerry!) and went on the hunt for a new camera as you know i'd previously broken my video camera and feel lost with something to log my journey through time and discovery!we went to a massive electrical mall with stores up for about 6 floors and after about three million steps and a bit of bargaining i managed to get one particular shop down to a fair price and got myself a nice new nikon digital camera,free case,extra battery and memory card!yippeeee
sadly a week later i dropped it face down in the sand on the beach and already it is broken!hehe what a loser!it still works when it wants to but i'll have to go back to bangkok to get it replaced on guaruntee!(i hope! :) sadly,gerry had to stay in bangkok and leave for scotland but i cherish the time we had with the guy as it was a great time had by all and hopefully we can hook up when we return back to civilisation one day!so ross n i after a reluctant goodbye,set off once again for the southern badlands of thailand and what do ya know!seated in the seats in front of us were two friends we had met in phnom penh,cambodia and a couple of cool guys sat next to us on the back seat of the bus!great journey and it flew by and after skipping suratthani this time and opting for a boat from chumpon instead we found ourselves fast tracking across the thai gulf and were in good ol' koh pha ngan in no time!yaaaaahhooooooo
ive decided to make a little more of my time here this time and maybe get into a tantra yoga course to feed my mind with some cool knowledge and exercise for a change and learn some cool tricks as its interested me for years and lord knows,my back needs it!may come in a little handy in the bedroom too one hopes!; ) maybe do that for a month and see how it goes and if i like it i may return here for a few months and take an instructors course or something but we shall see!right now ross and i are dwelling on our favourite and most beautiful beach at the bamboo bungalows with a great crowd of cool,chilled people(minus a few that sadly have left and are sorely missed!you know who you are!x)tonight we all are off into the jungle for the half moon party together and after that sadly again people will be departing and ross and i will be heading to the west coast of the island for some chill time,exercise and yoga action!my first week back in koh pha ngan i was getting up about 5.30 - 6 am walking the beach,perching on my favourite rock overlooking the bay and meditating for a while and then taking a swim and a stretch before breakfast and in the evening i had a fairly long run and it felt great!since then we've been somewhat seduced by the bamboo crew and have enjoyed some fine company,cold beer and parties but that healthy,laid back lifestyle beckons once more and in a few days will return to this withered frame!
on that note i'm off as i have treacherous mountains to endure on my jenny no13 honda 125 and its getting dark!
so ciao for now!if you got this far in one sitting im very impressed and happy that it was compelling enough to read!
much love
damo
take care
xxx
