There is a serene calm that embraces you as you are flying through the air, destined in a few miliseconds to become quite intimate with the stoney pavement… it is very Zen-like, let me tell you.
So I headed to the north end of Koh Pha Ngan about a day or two after the Full Moon Party and after staying one night in the crappy Hat Yao I moved to Mae Haad, the place I went snorkling a couple weeks ago. It is great and I’ve stayed there since. I’ve made friends with two Swiss guys, two Israeli girls, a South African and most recently a guy named Paul from London.
So yeah, two days ago I borrowed one of my new friend’s motorbikes and headed down to Hat Rin to pick up my main backpack that I left at the guesthouse there. On the way in to Hat Rin I was driving very cautiously because the roads are horribly hilly and crappy. Coming down a steep incline (decline?) I put on the breaks and gently coasted down the hill, gently hit the water-worn ditch at the bottom and gently learned the sensation of flight… but all good things, as they say, …
I hit the ground and the gravely pavement worked much like a cheese grater on my arm and leg and I had to drive the rest of the way into Hat Rin with blood dripping all over myself. I was quite the sight. On the advice of the guesthouse owners I headed to a local clinic and for 100B I was cleaned and bandaged by a nurse and with a bottle of iodine, sent on my way.
It figures that the water at Haad Mae finally cleared up and I could go snorkling and I go and mess myself up so I have to stay out of the water for a couple days. Bah! I’m healing nicely (not really, it’s actually all puss-filled and gross) and only really bothers me when I move. 🙂
So, needless to say, I’m sticking to the equally dangerous, but much more out of my hands, taxis for all transportation needs.
I’ve decided to stick around the beach where I’m staying right now for a few more days and just sort of soak up the sun and enjoy this little bit of Paradise I’ve found. I’m then going to move on to Ang Thong National Park which contains the island that The Beach was based on (it has an inland lake that is fed through underground tunnels). From there I think I’ll begin my trek back to Bangkok, making a short stop at the Bridge Over The River Kwai site… there is apparently an excellent museum on the whole Death Railway there that I want to see (even if the actual bridge is just touristy now).
Well… till next time, avoid hills, ditches and motorbikes (or any combination there of) and I’ll do the same.
Peace.
