Challenging the laws of Karma
Well, Aiden and I have left Cambodia and after a very short stay in Bangkok, we're settling in on Koh Pha Ngan, an island in southern Thailand. We're staying at Hat Rin awaiting the famous, or infamous depending on your perspective, full moon party coming up shortly. Just to give you an idea of the number of people who will show up here, the entire island has accomodations for roughly 3000 people. These quickly fill up in the days before and the day of the party, they expect around 8000 people! However you do the math, that's going to add up to a big mess. Getting introduced to drinking from a bucket (filled with Thai whiskey, Red Bull, and Coke) and spending our days realxing on the beach. Just to make everyone in cooler climes feel less annoyed at us, I'll let you know that we were greeted on the island by a torrential downpour. We're actually in the monsoon here, but it's cleared up for us the last couple of days and we're trying to make the most of it.
The reason I'm writing to you here is not to brag about sun and beautiful blue tropical water. It's to relate the strange events of last night. This is a pretty long story, but I'll try to keep it as short as possible. Hopefully it's worth the effort.
The evening started out pretty well when Aiden and I ran into Debbie, a friend of Haleigh's from Smithers. Seems that the whole world is converging on this beach for the full moon party, so coincidence has become the order of the day. Down along the main beach, all the clubs set out carpets and low tables in front of their establishments where people congregate as the evening gets late. We were sitting, enjoying a bucket, getting to know Debbies friends, and generally having a good time. The stars were out, the waves were rolling in, the bar's staff was putting on an amazing fire dancing performance, and we were really enjoying ourselves. That's when things went sideways.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked up to see Matt, Debbie's friend from Seattle, beckoning for me to follow him. Not thinking much of it, I got up, leaving my shoes, and followed him. As I catch up to him, he tells me that there's a girl lying face down on the beach in a pretty rough state. They've been able to determine that she's Canadian, so the logic of the night was that they should grab the nearest Canuck to sort this all out. By the time I arrived, there was another Vancouverite named Adam, a fellow we shall get to know better, already assisting.
Really, there was not much assisiting to do. Someone had the sense to lay her in the proper position so that she could vomit without concern for asphxiation, but beyond that, everyone was pretty much just staring. There were a couple of girls there as well who were trying to find out from this girl what had happened to her. She was barely responsive and starting to get cold, but none of use were sure what to do. We had no idea how she got there, or what it was that got her there, so it was hard to say whether she needed a quiet place to sleep it off or if she really needed medical attention. We eventually got her up, Adam under one arm and myself under the other, and did the six-legged shuffle up the beach to where someone thought there was a nurses station.
When we got there, the glorified pharmacy wanted nothing to do with her. They told us that there was a clinic or hospital 2 km away and sent us on our way. The girl, whose name we had now determined (let's call her Jane), had become responsive enough to shower our feet with vomit, but that was about it. Again, we were not sure what to do, but when her eyes started to roll back in here head, we thought better safe than sorry and called for a taxi to take us to the hospital.
At this point, we figured we would just run her a few kilometers to the hospital, make sure she was OK, and be back before the ice melted in our drinks. So Adam, Matt, and I hopped into the back of the pickup with Jane and headed off. A short while later, we realized that we had gone much more than 2 km and that we were headed, at breakneck speed, along the perilously steep road to the main hospital on the other side of the island. The ride there was an adventure in itself and probably more of threat to Jane's well being that the state she was in. However, we made it safe and sound, brought her into the hospital, made sure she was OK, left some money for her to get home in the morning, and figured we would head home. Having done our good deed for the day, we thought we would ride wave of good karma back to Hat Rin. How wrong we were.
Our taxi driver was waiting outside for us and as we approached he demanded that we pay him 1500 baht for the trip there and to get us back. This was absolute extortion and we told him so. The normal rate is 50 baht per person. He quickly lost interest in taking us back to Hat Rin, but said we had to pay him 1000 baht just for the ride there. He knew he had us between a rock and a hard place, but we steadfastly ignored our situation and refused to pay the stupid sum he was asking. After a few minutes of unsuccessful bartering, he got in his pickup and drove off, leaving us stranded and barefoot on the wrong side of the island. Things were not looking good for our heros.
Going back to the hospital, the nurses said there was no way to call a taxi. However, one very kind nurse offered to drive us the 3 km south to the town where we could get a taxi. Very greatful for this offer, we hopped in the back of her truck and headed towards town. At the end of the driveway, we passed our good friend who's plan to force the money out of us was being foiled. He followed us into town, but we lost him shortly.
Unfortunately, town was not quite the salvation we were looking for. After saying goodbye to the nurse, we found ourselves alone and barefoot on the dark, deserted streets of a very unfamiliar Thai town. The locals were somewhat helpful. A bunch of guys sitting around in a garage declined to drive us home, but offered us a drink. We passed and after talking to some more people and stumbling around for a while, we finally arrived at an open 7-11 (yes, they have them here too) where several taxi's awaited. With some concern for what we would hear, we asked how much it would cost to get back to Hat Rin. We were surprised and relieved when the taxi driver told us 50 baht each.
So there we were, finally saved, with the finish line in site. Given the way things had been going, the smart thing would have been to hop in that truck and get the hell out of there. But no, that would have been much too easy now wouldn't it? Instead, we descided to head into 7-11 to get a road pop and when we returned, guess who was waiting with the other taxi driver? We hopped in the back of the taxi to go, but since our good friend had arrived, our new driver would not budge.
What followed was a half hour staring match that went from annoying, to boring, to scary, and back again. We tried to bargain, tried to talk sense, tried everything, but this guy would not budge. Even the other taxi drivers were getting annoyed with him. But he said 1000 baht or you walk to Hat Rin. Now, we're not really talking about a tremendous amount of money, but after what we'd been through, with our distain for this clown, and just on principle, we were as stubborn as he was. So eventually, we hopped out and started to walk.
Looking ahead to the 3 hour stroll we had in front of us, we quickly doubled back hoping our friend would be gone and we would be able to get a ride. However, we found that all the others had left. As our friend was coming over to have another incredibly fruitful discussion, a farang (foreigner) drove by on a bike. We had a quick chat with him, passing on the condensed version of the night's events. He said that he couldn't take us to Hat Rin, but that his friend could give us a ride in the back of his pickup to the party they were destined for. The party was actually in the exact opposite direction from where we wanted to go, but at that point, any chance for escape was welcome. So off we went north towards this party. Sitting in the back of a pickup driven by a guy I didn't know from a hole in the ground, sitting next to two guys I'd known for the length of this story, and heading off to some remote beach party, all I could think was "how the hell did this happen?" But by then, I was just rolling with the punches and trying to enjoy it.
When the truck stopped, we could hear the pounding bass pouring down the hill from the party. The greasy guy from the passenger seat, with a Thai girl in his arm, infomed us that "Up there man, you can get ANYTHING you want." With a quick nod and a "Gee, that sounds nice", we booked it straight for what appeared to be a taxi sitting on the side of the road. After rousing the driver who was sleeping in a hammock in the back and arranging a reasonable fare, we hopped into one more pickup truck. We gave the guy explicit instructions that he not stop for anything, then lay down on the floor of the truck bed to keep out of sight and headed for home.
In complete contempt for the theme of the night, we actually made it back. And even more surpising, our shoes were still where we had left them! So maybe the winds of karma just take a little while to turn. At least I got a good story out of it, much better than I would have if I'd just spent the night on the beach. From Aiden's perspective, I had just gotten up with Matt and disappeared. I guess there had been several very colourful conjectures about what we might have gotten up to, but as usual, truth is stranger than fiction.
Keeping with this theme of strangeness, we met Jane and her friends today, all of whom are from Vancouver. It turns out that Jane recognized Aiden from UBC and that she had lived in residence there. Between the 5 of us, there were a lot of common aquaintances. We tried to piece together what had happened the night before. Jane's friends had similar experiences, so we think that someone slipped something into their drinks. However, they had just "broken out" of a 10 day meditation retreat 5 days early, so maybe this was the fruit of the karma created there. All very strange, all very confusing, but all good in the end. I just need to lay low for a few days and avoid my good friend .......
Alright, if anyone actually got through this, you're a better person than I. Take care and I hope all is well.
Justin
The reason I'm writing to you here is not to brag about sun and beautiful blue tropical water. It's to relate the strange events of last night. This is a pretty long story, but I'll try to keep it as short as possible. Hopefully it's worth the effort.
The evening started out pretty well when Aiden and I ran into Debbie, a friend of Haleigh's from Smithers. Seems that the whole world is converging on this beach for the full moon party, so coincidence has become the order of the day. Down along the main beach, all the clubs set out carpets and low tables in front of their establishments where people congregate as the evening gets late. We were sitting, enjoying a bucket, getting to know Debbies friends, and generally having a good time. The stars were out, the waves were rolling in, the bar's staff was putting on an amazing fire dancing performance, and we were really enjoying ourselves. That's when things went sideways.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked up to see Matt, Debbie's friend from Seattle, beckoning for me to follow him. Not thinking much of it, I got up, leaving my shoes, and followed him. As I catch up to him, he tells me that there's a girl lying face down on the beach in a pretty rough state. They've been able to determine that she's Canadian, so the logic of the night was that they should grab the nearest Canuck to sort this all out. By the time I arrived, there was another Vancouverite named Adam, a fellow we shall get to know better, already assisting.
Really, there was not much assisiting to do. Someone had the sense to lay her in the proper position so that she could vomit without concern for asphxiation, but beyond that, everyone was pretty much just staring. There were a couple of girls there as well who were trying to find out from this girl what had happened to her. She was barely responsive and starting to get cold, but none of use were sure what to do. We had no idea how she got there, or what it was that got her there, so it was hard to say whether she needed a quiet place to sleep it off or if she really needed medical attention. We eventually got her up, Adam under one arm and myself under the other, and did the six-legged shuffle up the beach to where someone thought there was a nurses station.
When we got there, the glorified pharmacy wanted nothing to do with her. They told us that there was a clinic or hospital 2 km away and sent us on our way. The girl, whose name we had now determined (let's call her Jane), had become responsive enough to shower our feet with vomit, but that was about it. Again, we were not sure what to do, but when her eyes started to roll back in here head, we thought better safe than sorry and called for a taxi to take us to the hospital.
At this point, we figured we would just run her a few kilometers to the hospital, make sure she was OK, and be back before the ice melted in our drinks. So Adam, Matt, and I hopped into the back of the pickup with Jane and headed off. A short while later, we realized that we had gone much more than 2 km and that we were headed, at breakneck speed, along the perilously steep road to the main hospital on the other side of the island. The ride there was an adventure in itself and probably more of threat to Jane's well being that the state she was in. However, we made it safe and sound, brought her into the hospital, made sure she was OK, left some money for her to get home in the morning, and figured we would head home. Having done our good deed for the day, we thought we would ride wave of good karma back to Hat Rin. How wrong we were.
Our taxi driver was waiting outside for us and as we approached he demanded that we pay him 1500 baht for the trip there and to get us back. This was absolute extortion and we told him so. The normal rate is 50 baht per person. He quickly lost interest in taking us back to Hat Rin, but said we had to pay him 1000 baht just for the ride there. He knew he had us between a rock and a hard place, but we steadfastly ignored our situation and refused to pay the stupid sum he was asking. After a few minutes of unsuccessful bartering, he got in his pickup and drove off, leaving us stranded and barefoot on the wrong side of the island. Things were not looking good for our heros.
Going back to the hospital, the nurses said there was no way to call a taxi. However, one very kind nurse offered to drive us the 3 km south to the town where we could get a taxi. Very greatful for this offer, we hopped in the back of her truck and headed towards town. At the end of the driveway, we passed our good friend who's plan to force the money out of us was being foiled. He followed us into town, but we lost him shortly.
Unfortunately, town was not quite the salvation we were looking for. After saying goodbye to the nurse, we found ourselves alone and barefoot on the dark, deserted streets of a very unfamiliar Thai town. The locals were somewhat helpful. A bunch of guys sitting around in a garage declined to drive us home, but offered us a drink. We passed and after talking to some more people and stumbling around for a while, we finally arrived at an open 7-11 (yes, they have them here too) where several taxi's awaited. With some concern for what we would hear, we asked how much it would cost to get back to Hat Rin. We were surprised and relieved when the taxi driver told us 50 baht each.
So there we were, finally saved, with the finish line in site. Given the way things had been going, the smart thing would have been to hop in that truck and get the hell out of there. But no, that would have been much too easy now wouldn't it? Instead, we descided to head into 7-11 to get a road pop and when we returned, guess who was waiting with the other taxi driver? We hopped in the back of the taxi to go, but since our good friend had arrived, our new driver would not budge.
What followed was a half hour staring match that went from annoying, to boring, to scary, and back again. We tried to bargain, tried to talk sense, tried everything, but this guy would not budge. Even the other taxi drivers were getting annoyed with him. But he said 1000 baht or you walk to Hat Rin. Now, we're not really talking about a tremendous amount of money, but after what we'd been through, with our distain for this clown, and just on principle, we were as stubborn as he was. So eventually, we hopped out and started to walk.
Looking ahead to the 3 hour stroll we had in front of us, we quickly doubled back hoping our friend would be gone and we would be able to get a ride. However, we found that all the others had left. As our friend was coming over to have another incredibly fruitful discussion, a farang (foreigner) drove by on a bike. We had a quick chat with him, passing on the condensed version of the night's events. He said that he couldn't take us to Hat Rin, but that his friend could give us a ride in the back of his pickup to the party they were destined for. The party was actually in the exact opposite direction from where we wanted to go, but at that point, any chance for escape was welcome. So off we went north towards this party. Sitting in the back of a pickup driven by a guy I didn't know from a hole in the ground, sitting next to two guys I'd known for the length of this story, and heading off to some remote beach party, all I could think was "how the hell did this happen?" But by then, I was just rolling with the punches and trying to enjoy it.
When the truck stopped, we could hear the pounding bass pouring down the hill from the party. The greasy guy from the passenger seat, with a Thai girl in his arm, infomed us that "Up there man, you can get ANYTHING you want." With a quick nod and a "Gee, that sounds nice", we booked it straight for what appeared to be a taxi sitting on the side of the road. After rousing the driver who was sleeping in a hammock in the back and arranging a reasonable fare, we hopped into one more pickup truck. We gave the guy explicit instructions that he not stop for anything, then lay down on the floor of the truck bed to keep out of sight and headed for home.
In complete contempt for the theme of the night, we actually made it back. And even more surpising, our shoes were still where we had left them! So maybe the winds of karma just take a little while to turn. At least I got a good story out of it, much better than I would have if I'd just spent the night on the beach. From Aiden's perspective, I had just gotten up with Matt and disappeared. I guess there had been several very colourful conjectures about what we might have gotten up to, but as usual, truth is stranger than fiction.
Keeping with this theme of strangeness, we met Jane and her friends today, all of whom are from Vancouver. It turns out that Jane recognized Aiden from UBC and that she had lived in residence there. Between the 5 of us, there were a lot of common aquaintances. We tried to piece together what had happened the night before. Jane's friends had similar experiences, so we think that someone slipped something into their drinks. However, they had just "broken out" of a 10 day meditation retreat 5 days early, so maybe this was the fruit of the karma created there. All very strange, all very confusing, but all good in the end. I just need to lay low for a few days and avoid my good friend .......
Alright, if anyone actually got through this, you're a better person than I. Take care and I hope all is well.
Justin
posted by Justin Callison at 8:19 AM
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