30th March 2007 - The Sanctuary second time around

The Sanctuary at Hat Thien on Koh Phangan is just around the bay from Hat Rin, where they have the full moon parties (10 000+ people on a beach drinking and dancing til dawn). We had booked there to celebrate my niece Karen’s birthday, the Sanctuary is her favourite place.

A family of Ghekos behind a picture above our bed. Last time we were at 'The Sanctuary' Sue would have screamed blue murder but after 6 months in Thailand she thought they were great. "They eat all the insects".

Last time I was at the Sanctuary we had just arrived in Thailand. It is full of ‘beautiful people’ but we will fit in better this time. Karen actually looks the part so I felt a bit more accepted – by association.

Karen, looking the part

They may be beautiful but I am older and wiser and more ‘together’ than they are. I have read ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ and other books about Buddhism, I am happy with myself and my place in the Universe. I don’t have hang ups like them and it will shine through in the way I carry myself. They will be falling over themselves asking me how I do it. “How do you look so calm and say such wise things? We feel so awkward in your presence,” they will say.

But it was me doing the falling over, tripping up steps that they skipped up (actually one or two did trip – over my legs that stuck out at awkward angles when sitting on the floor). Lumping down steps (like an arthritic elephant) that they floated down. Wheezing up steep concrete paths to the bungalows that they ran up (of course, they don’t sweat!). Languidly flowing to their feet after hours sitting cross legged chatting and laughing gaily as they went down to the edge of the sea to show each other their yoga moves. I too sat down for hours but what they didn’t know was that the last most of that time was spent desperately trying to persuade my legs to unbend a bit and then waiting for an opportunity to launch myself into a standing position whilst no-one was watching.

Maybe they do have hangups, perhaps they looked at each other and thought how gracefully everyone else moved. Maybe they looked at me and thought “how gracefully all these others move, but at least I look better than that old boy in the hammock”. I say the old boy in the hammock because I was in there for ages.

I managed to get into this hammock right in the middle of the communal ‘exhibition’ area, quite well I thought. I didn’t fall out and I fancied I looked as though I was always getting into hammocks. I wasn’t quite so confident about getting out though. The hammock was above a rock which had wooden decking on one side where lots of people were discussing bowels or something and a beach on the other side where more people were sunbathing with little tiny bits of cloth almost covering them. I really couldn’t see me getting out without drawing attention to myself so I thought it best to just stay put …. ! The hammock was one of three arranged in a triangle around the rock and there was a girl in one of them. I was just going to speak to her when she lifted her leg right back until her knee was level with her ear, I don’t know about you but I found this rather intimidating, if not downright disturbing, so I changed my mind – probably just as well.

When Peter and Elaine arrived we all decided to go to Hat Rin for the eveing to check out the bars and restaurants. We ate at a Tapas bar called 'Nicks' (after the owners's son - actually we have come across this before, 'Hopf' in Chiang Mai, 'Cabbages' in Bangkok) and then went off to explore. We listened to a very loud rock band in one bar and quickly moved on to a bar I had spotted, playing Blues music. They lit it with 'UV' lights and then supplied pots of flourescent paint and paint brushes. There was graffiti everywhere and we added our own. 'Lowestoft - UK' and 'Dude'. At about 11.00 everyone except me and Billy decided to head off and find a boat to take us back to The Sanctuary.

I had to stay to look after Billy, who had passed the point of no return.

Just when we had resigned ourselves to the adventure of a night on the beach they came back. They couldn't find a boat and thought that if we all went, 6 of us might stand a better chance of getting someone to take us. This was the night before the full moon party and when we got down to the beach there was a full scale dress rehearsal going on. Loud music, bright lights an (almost) full moon and a beach full of people more inebriated even than Billy. We stood about near the only boat and eventually someone came over. He would take us but it would be expensive. "How much?" A long pause ( we were expecting up to 1000 baht each and would probably have paid it) "200 baht each". We tried hard to look as though it was a bit expensive, the normal price is 150 baht. "Oh alright then".

In we all got, it was way past midnight and we drifted out to sea with the waves lapping, the music pounding and the lights stretching across the bay. The lapping turned into ripples and then into waves and still he hadn't managed to get the engine going (after an initial burst to get us away from safety). The waves rocked the boat from side to side, Karen went unusually quiet and the lights suffused her face with a light green colour. Peter informed us that there was an air lock that needed to be cleared which was why diesel was squirting all over the engine. The smell added to the general ambience, diesel perfume and a not so gentle rocking as we drifted further into the night. Suddenly we were away! Leaping across one wave and pounding into the next one we made our way to 'Sanctuary'.

If I just undo this nut .....