Reflections of Freeloaders

I knew when Charlie and I first moved to Thailand, that one day, eventually down the road, we’d meet up with an old friend who just happened to be travelin’ through on a trip, but other than that, we’d be pretty much on our own, especially since we took up residence in the small town of Chumphon. But then came 2010; the year of forward movement, the new decade of connection- heading out as far as possible and still meeting up with someone you know. It's an amazing time for living abroad. Perhaps as close as possible to that untouchable feeling of what Kerouac was talkin' about in "On The Road." It's difficult to tell, but it's easy to enjoy.

DEC. 31, 2009: Crystal Rydall gets off a bus at 5AM in Chumphon. That night the three of us rent a cabin in Thung Waluen and ring in the new year on the beach. She stays with us for two weeks and does more dishes than we own.

JAN. 13, 2010: Mr. B. Parr and his traveling roommate, Nova Scotia Nick arrive on a train from Bangkok sometime in the afternoon. Beers are ready and a BBQ of music gets underway on the front porch as the sun sets. The next day we rent motorbikes and I get us lost on the way to the beach. As always it pays off. We find a freshly paved road, winding its way up a mountain and it leads us to an inspiring look out point where we decide to indulge in the first session of “Being with B.” a 20 minute meditation course lead by B. Parr. Outstanding. Afterwards we discover a footpath leading even higher up the mountain so we take it and trip out on the altitude of natural beauty.

JAN. 15, 2010: The boys decide to go Island hopping for a while, with a plan to be on Koh Phangan for the infamous full moon party. Crystal leaves one day after in the same direction. Meanwhile, I’ve just landed a job, after a brief interview and a night in Bangkok.

JAN. 19, 2010: Jamie Ewing comes to town, taking a detour on route to Australia.  I pick him up at the train station on a motorbike and his backpack is so fuckin’ heavy it’s a challenge to get back to the house without tipping off. He relaxes at the house for 3 days while Charlie and I go to work. On Friday night there’s a pick up game of ball at the school I’m now working at. Jamie and I show up looking as “hood” as possible- Sydney Dean and Billy Hoyle. That night we hit up the one and only club in Chumphon, the PAPA 2000. It’s ridiculous on both good and bad levels of meaning. Saturday we cruise all over on bikes- see some monkeys, pick up some brown green and swim in the warm gulf of Thailand.  As luck would have it, Charlie and I get 3 days off work to do a visa run to Malaysia. Jamie’s all about it. We leave early Sunday morning and get to the island of Penang by late afternoon. We make our way to Batu Ferringhi, where we find a room at the Sudo guest house, just stumbling distance away from the beach and a small selection of bars. Casual drinking ensues and doesn’t really let up until Wednesday, when we head back to pick up our visa paperwork. Things kinda go haywire at this point and none of us are making very well thought out decisions. We miss the evening train back to Chumphon and spend the night in Had Yai, a fairly dangerous place that we all seem to enjoy thoroughly. The next morning we hop a train that ends up taking over 11 hours to get back to Chumphon. We drink, sleep, smoke, play cards, buy sketchy food from strangers and hang out in between the train-cars like modern day beatnik characters. The night we arrive back in town, we learn about a full moon party taking place Friday night, on the beach at Thung Waluen. Jamie sticks around for it and we throw down one last solid night. Ask anyone who knows him and they'll tell you Jamie Ewing is a tuff nut to crack, but I when said goodbye to him on the night of the 31st, I felt assured that he had a pretty good time here.

FEB. 1, 2010: Not even 24 hours after Jamie leaves, Mr. B. returns sometime after dark, looking like John Holmes. I can’t get over it. He entertains Charlie and I with stories of psychedelia from his time on Ko Phangan. His companion, Nova Scotia Nick, has fallen in love and remained on the island.

FEB. 2, 2010: We get home from work to find that Crystal has made her way back as well. She also has some interesting stories involving “happy shakes” and staying up in the hills with a couple named Mr.T and Bindy, and wondering off alone for 5 hours. Sounds like it was an enlightening few days.

FEB. 3, 2010: Nova Scotia Nick shows up and talks about his special lady friend. Love is a curse? He leaves the following day to “go see about a girl.” No conclusion to that story yet.

FEB. 5, 2010: I sneak outta work to bid farewell and safe travels to B. Parr, on his way back to Bangkok, and onto Australia. Crystal is the last remaining guest. She tells me that Karina and Joc-D are on their way.

FEB. 6, 2010: In classic Thailand (mis)communication, we arrange a truck ride twenty minutes out of town to await the arrival of the ladies, but the bus they’re on somehow drops them off about a five minute walking distance from our house. Charlie and I get a power nap in on the wooden bench at the bus stop before finally meeting up with them. Then it’s time for beers and coolers. We take the ladies out for a fancy dinner and they pay for it. Shoulda known. Shoulda had the steak.

Karina and Joc-D are up for anything, with only one request; they want to see monkeys. So we hook up a little trip with our neighbors, Ao and Bob. The next morning a rad lookin’ truck with bench seats in the flat bed shows up on our front yard. It’s 10:30 and Bob’s already half snapped. I want to join. We cruise outta town and spend the day exploring deep caves, and a Buddhist shrine where we see the preserved little body of a revered monk. We stop for beers and side of the road pastries before continuing on to the swinging grounds of the monkeys. But not just any monkeys... we’re talkin’ about Gibbons - a breed of monkey that looks like a cute ninja. We even get to see one of the babies, which is very lucky thing according to Thai people. The baby is a golden yellow and looks magical. I made a birthday wish on it, but hasn't come true yet. After we run out of bean plants we offer the gibbons bananas and they seem almost offended by our prejudice display. We end our day with a dip at the beach before heading back to the house for a BBQ on the porch. 

FEB. 8, 2010: Crystal joins Joc-D and Karina on their ride back to Bangkok and the house is silent for one whole week until a little black dog falls into our hands and now we've got a permanent resident.
Only a few more weeks until the school term is over and Charlie and I have a month and a half off to explore. Who's coming over in March and April?