Day 1 as a refugee

Ok, so here follows the details of my previous post:

Evacuation day started with being startled awake by a random Thai woman letting herself into the 3rd floor apartment we were temporarily staying in. As it turns out, the apartment is hers that she uses in times of flood. So we hurriedly shower and get dressed and start moving our things to my friend Katie's apartment on the 5th floor.

After a bit of a breather we are called by the landlord who tells us that an army truck has arrived. We hurriedly grab our things and rush downstairs only to be told that the truck has left. We then load our things onto a styrofoam raft and wade through the (by then thigh-high) floodwater to the end of our street where we are to wait for another truck.

After about 2hrs of waiting one of the Thais flags down a doublecab bakkie with a Thai family in it who agree to take us to where we can get a taxi to Bangkok. Finding a taxi proves to be almost impossible so this kind-hearted family of good samaritans takes us all the way to the outskirts of the city.

As we get out of the bakkie our pet squirrel, Momo, suddenly starts to seize and vomit and, before we can even react, drops dead in his cage. Unsure of what to do next, we hail a cab and load the cage with the dead squirrel and our other belongings in and ask the driver to take us to Khao San (the backpackers district on the outskirts of the city).

200B and about 45mins later we arrive in Khao San and plonk ourselves down at the nearest restaurant where we are met by Sam and his Thai girlfriend, Tankwa. After having our first meal of the day (which is dinner as it's already early evening by then) Tankwa shows us to the hotel they are staying at and upon arrival gets one of the cleaning ladies to discreetly dispose of our little dead friend.

800B in credit card debt later and we've booked a room for the night where we proceed to dump our things, take a shower and pass out.
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-----Original Message-----
From: charnefowler@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:25:06
To: Email to blog<charnefowler.landofsmiles@blogger.com>
Reply-To: charnefowler@gmail.com
Subject: My life as a refugee

A rude awakening, wading through thigh-high floodwaters, a 2hr wait, a 2hr bakkie ride, a dead squirrel, a 200B taxi ride and some credit card debt later and we're finally safely ensconced in a hotel in Khao San road.

Details to follow once I've worked up the energy...
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My life as a refugee

A rude awakening, wading through thigh-high floodwaters, a 2hr wait, a 2hr bakkie ride, a dead squirrel, a 200B taxi ride and some credit card debt later and we're finally safely ensconced in a hotel in Khao San road.

Details to follow once I've worked up the energy...
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Evacuation Imminent

The flood eventually reached our area today.  After much packing and sweating and moving we've temporarily re-homed to a 3rd floor apartment in our building (our apartment was ground floor).  The water was about ankle height at 4pm and is now already shin height and will most likely continue to rise.

My colleague Sam had to leave his apartment (about 10mins drive from ours) about a week ago and told me today that the ground floor of his apartment building is completely flooded.  People are also being prevented from returning to the area as there is the added danger of snakes and the occasional crocodile in the deeper floodwaters. 

Tomorrow we will try and catch an army truck to Bangkok where we will have to find a hotel to stay in.  Bangkok proper is still mostly unaffected by the flooding, but this may still change.

Flood hysteria

With people stocking up on supplies in preparation for the possible flooding of their area, most of the shops are completely out of noodles and drinking water.  This photo was taken at the 7 Eleven near our apartment where most of the shelves were empty.  Certainly gives a whole new meaning to the Afrikaans expression "om die winkels leeg te koop"...

A new take on sticky rice

After a visit to Siam Paragon to have my Blackberry service reactivated, I left with the above loot.  Some more variations of the sticky rice and coconut cream desert.  The white one was topped with coconut cream, the yellow one with little balls of sweetened egg yolk and the brown one with shredded coconut.  Heaven...

Kewpie Mayonnaise?!

I remember having Kewpie dolls growing up, but apparently Kewpie has broadened its horizons to now also include Mayonnaise and salad cream. What is this world coming to...

How I lost a shoe...

We were on our way back home from Bangkok when we encountered the flood-waters about 15mins drive away from our place.  All the taxi driver had to do was turn left and drive 10meters to get onto dry road, but instead (in typical Thai fashion) he panicked and refused to take us any further.  He then proceeded to drive a few more meters (ironically into a MORE flooded part which would take him LONGER to get out of) and then told us he would go no further.

I (grudgingly) paid the fare, rolled up my pant legs and proceeded to trudge through the ankle-high water towards dry land.  Halfway through the flooding my one shoe got pulled off and, since the cars driving past were making little waves in the water, before I could even react my shoe had drifted away.  So there I was, barefoot on the streets of Rangsit, swearing my way through the flood water so I could catch another taxi home once I reached dry land.

Eating the Thai way

All the food is put in the middle of the table and everyone shares.

Nickie's choices for us were the following:

Som Tam (a spicy papaya salad)
Some other spicy salad with cucumber in it
Fish soup
Chicken wings
Battered, deep-fried shrimp

I could only eat the chicken wings and the fish soup since I don't like spicy food or shrimp.  Danie could only eat the two salads and the chicken wings since he doesn't eat seafood.  I had my usual beverage of choice (a watermelon smoothie) and ended the meal off with a cup of coffee.

About Stories

A canal-side restaurant close to where we live.  Luckily I had my Thai friend Nicky with me since the menu was in Thai and none of the staff spoke any English.  Nicky decided to take charge and order a couple of different dishes for us to try.

Deep fried deliciousness

The crusty outer edge tastes almost like a crunchy koeksuster and the green inner part like a moist doughnut, only sweeter.
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Souvenirs

Found on the beach at Koh Phangan.
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The bus from hell

The bus smelled of urine and we had to spend 8hrs on it without any stops. NEVER taking the bus for long distance travel again...
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An interesting statue

We got off the ferry at Don Sak from where we had to take a 1hr bus trip to Suratthani from where our 8hr bus trip home departed.
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Land ho!

I have no idea where we are, but the cliffs are pretty...
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Putting my feet up

I claimed 3 seats for myself to lie down on. You can still see the UV bodypaint I painted my toenails with.
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Leeeeaaaving on a ferry...

Our last sight of Koh Phangan.
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Chilling on the deck

Some of the passengers were relaxing on the lower deck by lying down and catching a bit of sun.
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Good bye Koh Phangan!

We will definitely go again soon.
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The Raja Ferry

We chose seats on the upper deck. There are bathrooms with showers on board as well as a shop where you can buy drinks and snacks.

I definitely prefer this large steamboat over the speedboat we arrived in.
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Red Moon Rising

Once again, the picture is not too great, but the sight was spectacular.
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View from the top

From the upper deck of the Mellow Mountain you can see the entire beach.
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Mellow Mountain Bar

Inside the Mellow Mountain.
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Patience young grasshopper...

A grasshopper decided to briefly join the party at the Islander when a sudden shower hit the beach.
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The Islander

You have to climb some rock stairs to get to the Islander. It's a small little hut with some low tables and pallets to lie down on. They play some relaxing psytrance and have a constant lasershow going.
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Hippy Hangouts

This little triad of bars is Thai-Aussi owned. On the left you have The Islander, in the middle the Kangaroo Bar and on the right the Mellow Mountain Bar. The Kangaroo and Mellow Mountain also have resort facilities.

Each of these bars offer you their "Special Shake" (500B) or "Something Special" (250B). I had a cocktail called a Chi Chi which contains vodka, Malibu, pineapple juice and coconut milk. Very similar to a Pina Colada, but nicer in my opinion.
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Dessert

The restaurant had a very interesting dessert menu. I am sad to say that I did not get a chance to try the deep-fried ice cream since I just had no room left for dessert after the meal.
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A beautiful display

The restaurant was punting their fresh seafood with this lovely display which even included a small shark with a lemon in its mouth! And yes, shark was on the menu...
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Eating al fresco

The night after the full moon party had a much more chilled out vibe. This little makeshift restaurant made it's appearance right on the beach and of course we had to take the opportunity to dine there. The menu had a wide variety of fare and the prices were very reasonable.
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Some good old farang humour

They had a cordoned off area with some tarp on the sand where the merry could rest their heads if things got a bit too merry. And of course the farang believed the sign needed some sprucing up.
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Welcome to Thailand

A warm welcome from Koh Phangan's Full Moon Party crew.
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The Full Moon

Big, beautiful and very visible from the beach. The photo really doesn't do it justice, but it's the best my BB could do...
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Shop til you drop

The streets were alive with little shops selling food, drink and all sorts of clothing and merchandise like fire poi, UV bodypaint, Full Moon Party tank tops and fedoras and various other bits of faff.
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The Pirate Bar

This bar has a ship for a roof and you can actually go up and sit on the deck.
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UV Tattoo

This guy had them paint over his tattoo to create an awesome makeshift UV tattoo.
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The DJ Booth

A DJ booth befitting of a beach trance party.
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Everybody dance now!

There was a mini trance party on one section of the beach were bodypainted farang in various UV coloured Full Moon Party shirts were getting their stomp on.
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An artist at work

One of the bodypainters practicing his craft.
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UV Bodypaint

These stalls were everywhere. You could choose from the designs on the canvasses and have them painted on your body... for a fee of 150B of course...
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Fire dancers abound

Fire dancers were common sights on the beach and they were using either poi or sticks.
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Love and Peace!

Me in my glowstick glasses with my pre-mixed bottle of vodka and Shark (an energy drink similar in taste to SA's Red Bull).
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Case in point...

Right in the crotch... Eina...
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The Fire Skip

A skipping rope that's set on fire and swung by two guys. Anyone brave enough can try it out. We were laughing and cringing at many an epic fail by the drunken farang who, after a bit too much of the old dutch courage, decided to try it out.
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The Fire Slide

A waterslide between two lit torches. Good fun if you don't mind having a wet, sandy ass afterwards.
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Lights, camera, action!

The beach looked very lively once everything was up and running.
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A Tree of Light

One of the many decorations for the party.
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Love you long time!

This, along with "Free Hugs", was written on little signs at each of these bar stalls where little buckets were sold containing various halfjacks of liquor and their corresponding mixes.
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I see a Full Moon rising...

The prep for the party already well on its way.
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Haad Rin Beach

The water is a lovely temperature and is filled with little fish and the occasional jellyfish.
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Inside the bungalow

It's quite spacious and has its own bathroom.
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Our home away from home

A two bedroom bungalow with a fan. At 500B a night it's very reasonably priced for a walk-in booking.
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The Lompraya 2009

Our chariot. It is blistering hot in Koh Phangan and it's already cost each of us 100B in taxi fare just to get to Haad Rin beach where the party's at.

Having a watermelon smoothie and something to eat before continuing the search for a room.
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I'm on a boat!

A high speed catamaran to be exact.
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Our chariot awaits...

The view from the beach. You can just see the boat at the end of the pier.
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