fire twirlers and bamboo tattoos

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So after my last entry, I went to this little chilled out bar by the beach called Buddha bar to have some drinks. I met a dude named Ross from England, who I talked to for a while, and then five English girls sat down next to us so we all hit it off. We stayed there for a while, and then went to the western side of the island, Sai Ree, to another beach bar. This was obviously the destination for all young travelers, and the music ranged from some pretty heavy techno to 1950's-ish tunes. It closed at two, at which point we headed further up the beach to a bar that had fire twirlers performing for a primarily western audience. Amazing, to say the least. These guys were in the best shape of anybody I've seen here, and the tricks they were pulling off blew my mind. They would throw these flaming sticks 50 feet in the air, catch them behind their backs, and continue on as if nothing had happened. Totally awesome. Got home around four, and agreed to meet the girls the next morning to go snorkeling at a nearby beach called Shark Point.

Yesterday, I was feeling a bit bored with things and went into this tattoo shop right down the road that specializes in Thai tattoos. These differ from machine tattoos primarily from their method of application. The tattoist (is that a word?) attaches a needle to the end of a long bamboo stick, and uses only his hands to "tap tap tap" the ink under the skin. These tattoos have a distinctive look, as they turn out a bit darker than normal because the ink is just under the skin. There is minimal bleeding, for the same reason, and heal very quickly. The day after getting one, you are allowed to go about your daily activities as if nothing had happened.

I've wanted to expand on my smaller Capricorn sign tattoo for a while, but never had the motivation to go through with it. After a few hours of looking through other designs and contemplating the design I wanted, I decided on a tribal dragon that seems to be climbing my back, and resting on the stone that bears the Capricorn sign. They called up an artist who specializes in dragons, and we began around 6 PM. He drew the entire thing from scratch onto my back, and then proceeded to tap tap tap the ink in for the next six hours. Talk about an exercise in patience and endurance... But the final product is totally worth it. It looks amazing, and I'm extremely happy with how everything turned out. I'll post some pictures when I find a decent internet connection.

So that's how things are going. I only have four days left in this country😞 Today I have to organize my trip up north to catch my flight, and want to try and stop for a day in Kanchanaburi to see the tiger temple where you can pet tigers with monks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Temple

Cool eh?

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