Solar panel project in northeast Thailand, the Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan

---

Yo, a friend asked to see pics of the island where I'm staying at, so thought I'd write this blurb, even though I plan to stay here another year and hence this chapter of my travels is not completed yet.

The guy whose house I was staying at over the winter inBulgariawanted to hook up with me in Asia and invited me to thisislandofKoh Phangan. He's been toAsiasome seven times and I figured he'd know of some good spots. Christmas was approaching so I decided to leave my solar panel remote village project in the north east corner ofThailandand head about half way down the length of the country, on the east coast. I think they filmed part of The Beach here. They have this these Full Moon, Half Moon and Black Moon parties where youngsters come for a few days from all over and get totally tanked drinking a hard concoction of alcohol out of little buckets. They let themselves get painted all over by locals. I checked it out once and that was enough, as I experienced enough of those days in university. Then there is this whole class of other tourists here which I like to refer to as Yoga Heads. There are tons of courses and retreats on the island, ranging from Tantra Sex, to meditation, to all sorts of yoga exercises and mystical philosophies. The Yoga heads don't drink alcohol (at least while here on their courses), are mostly vegetarians, look young and healthy, practice tantra sex with one another, and are slightly odd in their own way. The last third of the tourists here would be like me: 30+ years old, Bohemian types, like to drink and smoke dope, and mostly fromRussia,France,Italy,Germany,Holland, some fromNorth America. Lots of French Canadians too. There is also a big jam music scene on the island and, in high season, I'm able to play my violin and harps somewhere almost every night of the week. So I appreciate that opportunity and it has given me lots of motivation to practice. Also the fact that I discovered it's a bit of a chick magnet. Decided to save up and replace the case's cover with some sexy red leather, and I already have a specific attire in mind that I might consider trying one day, but I need to practice a lot more first. Until then I have greatly improved and many people say I play beautifully. It truly is a beautiful instrument and it has now become my favourite. Was even given a little lesson by a violin concertist who used to play for 15 years. When he was teaching me how to hold it etc at a restaurant, the owner came up and begged me to play. I agreed and everyone in the restaurant stopped what they were doing and gave me a very enthusiastic applause once I finished my typical, made-up song on the spot. My teacher also played something and we got a free beer out of it. Seems that Asians are not familiar with the instrument at all and are absolutely fascinated by it, so I like the attention.

Was told that the island sits on a massive bed of crystal and it seems to explain a lot of things because there is a mystical feel about it. I feel like I am walking through jello and it has been difficult to motivate myself to work, but I'm getting better at that, and at reducing my consumption of beer, as the party scene here is nonstop. But it is now very low season, so that is helping me. Things should pick up again around November. It is also low tide season, meaning that, during most of the day, I'd have to walk about a kilometer through wet, sludgy sand before I could start swimming. On the other side of the island, which faces the open ocean, its much better and can swim all year long, but there's little music scene and it's much more expensive.

Recently met this guy who I like to affectionately refer to as the Lepricon, because he's short, has a pointy grey beard, and looks like one. He lived by himself on an island for a couple of years, fascinated by the nature, and recently moved to my little village. I'd see him every day hanging out at the 711 (I've never seen more of those outlets than in this country) and we'd have long discussions about spirituality. He said he was ready to evaporate into the universe and that someone was threatening to kill him. He gave himself two days, and sure enough, two days later, I found him lying on his back next to the "bullshit table" (where all us bullshitters like to hang out, discussing all sorts of silliness while drinking cheap 711 beer), fingers clenched like claws, eyes gazing towards the sky with a frozen expression of fear, knife protruding from his sternum. First time I ever saw someone dead and it was certainly a freaky experience. I later learned that he walked into the internet shop waving a knife. Thais often live in their stores and in this shop there would often be children playing on the floor amongst the beds. My friend said you simply don't do this and it is a sure fire death sentence. Others say they saw him stab himself, although I did not see any blood. Anyway, this island is strange indeed and it will give me lots to write about. Even the Thais here do not consider themselvesThai.And all the 711s on the island sell beer all the time, as opposed to the rest ofThailand, which only sell beers at certain times, as per the kings orders. Most of the foreigners who come or live here have tattoos all over their bodies and are quite eccentrics, which the locals have grown used to, meaning that pretty well anything goes here. So I am no longer frowned upon when walking around barefoot, shirtless and beer bottle in hand. Nobody even notices me and I fit in wonderfully.

My tentative plan is to stay about a year to save up for a motorbike with side-car, which I plan to convert to a make-shift caravan, so that I can really start traveling around south east Asia. In the meantime I like my set up and want to enjoy that for a while. Work in bed while lying on my back with door open so that I can look out over the beach and ocean, Thai islands in the background. The bungalow owner even reduced my rent last night, from 4,500 to 4,000 baht a month, so a hundred Euro a month for rent in paradise seems like a pretty sweet deal. Would love if any of ya can join me. Have a great one till next time!

More details at http://travelgoof.com/. Pictures at https://picasaweb.google.com/103781745144117972393

---