Sanctuary of Light and Darkness

After a six-months of friendly e-mail correspondence, with of each of us doing our own journeying along the chaotic and unpredictable roads of the Asian backpacker circuit, Frix and I are actually standing in the same park juggling and making devious plans on how to take over the world (or bring great joy in the process) with street theater. A couple of days disappear in Bangkok playing and packing, and we hop on a bus headed south toward the Gulf of Thailand and the legendary island of Ko Pha Ngan, renowned for its massive full moon parties that draw thousands for the all-night raves on the beach. Seems like a festive and fitting location for meeting up with Frix’s friends – Jacob and Sophie from Dream State Circus, who are coordinating a large performance project to put on shows in refugee camps in Burma. Hey why not – I’ll tag along for a little while and see what this merry troupe is concocting.

Hopping on the bus, we divide tasks of handling the luggage and claiming seats, so I manage to secure two seats right in front of the bus on the top level of this massive people-mover. With a TV directly in front of us and windows all around, I think this will be a great spot to chill out and enjoy the movies and the view. However soon after we start moving, the movie that pops on is “Halloween VII -- Freddy Battles Jason” or something like that – a cheap slasher flick that we have to endure blaring into our minds – AAK! Traumatized after 2 hours of gore and terrible acting, I prepare to nod off and get some sleep, but NNOOOOOO, the driver decides to put on a SECOND horror flick! Now at this point my frustration boils and I realize that it does not always pay off to simply go with the flow – and look back at the crowd of cringing and unhappy travelers, asking “does ANYONE at all want to watch this?” to which I received an emphatic “NOOO!!”. Thus I confidently marched down to see the driver and begged and pleaded with him to change or stop the flick, resorting, after realizing that he spoke almost no English, to saying “NO MOVIE, MOVIE NO, STOP STOP STOP”. And this worked to end the torture. Aah the joys of democratic decision making and singular action.

The rest of the trip was smooth, hopping on a large boat and arriving on the gorgeous green jewel of Pha Ngan only about 18 hours after leaving Bangkok (strange that you can get almost ½ way around the world in the same amount of time). More taxis, long tail boats, and we arrived in the Sanctuary on Haad Thien, a pristine palm tree fringed bay on the south eastern side of the island.



The rest of the talented circus troupe had already been here for the last four days assembling the skit, making props and costumes, and generally getting ready to head up to Burma and perform in front of the thousands of refugee children. Later in the evening they all put on a rocking show consisting of acoustic music, a comedy skit, contact juggling, clowns, acrobatics, and such. One of my favorites was Jacob’s act of walking on the slack rope while balancing a mug of beer on his head – he then had an audience member throw dangerous looking machetes at him, which he managed to catch and juggle. Any one of the components alone would be impressive – but all at the same time was mind-boggling.



Sophie then performed an elegant and enchanting act on the silks, spinning and whirling her spider magic to the sensual sounds of “Roxanne” from “Moulin Rouge”.



After the show there was a short break where the troupe prepared for a fire show, so I optimistically got my poi and my costume, and showed up receiving a hearty welcome with them asking me to perform fire breathing in one act, and then spin along with the whole crew in the finale. Gladly I accepted, and we all went on to put on a tremendous show filled with flames, acrobatics, backed up by driving music, and surrounded by a sea of candles ringing the stage. They all headed north the next day with promises to return to Ko Pha Ngan and the open ended possibilities of performing again with them – oh how tempting to travel along with a troupe of gypsies on their Asian circus tour.

In the mean time, the Sanctuary is a retreat devoted to health and healing, mostly centered around fasting and cleansing. There are multiple programs ranging from a 1 day quickie fast, to a 7 day intensive complete with daily colonics. To augment this healing routine, there are two yoga classes daily, a delicious restaurant with veggie and raw foods, massage, a spa, energy workers, and my favorite of a sweat lodge and a cold plunge – all of which I have been enjoying thoroughly. Generally the only time that I leave the temple of health is to go kayaking around the turquoise bay, or to go skinny dipping at the deserted beach to the north.



Good life, yes? However there is a darker side to the tranquil little bay. Sitting on a pile of cushions in the fasting section of the Sanctuary, gently conversing with low-energy people who’ve not eaten for 5+ days, I look out through the jungle to search for the source of a loud and grating noise, and was shocked to see thick billowing white clouds headed in our direction. Grabbing my camera, I run over to witness a man with a mask and a massive contraption spouting flames and smoke, realizing that he is fumigating the swampy cesspools with DDT. No warnings whatsoever to help out the throng of the fasting folk, including one person who is crippled with Dengue and barely able to stand, so we all switch into high energy mode and panic searching for shoes and backpacks, holding our breath to run away from the swirling wall of poisonous vapor.



Dengue Fever has become an epidemic here at the Sanctuary. Also known as the “bone crusher”, it is a disease transmitted by mosquitoes that have previously bitten an infected and transmissible person. Dragging on for an average of two weeks, the person generally experiences extreme bone and muscle pain, weakness, and most dangerously, intense diarrhea. There are four types of Dengue, so while you are immune to one after you recover from it, you can still be infected by a second strain – as had happened to some of the longer term residents. The sanctuary is at particular risk for dengue-demics, for there is a lot of standing water and corresponding droves of mosquitoes. This is coupled with many people living in close proximity and fasting, which lowers your immune system – makes for a recipe for an epidemic, and lead to about 10 people in the valley having it while I was there – a huge percentage of the populous! Further, there is a conflict of interest with the residents and management, versus the guests, as the former benefit by the latter not getting freaked out by it all and staying around to spend their tourism $$$. Thus, simple advice about keeping yourself covered and bug-sprayed during the day is only available via an oral tradition. Luckily there are bottles of the 25% citronella (lemongrass) spray in all of the stores, so I obsessively slather myself with the magic tonic, as every bite is a form of dangerous Ko Pha Ngan roulette.

On a more positive note, a wonderfully cheery and upbeat lady named Tessa celebrated her birthday with a dinner at the Bamboo House, to which I brought along a present of a set of juggling balls, as Tessa seems like the active and fun-filled person who would resonate well with juggling. She was most excited, so we agreed on a lesson for her and her friend, Bromia, the next day after yoga class, giving them my standard promise that they’d be jugging within 20 minutes. Out on the beach we threw and dropped and threw some more until they were both excitedly juggling, and yes, within the 20 minute window. I realize how much satisfaction I get from helping others to learn this joyful gypsy skill, and plan to get more sets of balls to share with other travelers, as the world will certainly benefit from more jugglers.



But the time at the Sanctuary draws to a close as I yearn to be under the water again. Tomorrow I am heading to the western shore of the island to dive for a while, and then plan to go to the Full Moon Party on the 16th. Perhaps afterward I will again return to the Sanctuary to fast, rest, and recuperate.