Two Man Traveling Circus Show

In my recent blog I described my family's, shall we say... extended cross-continent journey from Beijing, China to Bangkok, Thailand and beyond. We left Beijing with the intention of finding the perfect beach spot and performing fire shows in the evening to earn some money for expenses during the trip. Well, things didn't go exactly according to our plan, but we definitely found adventure along the way...


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We arrived in Bangkok and were delighted to find that the jugglers' park (next to the Chao Praya River, just west of Khaosan Road area) was alive with jugglers, sphere contact artists, and people playing with pois, staffs, chinese yoyos and devil sticks. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, these are all toys that are used in performance entertainment, or for personal enjoyment. We had a great time there playing, meeting new friends and sharing stories about travels. Pancho, my husband, and I were eagerly asking for advice as to where we should go for our planned beach/work vacation. We were informed that for doing fire performances we were best to go to a place called Haad Rin, on the Koh Phangan Island. Not knowing much about Thailand and being utterly overwhelmed by the number of strangely named islands, we took their advice and headed to Koh Phangan.

We took an overnight bus south and then boarded an early morning ferry to Koh Phangan. Once we arrived in Haad Rin, a small, bustly, tourist town on the South East point of the island, we settled into a little cabin and set up our hammock. Our first night we realized that maybe this wasn't the place for our family, but it was definitely the place for fire shows! At night, Haad Rin beach is brimming with tourists, all drinking from huge buckets full of liquor. At four of the five beach bars there are Thai fire spinners giving the crowds an eye full of flame and kerosene. I've been exposed to some pretty unsafe situations, having stood beside fireworks being launched in Mexico and having watched as millions lit hand held fireworks during Chinese New Year in Beijing, but I am now sure that Smoky, the Fire Safety Bear, has never been to Haad Rin. The fire spinners were standing about three meters from the guests and openly pouring kerosene onto their still-smoking fire staffs and pois. The kerosene that was not absorbed was going directly into the sand. Many of the spinners are extremely talented, but it seems that the faster is better approach is alive and well in Haad Rin. The next day I thought back to the kerosene on the beach as I was stung repeatedly by something invisible in the water.

Pancho and I did get a show in Haad Rin. On our second night we were given a show at one of the biggest bars on the beach. We tried to explain that we had a fifteen minute show with music, but the owner informed us that they would not play our music. We asked them to play something appropriate and explained that first I would appear with long flaming fingers and dance smoothly in front of the crowd and that then Pancho would be using his fire staffs and that there would be handstands, feicha (Chinese staff juggling) and acrobatics. I don't think our message reached the DJ booth because I was made to dance to everybody's favorite "I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down". Needless to say I was a bit thrown off. No one seemed to notice that our show didn't go as smoothly as we wanted. Maybe the buckets played a part in that! Regardless, we were congratulated and thanked and asked back tomorrow and told how wonderful we were. We were the only ones who weren't pleased. The show was, in our minds, not what we were looking for. We earned plenty of money to pay our cabin and some meals, but we knew we weren't where we wanted to be.

Our next stop was also on Koh Phangan, a small cove called Haad Thien, only accessible by boat. Haad Thien is a much quieter area and we felt more relaxed the minute we stepped off the boat. The first night, after we shooed away a giant eight-legged friend, we were completely at peace in our water front raised cabin, safe under our mosquito net.

We were happy the next morning to see two travelers from The United States out on the beach practicing their poi and staff moves. We agreed to put on a show that night together with whatever kerosene we could find. With some great music and about forty onlookers we pulled out our tricks that night and casually put on a truly great show. We had no arrangement for pay, but when we passed the hat for tips we made enough for our cabin, our food and the boat ride out of Haad Thien. The next day we left, having explored most of what the small Haad Thien cove has to see.

Our next stop was unknown but we had heard that some of the best places to travel are on the Andaman Sea side of Thailand. We decided that our enjoyment was more important than the work and we went into the unknown looking for our ideal spot.

Back on the mainland, on the bus across to the Andaman Sea we met a guy from Brussels who told us that we had to see a place called Krabi. Since we had no other plans, we took his advice. And good advice it was.

Krabi is an area about halfway down the Thai Andaman Sea coast. What sets it apart is that it is made up of many rock formations jutting out of the sea, both on the mainland and also on or forming islands. It is a world renowned rock climber's paradise with cliff faces everywhere you look. It was here at Railay (short boat ride from Krabi town) that I found the most beautiful beach I've ever seen, and I've seen many. Taking a path covered by cliff overhang, I walked among vines and rock tunnels and finally emerged onto a breathtaking beach, Ao Phranang. To my left, there was a 200 meter cliff with enormous stalactites hanging some 75 meters long and dripping limestone filtered water onto my head from high above. To my right, I saw a long, exposed, white sand beach curling off into the unknown distance. Directly in front of the beach, out in the water, there was a rock formation, accessible at low tide by walking along a sand bar about two feet under the water. No restaurants, unspoiled nature, few people and some wild monkeys combined to make Ao Phranang the most beautiful beach I've seen.

During our time in Railay Pancho worked a couple of times at bars and we managed to pay for some rent and meals. We stayed about three days and then headed to Koh Phi Phi, one of the places that was destroyed in the Tsunami that hit December, 2004.

We weren't sure what to expect, but Koh Phi Phi was truly breathtaking. The island is made up of two large hills with a wide sand bar between them. It is here, on the sand bar where the town rests. The locals are bright and upbeat and are willing to talk about their experiences. We were, however, careful not to dig too deep about the tsunami after we had a sad experience. One day on the beach a young woman approached us and was playing with Denya, our daughter. I asked her if she had any children and was deeply saddened when she replied that her daughter of two had died in the tsunami. I was speechless. Slowly, the residents of Phi Phi Island are rebuilding and tourism is aiding the reconstruction on this quaint little island.

Koh Phi Phi was where our little dream came true. We became friends with a woman who ran the restaurant in front of our hotel and she watched Denya in the evening while Pancho and I went to perform. In Phi Phi we worked two to three shows a night for the five nights we were there. We were presented with many different stages, including: beach front in the sand, a three level open front disco bar, and a Thai Boxing ring! Best of all, no buckets! We spent our days taking long-tail boats to explore other islands nearby and hiking up to look out over the Andaman Sea. At night we put on some spectacular fire and acrobatic shows. We were paid sometimes by the bar and sometimes by tips, our earnings paying for both room, board and a little extra during our stay.

So we were successful in our work/tour journey. It would have been nice to find the success we had in Phi Phi at the beginning of our trip, but I wouldn't change how we did it. The fun is in the adventure and we were never short of fun. Pancho and I have agreed that we want to do more traveling this way, working along the way, earning what we need to keep moving.

The only thing I don't miss about our holiday is lugging a stroller, a backpack, a metal handstand frame, a two-meter long bag containing fire staffs and feichas and a one and a half year old on and off boats, trains and buses. But I suppose that's what it takes to be a two man traveling circus show.



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