Day 44 - Papillon (Koh Lanta)

So today we escaped the solitary confinment of Crown Lanta, and find ourselves in Papillon. Okay I'll admit that you could hardly call one of the most upmarket hotels on this island solitary confinment, but then I will also admit that the main reason we are at Papillon is in homage to the second greatest film of all time - Papillon (within which the character spent many years in solitary - hence the weakish link). Had there been a beach hut resort called 'Cool Hand Luke' then we may well be sitting there now. There is an interesting similarity between this island and the backdrop scenery of Papillon, so this at least feels right.

For the non-fans of 70's film, Papillon is the true story of Henri Charriere (Papillon), played by Steve Mcqueen, who is deported to Devil's Island in French Guiana, here he makes repeated attempts to escape his tropical prison in defiance of his captors, and their extreme methods of punishment for attempted escape. Whilst incarcerated he develops a strong friendship with Dega (I Think!) played by Dustin Hoffman, this frienship is formed due to an extraodinary set of selfless acts by each that prove the amazing capacity of man to defy tyranny, whatever the odds!

Cool Hand Luke is the story of Lucas Jackson, played by Paul Newman, who is sentenced to two years prison, where he refuses to buckle to the will of his captors despite their extreme methods of punishment, not only does he defy his captors, but he also turns the other inmates from opponents to friends and followers by showing an extroadinary capacity to drive through pain and hardship with great gusto, thus driving a further stake into the hearts of their tyrannous captors.

Any part-time psycologists may want to extract some inner deeper meaning from a chap who sees these two films as the greatest, with their clear similarities, and then question the decision to up sticks and journey to the far side of the world, maybe as a form of escapism!!

With nothing to escape and no tyranny to behold, I wouldnt want to come to any conclusion on that myself. Although, with a great love of adventure and a greater love of 'bucking the trend', it is easy to greatly admire the characters of Papillon and Cool Hand, as they refuse to take the easy road.

****Okay chaps dont worry I havent started smoking the herbs out here, but the mind is certainly free****

My random warbling aside, Papillon ( the beach huts) is a very quiet garden with only a few huts, and is run by Jans, a swedish baker, who escaped Sweden for a simpler existence, although he does still bake. I intend on investigating whether the film Papillon had a profound effect on him, and hence his naming of his huts, and maybe I will practise some amateur psyscology on his film favourites later, after some home cooked bread and some Singha Beer!

Tomorrow we leave for a small island called Koh Kradan where there are only a handful of huts that are run by a Hawaiian chap called Wally!.... so I fear there maybe more escape stories ahead!