Poolhall Junkies in Da Tong Ma

So there we were, in a poolhall in Da Tong Ma, two tourists, a fourteen year old, smoking and drinking school truant, a monk with a Kappa beanie and a Tibetan that looks like he’d have no problem killing you.

The guys watching, sometimes as few as three, other times as many as fifteen, all carry knives.

The truant wants to play for money, the monk has no problems with it. It’s the monk and me against the truant and the scary Tibetan, and they’re down five games to two.

One of the onlookers does not smile, he does not talk; I catch him staring every time I glance in his direction.

How did we get here?

Tashi introduced us to his friend (the truant). He came over one day while Tashi was at work. I let him play with mspaint on my laptop, he in turn invites us to play pool with him.

The truant, playing with paint.

We walk down one of the streets into an unmarked house. The courtyard has three pool tables, each of which has ripped felt and slopes in seemingly random directions. The pockets are missing nets and all of the balls in the bucket are chipped or dented in some way. The pool cues are all slightly crooked and instead of using chalk, the truant shows us that you simply use the wall. To top it off, under every pool table is a pile of dried yak shit.

Setting up a game of 8-ball, notice the yak shit, dodgy pockets and bucket of balls.

We start playing, Gregor and myself against the truant, a version of nine ball using only six balls that must be sunk in order. There is no ball in hand rule, a spot of tape marks where the cue ball should be re-spotted, the other end of the table has a similar mark for re-spotting balls sunk in foul. Whoever sinks the most balls, wins.

After a couple of games, we teach the truant 8-ball. As we play, a small crowd forms, one of the crowd (Kappa Lama) cheers all the time and laughs every time we make a bad shot. Since Gregor is bored of playing I take Kappa Lama on my team. The truant in turn takes the scariest onlooker on his team.

After we finish playing, the truant refuses to pay his losses (AUD 60c). I decide not to beat him up over it.

Far left, onlookers with knives. To my left the scary Tibetan. Lining up a shot, Tashi, our friend that drove us to Da Tong Ma. Holding the other cue, the truant. Behind the truant, the guy in the cowboy hat staring at me, he’s that guy. Far right is my homeboy Kappa Lama.