Planes, trains, etc. etc.

As I sat on the plane from Bangkok to Seoul (yes, I have left Thailand...) I reflected on my public transportation adventures the previous 48 hours. For those of you who have traveled, you know that a great deal of your time can be spent transferring here and there. So, it started with a taxi ride to the pier on Koh Phangnan (30 min), then a Ferry boat to Surat Thani (3.5 hours), then a bus to the train station (1.5 hours), an overnight train to Bangkok (12 hours), a public bus to Koh San Road in Bangkok (one of the best hour city tours ever for about $.20), a public bus back to teh train station, a subway ride for 3 stops, then another subway ride back 1 stop b/c I was actually supposed to be on teh Skytrain (yes, they have both in Bangkok), and finally an hour taxi to the airport! Phew! On my last evening in Thailand, I was able to meet up with friends I met at the Yoga Immersion and have dinner and take a shower at their guesthouse room. It was very nice to close out my time sealing in a connection I hope to have in the future...not to mention that the couple lives in Greece and extended an open invitation...hmmm...

Split the Sack

Why does the soul not fly when it hears the call?

Why does a fish, gasping on land, but near the water, not move back into the sea?

What keeps us from joining the dance the dust particles do?

Look at their subtle motions in sunlight.

We are out of our cages with our wings spread, yet we do not lift off.

We keep collecting rocks and broken bits of pottery like children pretending they are merchants.

We should split the sack of this culture and stick our heads out.

Look around. Leave your childhood.

Reach your right hand up and take this book from the air. You do know your right from your left, don't you?

A voice speaks to your clarity. Move into the moment of your death. Consider what you truly want.

Now call out commands yourself. You are the king. Phrase your question, and expect the grace of an answer.

~Rumi

And the next stop is...who knows!

Yesterday afternoon I sat sipping a lovely Singha in Shark Bay on Koh Tao. You may recall my last post that I was headed to Koh Phangnan...or so I thought. After deciding to leave Tonsai for sure and making arrangements to head to Koh Phagnan for the rest of my trip I had two interesting things happen that redirected me once again. I had arranged for a bus/ferry combo to leave Ao Nang at 12:30 pm on Wed. The woman who owned the little travel center was really great and we were equally annoyed when the company failed to actually pick me up despite repeated calls to the man and their insisting they were on the way. So that's ok, we arranged for me to get a later bus and take the night ferry to KPN. After a harrowing bus ride back to Surat Thani where I was supposed to catch the night ferry, I was informed by a woman that there is no boat to Koh Phagnan. No Boat...what do you mean no boat? This is a daily ferry trip and it just happened not to be there on this day? And so it is sometimes here...Anyways, after a long discussion that led virtually nowhere, I jumped on the night ferry to Koh Tao.

If Tonsai/Railay was not all I expected, Koh Tao is so much more!! It is so beautiful, and has great vibe (the main attraction here is scuba diving), and not so much exploitation. People here seem to be more aware, which makes sense since they are here to explore the natural resource in the sea! I considered and actually signed up to do my open water dive certification, but dropped out at the last minute and am spending a couple days volunteering at the Koh Tao Animal Clinic. I have spent my whole trip watching the stray animals around Thailand and Lao, and now I am excited to give back to them a little! I am very happy to have ended up here, no matter how circuitous the route!

New photos posted! http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/vEjgORaAew-pjltt40HSCA?feat=directlink

Getting crabby with Krabi

Most everything on my trip so far has been not exactly what I expected, and usually something much better than what I expected. Tonsai Beach/Railay is the one exception to that. This was my first stop to explore Thailands beaches/ocean, and I wonder now if my previous post was less about me being a bit too spacey, and more about the Universe guiding me off my planned path to Krabi! As soon as I got there I knew it wasn't where I wanted to be. Don't get me wrong, it is gorgeous-stunning really. Tonsai and the whole area are one of the world's rock climbing meccas and it's got a fun vibe for sure. That said, the longtail boats coming in and out of the bay NONSTOP (and these are definitely not 4-stroke engines!) are so noisy and dirty that there is actually a haze in the air. It is a closed area, so all electricity for the tourism industry is by huge generators, also very noisy. It made me sad, really...such a beautiful place taking such a big hit-and that's only the resources you can see/hear, let alone what's going on underwater and to the natural resources in the area. It reminds me of some of our major controversies, like snowmobiles in Yellowstone for example....but there is definitely no limit on anything here, and no real move towards that. Anyways, I changed paths this morning and headed out...now on my way to Koh Phangan via bus and night ferry. Hasta la vista Krabi!

Finding balance...off the yoga mat

One thing I learned after a couple years whitewater kayaking was that when negotiating rapids, you have to find a balance between effort and surrender to the power of the river. If you put in too much effort when it's not necessary you will exhaust yourself, or perhaps tense up too much and be more prone to tipping over when you encounter an obstacle, and you just end up working way harder than you need to. But if you "go with the flow" too much, you'll also just get knocked around. So there's balance between the two, just like on the yoga mat, rock wall, and life in general. During my yoga immersion, my focus was to really surrender and let go to whatever might happen or come up, and to let go of needing to know who, what, when, how, and why. I felt great about my progress and left after practice today with this trance-like feeling of ease. But then I promptly missed my plane out of Bangkok, decided to take the train to Krabi instead and missed that too. Ok then...guess I need to bring 'er on back down and find a better balance between effort and surrender before I float away!

So, now I'm booked on an overnight train to Surat Thani (wasn't planning to go there, but it's in the right general direction). I leave Bangkok at 11 pm tonight and arrive there around 8 am.

Saying Goodbye to Chiang Mai

Tonight is my last night here in Chiang Mai. It is with some sadness that I start packing and think of moving on, but I'm also looking forward to spending some time exploring Thailand's famous beaches and smelling the fresh ocean air. We are having a 5 rhythms dance and chakra yoga this evening, so we'll be raising our vibration for sure! I leave tomorrow right after our final yoga session and fly to Bangkok and then on to Krabi. I don't have much of a plan from there, and I'm looking forward to floating around a bit and seeing where I end up.

Happy Valentine's Day to you all...I hope you find yourself filled up and surrounded with love!

And Happy Birthday Dad! Love you!

Magha Puja Day

In the buddhist cultures of Lao, Thailand and Cambodia, the 3rd full moon of the lunar calendar is a holy day full of celebration, and a national holiday in Thailand and Lao. The day is called the Magha Puja Day, and it happened yesterday here. I was blessed to participate in the Thai ceremony at a local temple to honor the Buddha, so I wanted to share a little about this auspicious day.

About 2500 years ago in a city called Rajagaha in the Bihar state of India, 1,250 disciples of the Buddha gathered spontaneously on the 3rd full moon of the lunar calendar. At this spontaneous gathering, the Buddha gave a teaching which became the basic principles and foundation of Buddhism. This fundamental teaching is called the Ovadha Patimokkha and has 3 principle components: to do no bad action (speech or act), to do and maintain good in all action, and to purify the mind through meditation. Lord Buddha further described the ways to a peaceful life. His disciples were to take and teach this fundamental principles.

The ceremony began with a blessing by the monk at the local temple (not a tourist place at all). It was in Thai, but it was beautiful to hear nonetheless. Then the whole temple took flowers, candles and incense and walked clockwise outside around the Stupa (a shrine of sorts) 3 times then said our own blessing and offered the flowers and candles. It was stunning and very powerful and I am so honored to have been able to participate, not to mention the full moon energy that had flowed with us all during the day (there were many tears shed and a fair amount of chaos all around!). Our teacher talked to the head monk at the temple, and he is going to teach a meditation session for us tomorrow evening. Straight from the source...I am thrilled!