I haven’t written in my blog in ages. No excuse, except I hate typing on my little keyboard.
I have been on Koh Phangan since January 18th. I will leave on March 22. I have finished my Level 2 yoga with Agama. I have to be honest, I didn’t enjoy it at all and it was a real struggle to finish. I was ready for the intensity again, but we only had class 3x a week. The teacher really didn’t teach, we viewed a video of Swami. I could have done the same thing by distant learning over the internet. It has been hard to meet people here as the island and classes are so spread out. Besides, I am one of the oldies. There are only a handful of us compared to the hundreds of 20-30 year olds! I just haven’t fit it. But………..I may consider spending more time here in the future. I could actually run a massage business and live and work here 5-6 months a year.
On another positive note, the island is beautiful and I am getting use to relaxing. I love walking on the beach and wading out to a sandbar and just enjoying the simple pleasures of life. I have gotten into drinking fresh coconut water! This is the island’s main economy besides tourism!
I took a weekend Experiential Tantra Workshop which was loads of fun but a little awkward! I am now taking 10 sessions of Chakra Balancing. It’s given by a Thai woman, and mostly I’m receiving some pretty rare body work. I feel amazing, after being pretty darn depressed for a few weeks. Today I learned how to use a pendulum. I’m so excited about this. It’s scientific magic! Basically we are an energy based universe. Everything is energy. Pendulum work is a way of connecting with your inner self, your innate intelligence. All living matter has ability to sense beneficial or destructive energy. Animal’s sense danger, plants shrink when hostile people walk near them. Our nervous system is like a cosmic computer. But most of us are not in tuned enough to recognize what answers the nervous system gives us. Our mind is like a big radio or television receiver and transmitter. A properly trained person can concentrate on thing, person, object, thought, etc, and becomes in tune with it. The person touches the thing on its own frequency. Nerve cells begin to vibrate in resonance to it, and this vibration has a frequency. The nervous system then translates this quality and causes the appropriate agreed upon movement in the pendulum. You can get a yes or no answer to just about question using the pendulum. They say it takes a year to a year and a half of practice to master it. I am already doing very well with it just in the first day. And have asked it some questions. Maybe all this yoga has done my pea brain some good! Hehe All kidding aside, I have always had a good intuition, but using the pendulum will make it even stronger and more accurate.
I leave the island on the 22nd and will spend a few days in Bangkok waiting on my visa to return to India. I plan to spend a few days in Mumbai, and maybe even do a little massage work there too! Then I am taking a Pranic Healing Workshop for a few days in Bangalore, the IT capital of India. I’ll end up at an ashram near Mangalore, to do a “gau seva”, servitude to the cows for a month. This is a highly spiritual experience! I’ll shovel cow shit, bath, feed milk, massage and meditate with the cows. I want to practice my new learned Pranic healing skills on the cows too! They say it burns bad karma to serve the cows and it helps with psychosomatic disorders and calms the minds and nerves! It’s going o be a hot dirty job but I am really looking forward to it. I know, people think I am crazy! I got so attached to the cows in Rishikesh and I felt a real connection. They would almost fall over when I massaged them.
Then I have a 3-month program lined up at Osho Meditation Resort in Pune. It is an intern position where I will live, work and learn about meditation. Osho was quite controversial and had some wild ideas. Like using dynamic movements, music, dancing, yelling, laughing, and screaming to get the energy out of your system so you can then be at peace and still to meditate. The program I’m on teaches you how to integrate work and play. We were taught early in life that play is one thing and work another. This program teaches you how to be playful in your work! The program radically changes our approach to work and life. I am excited! I will learn new things and the resort will put me to work utilizing my skill sets.
So that’s about 4 ½ months of my 6-month return visa to India. My family and friends ask when I am coming home? The truth is, I no longer have a home!
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
4-nights of fun on Koh Phangan
I haven’t written in my blog in a while. I guess it is easier to read other peoples blogs than I write in my own. Hehe It is so damn hard to type on this little keyboard and without a proper desk.
I am getting more and more adjusted to life on Koh Phangan, but to tell you the truth it is a bit boring. I am having trouble doing my own self-practice for yoga.
I have started Level 2, and it is going okay. Not quite the dynamics or intensity that we had in Rishikesh. I guess you can never repeat your experiences and you have to be content with the memories of the past. We only go three days a week for 3.5 hours each day. There is about 25-people in the class, many just took Level 1 here on the island. I wanted to attend simultaneously a Third Eye Retreat, but it was for 10-hours a day for 10-hours. I thought it would be too intense to do both courses at the same time. I also had concerns with so much meditation and sitting still. I’m afraid I might find myself to be a crazy woman when given and forced with so much time to focus! Someday I will do something like that, I just don’t think now is the time.
One of my classmates from Australia had to leave Rishiksh a day early and missed graduation. Her grandfather was dying and she had to return home. So now she has arrived here on the island for our yoga class. We have done a few things together. Her first night here we went to a “1001 Arabian Nights Party” that the yoga school was sponsoring. I didn’t expect much…………boy I was blown away! There must have been 40-belly dancers entertaining us. They had all just graduated from a belly and mystical dance class as part of our tantra yoga school, Agama Yoga. They were all ages, sizes, shapes and nationalities with beautiful costumes. I enjoyed their performances very much and hope I can take classes someday. I actually taught myself to belly dance when I was about 20-years old.
The second night another friend and classmates from Rishikesh was in a Thai Boxing Match. I wasn’t crazy about attending but thought I should go just to give him my moral support. I ended up loving it! Our friend’s opponent was Thai. Three were to be 5-rounds of three minutes each. Within 1-minute of starting, our friend knocked the Thai guy out! He is such a good yogi, and boxing might be considered controversial. We watched several different fights.
The third night of her being here, we went to a Full Moon Party on the Beach. That it what this island is famous for. Basically a bunch of young kids partying and getting drunk. It was fun to go, just once! There were fire dancers and jump roping with fire. Not good for drunks! There was even a stand for Magic Mushrooms which are illegal. Tons of bars, a water slide, trampolines and all kinds of music. People were drinking buckets of cocktails. You buy a bucket, let’s say with vodka and Redbull, and they supply the ice. You drink the drink out of your bucket! We came and left early before it got too wild on the beach. Thousands come for this event every month. There are now Black Moon and Half Moon parties as well, so just about every night of the week there is a party here.
And the 4th night of her arrival, we had a Yang Spiral Meditation. Basically the full moon produces a lot of yin, female energy, so we did a yang, masculine meditation to counter balcony the effects. There were over a hundred people in attendance. You divide up by your astrological sign, then male/female. By dividing in to all the twelve astrological signs this helps give healing energy from the universe. You get into a spiral position holding hands, male, female, male female and so forth. Then trance music plays, you hold hands in a standing meditation for 45-minutes. I was concerned this would be a struggle for me, the wiggle worm that I am. You can’t let go of holding hands or you break the spiral. If you do, you have to step back and connect the people on either side of you. Within a few minutes my belly area felt like it is on fire. I thought, if I hugged a snow man it would melt. It was an incredible experience. Unfortunately, I could not get the energy to move any higher which is the goal, to get to the higher chakras and out the crown. You are suppose to get all kinds of healing benefits from the meditation. Google Yang Spiral Meditation. So maybe now my belly will be healed! I carry a ton of emotions in my abdomen!
So what a contrast in the 4-nights of activities! Last night I stayed home and watched a sci-fi movie!
I am getting more and more adjusted to life on Koh Phangan, but to tell you the truth it is a bit boring. I am having trouble doing my own self-practice for yoga.
I have started Level 2, and it is going okay. Not quite the dynamics or intensity that we had in Rishikesh. I guess you can never repeat your experiences and you have to be content with the memories of the past. We only go three days a week for 3.5 hours each day. There is about 25-people in the class, many just took Level 1 here on the island. I wanted to attend simultaneously a Third Eye Retreat, but it was for 10-hours a day for 10-hours. I thought it would be too intense to do both courses at the same time. I also had concerns with so much meditation and sitting still. I’m afraid I might find myself to be a crazy woman when given and forced with so much time to focus! Someday I will do something like that, I just don’t think now is the time.
One of my classmates from Australia had to leave Rishiksh a day early and missed graduation. Her grandfather was dying and she had to return home. So now she has arrived here on the island for our yoga class. We have done a few things together. Her first night here we went to a “1001 Arabian Nights Party” that the yoga school was sponsoring. I didn’t expect much…………boy I was blown away! There must have been 40-belly dancers entertaining us. They had all just graduated from a belly and mystical dance class as part of our tantra yoga school, Agama Yoga. They were all ages, sizes, shapes and nationalities with beautiful costumes. I enjoyed their performances very much and hope I can take classes someday. I actually taught myself to belly dance when I was about 20-years old.
The second night another friend and classmates from Rishikesh was in a Thai Boxing Match. I wasn’t crazy about attending but thought I should go just to give him my moral support. I ended up loving it! Our friend’s opponent was Thai. Three were to be 5-rounds of three minutes each. Within 1-minute of starting, our friend knocked the Thai guy out! He is such a good yogi, and boxing might be considered controversial. We watched several different fights.
The third night of her being here, we went to a Full Moon Party on the Beach. That it what this island is famous for. Basically a bunch of young kids partying and getting drunk. It was fun to go, just once! There were fire dancers and jump roping with fire. Not good for drunks! There was even a stand for Magic Mushrooms which are illegal. Tons of bars, a water slide, trampolines and all kinds of music. People were drinking buckets of cocktails. You buy a bucket, let’s say with vodka and Redbull, and they supply the ice. You drink the drink out of your bucket! We came and left early before it got too wild on the beach. Thousands come for this event every month. There are now Black Moon and Half Moon parties as well, so just about every night of the week there is a party here.
And the 4th night of her arrival, we had a Yang Spiral Meditation. Basically the full moon produces a lot of yin, female energy, so we did a yang, masculine meditation to counter balcony the effects. There were over a hundred people in attendance. You divide up by your astrological sign, then male/female. By dividing in to all the twelve astrological signs this helps give healing energy from the universe. You get into a spiral position holding hands, male, female, male female and so forth. Then trance music plays, you hold hands in a standing meditation for 45-minutes. I was concerned this would be a struggle for me, the wiggle worm that I am. You can’t let go of holding hands or you break the spiral. If you do, you have to step back and connect the people on either side of you. Within a few minutes my belly area felt like it is on fire. I thought, if I hugged a snow man it would melt. It was an incredible experience. Unfortunately, I could not get the energy to move any higher which is the goal, to get to the higher chakras and out the crown. You are suppose to get all kinds of healing benefits from the meditation. Google Yang Spiral Meditation. So maybe now my belly will be healed! I carry a ton of emotions in my abdomen!
So what a contrast in the 4-nights of activities! Last night I stayed home and watched a sci-fi movie!
Penang, Malaysia
I took an exhausting 15-hour trip by ferry and mini-bus ride to Penang. The reason was to get a visa for Thailand so I could stay beyond 30-days here. Now I have a visa to stay 2-months longer, which I won’t need. I needed more than 30 days but not 60. The travel to/from was awful, except for the ferry ride. But my time in Penang was fabulous, yet expensive for me! I stayed at a cute boutique hotel for 3-nights because I was scheduled to get in very late and all the on-line guest houses were sold out. The first night and second day I was worn out from the trip. I visited the Red Garden Café and Food Court a couple of nights for entertainment and good food. It’s always fun to listen to Asian musicians singing American songs. An older, local gentlemen sat next to me the first night. We visited and he wanted me to return again the next night. Our visit reminded me of my around the world trip in 2005. I spent about 10-days in Penang, but I mostly stayed on the beach area and did not come into town. I made friends with a Malay man. We had a great time together. He took me to the train station and cried when I left. I had thought of trying to find him again, but didn’t. I can’t even remember his name! I came back again to the food court my last night and a young Thai tried to pick me up. He was very aggressive with me and I was starting to get scared. A rarity for me! My warning lights were going up to not go anywhere with him. Another night I went to the famous Eastern & Oriental Hotel to their English Style Pub. Heard great music and had one drink. I like to visit interesting hotels in every city I visit. My last day there I met a delightful lady from Montreal and we went on a private city tour together. We got to see all the sights of Penang! Such as all the British Colonial buildings, Penang Hill, (a cog wheeled train up a mountain) a couple of beautiful and scenic Chinese Temples, the port, and old immigrant village. It is a lovely city of 1.2 million! I could see myself living there. I had some trouble getting home. The travel agent screwed up and consequently screwed me! Gawd, sometime I hate being a tourist and taken advantage of.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
My own bungalow
I checked out of my cute bungalow resort, Lime N Soda, yesterday and finally got moved into my new monthly bungalow rental. I am pretty pleased with it and although it is close to a main road, it is not bothering me and I enjoy watching cars, scooters and people go by. The landlord also runs a restaurant right across the street and I can see what is going on over there too. This way I don't feel so isolated! I've got great wifi, a small living room area with a TV and loads of channels, and a small kitchen. There is no a/c which I will be okay without it, but to get air flow, you have to open all the windows which give you no protection to the mosquito's or for theft. The owner assures me in 10-years the only thefts he has had was with two different guys who had prostitutes in their bungalows and they decided not to pay them. The ladies came back and stole their computers. I guess I am still bothered by my robbery in Guatemala as I am much more sensitive to security issues now. Gawd,I use to be so trusting!
I shopped for groceries and it is very expensive here. I think it might be cheaper for me to eat at the food court daily. For $26 USD, I bought 6-eggs, 2-bananas, 3-tomatoes, 2-sm apples, 2-yogurts, crackers, 2-beers, sugar, tea, cheese, a small bag of Lays, a Snickers bar, little tube of local toothpaste, 2-cans V-8 juice, a mosquito coil, and 2-liters of bottled water. I guess anywhere in the world with rising food cost, $26 dollars doesn't buy much! The owner just had someone bring over a 5-gallon jug of water but I need some sort of stand and attachment to use it.
I took off on the bike to Haad Rin. This is the famous area for the Full Moon parties. I got scared after a few very steep hills and 15% grades and turned around. I couldn't get the bike to slow down enough going down hill! I don't trust these old brakes! The bike is an automatic so I couldn't put it in a lower gear. I had just read an article on the Koh Phangan "tattoo". These are permanent scars left on tourists who have had scooter accidents. Also after I read the article I took off on my scooter and got blocked on the road by a roll over accident. A French guy rolled his jeep while going to fast and an approaching car came on a narrow bridge. He was shaken, but not hurt! A rain shower came out of nowhere while I was on the scooter and I got drenched and was actually chilly for a few minutes!
It's hard to sight see while driving, but I swear I have seen a couple of dogs riding scooters and even a monkey! A dog on the street was chasing the scooter so I noticed it was because of the monkey passenger! I haven't seen any other monkeys on the island. Did I mention I saw a snake in the yoga hall in Goa? I hate snakes!!!!!! I was going into the last relaxation,(Shavastana, the corpse pose) and looked on the ceiling. Sure enough, in the rafters was a medium sized tree snake. Luckily, there was netting between us if that is any comfort. I also saw one dead sea snake on the beach in Goa, and next to him was a live one. I think sea snakes are extremely poisionous! Why do I have such a fear of snakes?
So now that I finally have good wifi where I am living, I can right more. I am now a "senior" reviewer on Tripadvisor! After so many years of me personally being reviewed for my spa and massage, it's been fun to write reviews on my experiences of traveling!
I shopped for groceries and it is very expensive here. I think it might be cheaper for me to eat at the food court daily. For $26 USD, I bought 6-eggs, 2-bananas, 3-tomatoes, 2-sm apples, 2-yogurts, crackers, 2-beers, sugar, tea, cheese, a small bag of Lays, a Snickers bar, little tube of local toothpaste, 2-cans V-8 juice, a mosquito coil, and 2-liters of bottled water. I guess anywhere in the world with rising food cost, $26 dollars doesn't buy much! The owner just had someone bring over a 5-gallon jug of water but I need some sort of stand and attachment to use it.
I took off on the bike to Haad Rin. This is the famous area for the Full Moon parties. I got scared after a few very steep hills and 15% grades and turned around. I couldn't get the bike to slow down enough going down hill! I don't trust these old brakes! The bike is an automatic so I couldn't put it in a lower gear. I had just read an article on the Koh Phangan "tattoo". These are permanent scars left on tourists who have had scooter accidents. Also after I read the article I took off on my scooter and got blocked on the road by a roll over accident. A French guy rolled his jeep while going to fast and an approaching car came on a narrow bridge. He was shaken, but not hurt! A rain shower came out of nowhere while I was on the scooter and I got drenched and was actually chilly for a few minutes!
It's hard to sight see while driving, but I swear I have seen a couple of dogs riding scooters and even a monkey! A dog on the street was chasing the scooter so I noticed it was because of the monkey passenger! I haven't seen any other monkeys on the island. Did I mention I saw a snake in the yoga hall in Goa? I hate snakes!!!!!! I was going into the last relaxation,(Shavastana, the corpse pose) and looked on the ceiling. Sure enough, in the rafters was a medium sized tree snake. Luckily, there was netting between us if that is any comfort. I also saw one dead sea snake on the beach in Goa, and next to him was a live one. I think sea snakes are extremely poisionous! Why do I have such a fear of snakes?
So now that I finally have good wifi where I am living, I can right more. I am now a "senior" reviewer on Tripadvisor! After so many years of me personally being reviewed for my spa and massage, it's been fun to write reviews on my experiences of traveling!
Journey to Koh Phangan
Oops, post out of order. Forgot I never posted this so it is out of chronological order:
I booked an overnight train ride from Bangkok to Surat Thani taking 13-hours. It was very clean and comfortable despite the long ride. Then they had our butts parked in a holding terminal area for five more hours waiting on the ferry ride. The ferry ride was about 2 ½ hours. Upon arrival to the island I was transported with luggage on a scooter to my hotel. I was beat and had not fully recovered from the plan flight from Goa yet!!!!!
I’ve been in Thailand almost a week. It is very different than India. The filth and chaos in India is hard to handle sometimes. So the cleanliness and orderliness in Thailand is one of the first things you notice.
Within 24-hours of being on Ko Phangan, I ran into several people I know from Rishikesh from my yoga studies. It is comforting to arrive to a foreign country and already know some people!
Koh Phangan is in the South and located on the Gulf of Thailand near Koh Sumai, a larger better known island. Koh means island, pha means meet or find, Ngan means a sandy beach that can be seen at low tide. Most of the people are Chinese descendents. It’s 100 kms from the mainland, 168 square kilometers in size and has a population of 14k. This island is famous for its Full Moon Parties. They are generally located on the other side of the island, thank goodness.
I rented a scooter from an Agama yoga teacher. It is a bit older but I got a fair monthly rate for it. After we greed on the rental, he said “By the way, you need to put the orange string tied to the key around the handle bars.” After making several start and stops and running errands, within hours of renting the scooter, I looked down and the key had vibrated out of the ignition. I panicked and called the owner. He was kind of a smarty pants and said, “The thing to do is to retrace where you have ridden”. I rode for 45-minutes looking for the key to no avail. We met with the bike still running for about 30-minutes without me riding it. His spare key had broken and wouldn’t turn off the ignition either. You would have thought that the owner should have a spare key that works. I complained to him about the brakes. Remember, the bike is still running and instinctively he tried to use the brakes while standing at the handle bars. So instead of squeezing the brakes he squeezed the gas and was run over by the bike. He jumped out of the way then it hit another bike nearby. What a fiasco, but luckily with very little damage. I never found the key, nor had a new one made from the broken one. I ended up getting a new ignition installed for him. Thankfully it was not expensive! But I am thinking he should re-imburse me because he should have had a spare key and/or the bike should have been fixed before he rented it
to me.
I booked a beach bungalow with the Milky Bay Resort on-line with travelfish.org prior to my arrival. The rate was great for such a nice place! When I got here, they tired to put me in a Robinson Caruso bungalow. It was adorable with lots of amenities and had beautiful views of the beach. But it was pitch black on the inside and you had to open the shutters for light and views. There was nothing on the large open shutters and I felt too exposed since my room robbery in Guatemala. I didn’t want to wake-up with two men in my room again! They didn’t have another room in my price range and put me at the affiliate, a lower end property called Lime-N-Soda. It’s cute and professionally run by a lady from South Africa, but a tad overpriced in my opinion. I planned to stay here a couple of days anyway until I could find a suitable monthly rental. So today I finally found a bungalow. Of course I am here during high season so everything is way over priced. I’ll move in 2-days and have the bungalow for a month. It is cute, has a kitchen and a great location with everything but air conditioning. I hope I won’t burn up! It’s terribly hot and humid and little to no breeze. I haven’t had a/c since August, and hope I’ll acclimatize!
I’m still adjusting to being here and ready to have a routine. Because of the high tourist season, I am unable to take my Level I yoga class again for free. I am too early for Level 2, it starts in early February. But my visa expired so I had to leave India. There are 80-people in the class and the management says it is too crowded for any more people. I am missing the quaintness and quiet days of Rishikesh. Repeating some of Level I was a selling point to joining the program and for me coming here to Koh Phangan. I’m a tad pouty and realize it sounds like I am complaining. Although I really am happy and grateful to be here! Just a bit bummed.
The massages are more expensive here than Bangkok so I can’t afford one every day…. darn it! I got one earlier today and it was quite good too. I was sore from the ones in Bangkok and needed a few days to recoup.
While exploring the island on the scooter I rode to a waterfall and scenic over look. Boy did I work up a sweat on the journey! Last night I walked in to the main town of Thongsala to the food court and shopping area. For 110-baht or $3.50 I had pork fried basil and rice, a Tiger beer and a scoop of coffee ice cream. The atmosphere was lively and fun!
I booked an overnight train ride from Bangkok to Surat Thani taking 13-hours. It was very clean and comfortable despite the long ride. Then they had our butts parked in a holding terminal area for five more hours waiting on the ferry ride. The ferry ride was about 2 ½ hours. Upon arrival to the island I was transported with luggage on a scooter to my hotel. I was beat and had not fully recovered from the plan flight from Goa yet!!!!!
I’ve been in Thailand almost a week. It is very different than India. The filth and chaos in India is hard to handle sometimes. So the cleanliness and orderliness in Thailand is one of the first things you notice.
Within 24-hours of being on Ko Phangan, I ran into several people I know from Rishikesh from my yoga studies. It is comforting to arrive to a foreign country and already know some people!
Koh Phangan is in the South and located on the Gulf of Thailand near Koh Sumai, a larger better known island. Koh means island, pha means meet or find, Ngan means a sandy beach that can be seen at low tide. Most of the people are Chinese descendents. It’s 100 kms from the mainland, 168 square kilometers in size and has a population of 14k. This island is famous for its Full Moon Parties. They are generally located on the other side of the island, thank goodness.
I rented a scooter from an Agama yoga teacher. It is a bit older but I got a fair monthly rate for it. After we greed on the rental, he said “By the way, you need to put the orange string tied to the key around the handle bars.” After making several start and stops and running errands, within hours of renting the scooter, I looked down and the key had vibrated out of the ignition. I panicked and called the owner. He was kind of a smarty pants and said, “The thing to do is to retrace where you have ridden”. I rode for 45-minutes looking for the key to no avail. We met with the bike still running for about 30-minutes without me riding it. His spare key had broken and wouldn’t turn off the ignition either. You would have thought that the owner should have a spare key that works. I complained to him about the brakes. Remember, the bike is still running and instinctively he tried to use the brakes while standing at the handle bars. So instead of squeezing the brakes he squeezed the gas and was run over by the bike. He jumped out of the way then it hit another bike nearby. What a fiasco, but luckily with very little damage. I never found the key, nor had a new one made from the broken one. I ended up getting a new ignition installed for him. Thankfully it was not expensive! But I am thinking he should re-imburse me because he should have had a spare key and/or the bike should have been fixed before he rented it
to me.
I booked a beach bungalow with the Milky Bay Resort on-line with travelfish.org prior to my arrival. The rate was great for such a nice place! When I got here, they tired to put me in a Robinson Caruso bungalow. It was adorable with lots of amenities and had beautiful views of the beach. But it was pitch black on the inside and you had to open the shutters for light and views. There was nothing on the large open shutters and I felt too exposed since my room robbery in Guatemala. I didn’t want to wake-up with two men in my room again! They didn’t have another room in my price range and put me at the affiliate, a lower end property called Lime-N-Soda. It’s cute and professionally run by a lady from South Africa, but a tad overpriced in my opinion. I planned to stay here a couple of days anyway until I could find a suitable monthly rental. So today I finally found a bungalow. Of course I am here during high season so everything is way over priced. I’ll move in 2-days and have the bungalow for a month. It is cute, has a kitchen and a great location with everything but air conditioning. I hope I won’t burn up! It’s terribly hot and humid and little to no breeze. I haven’t had a/c since August, and hope I’ll acclimatize!
I’m still adjusting to being here and ready to have a routine. Because of the high tourist season, I am unable to take my Level I yoga class again for free. I am too early for Level 2, it starts in early February. But my visa expired so I had to leave India. There are 80-people in the class and the management says it is too crowded for any more people. I am missing the quaintness and quiet days of Rishikesh. Repeating some of Level I was a selling point to joining the program and for me coming here to Koh Phangan. I’m a tad pouty and realize it sounds like I am complaining. Although I really am happy and grateful to be here! Just a bit bummed.
The massages are more expensive here than Bangkok so I can’t afford one every day…. darn it! I got one earlier today and it was quite good too. I was sore from the ones in Bangkok and needed a few days to recoup.
While exploring the island on the scooter I rode to a waterfall and scenic over look. Boy did I work up a sweat on the journey! Last night I walked in to the main town of Thongsala to the food court and shopping area. For 110-baht or $3.50 I had pork fried basil and rice, a Tiger beer and a scoop of coffee ice cream. The atmosphere was lively and fun!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Arrival Koh Phangan Island, Thailand
I booked an overnight train ride from Bangkok to Surat Thani taking 13-hours. It was very clean and comfortable despite the long ride. Then they had our butts parked in a holding terminal area for five more hours waiting on the ferry ride. The ferry ride was about 2 ½ hours. Upon arrival to the island I was transported with luggage on a scooter to my hotel. I was beat and had not fully recovered from the plan flight from Goa yet!!!!!
I’ve been in Thailand almost a week. It is very different than India. The filth and chaos in India is hard to handle sometimes. So the cleanliness and orderliness in Thailand is one of the first things you notice.
Within 24-hours of being on Ko Phangan, I ran into several people I know from Rishikesh from my yoga studies. It is comforting to arrive to a foreign country and already know some people!
Koh Phangan is in the South and located on the Gulf of Thailand near Koh Sumai, a larger better known island. Koh means island, pha means meet or find, Ngan means a sandy beach that can be seen at low tide. Most of the people are Chinese descendents. It’s 100 kms from the mainland, 168 square kilometers in size and has a population of 14k. This island is famous for its Full Moon Parties. They are generally located on the other side of the island, thank goodness.
I rented a scooter from an Agama yoga teacher. It is a bit older but I got a fair monthly rate for it. After we greed on the rental, he said “By the way, you need to put the orange string tied to the key around the handle bars.” After making several start and stops and running errands, within hours of renting the scooter, I looked down and the key had vibrated out of the ignition. I panicked and called the owner. He was kind of a smarty pants and said, “The thing to do is to retrace where you have ridden”. I rode for 45-minutes looking for the key to no avail. We met with the bike still running for about 30-minutes without me riding it. His spare key had broken and wouldn’t turn off the ignition either. You would have thought that the owner should have a spare key that works. I complained to him about the brakes. Remember, the bike is still running and instinctively he tried to use the brakes while standing at the handle bars. So instead of squeezing the brakes he squeezed the gas and was run over by the bike. He jumped out of the way then it hit another bike nearby. What a fiasco, but luckily with very little damage. I never found the key, nor had a new one made from the broken one. I ended up getting a new ignition installed for him. Thankfully it was not expensive! But I am thinking he should re-imburse me because he should have had a spare key and/or the bike should have been fixed before he rented it to me.
I booked a beach bungalow with the Milky Bay Resort on-line with travelfish.org prior to my arrival. The rate was great for such a nice place! When I got here, they tired to put me in a Robinson Caruso bungalow. It was adorable with lots of amenities and had beautiful views of the beach. But it was pitch black on the inside and you had to open the shutters for light and views. There was nothing on the large open shutters and I felt too exposed since my room robbery in Guatemala. I didn’t want to wake-up with two men in my room again! Besides, my last night in Bangkok, I awoke at 1:30 am to someone trying to get into my room. Honest mistake right..........NO, I looked out the keyhole and disocvered this Thai man trying to get into several rooms. I guess he was hoping people forgot to lock their doors. It was an old-fashioned lock at a pretty nice place. So you can understand I am overly concerned with my security now. So this hotel did not have another room in my price range and put me at their affiliate, a lower end property called Lime-N-Soda. It’s cute and professionally run by a lady from South Africa, but a tad overpriced in my opinion. I planned to stay here a couple of days anyway until I could find a suitable monthly rental. So today I finally found a bungalow. Of course I am here during high season so everything is way over priced. I’ll move in 2-days and have the bungalow for a month. It is cute, has a kitchen and a great location with everything but air conditioning. I hope I won’t burn up! It’s terribly hot and humid and little to no breeze. I haven’t had a/c since August, and hope I’ll acclimatize!
I’m still adjusting to being here and ready to have a routine. Because of the high tourist season, I am unable to take my Level I yoga class again for free. I am too early for Level 2, it starts in early February. But my visa expired so I had to leave India. There are 80-people in the class and the management says it is too crowded for any more people. I am missing the quaintness and quiet days of Rishikesh. Repeating some of Level I was a selling point to joining the program and for me coming here to Koh Phangan. I’m a tad pouty and realize it sounds like I am complaining. Although I really am happy and grateful to be here! Just a bit bummed.
The massages are more expensive here than Bangkok so I can’t afford one every day…. darn it! I got one earlier today and it was quite good too. I was sore from the ones in Bangkok and needed a few days to recoup.
While exploring the island on the scooter I rode to a waterfall and scenic over look. Boy did I work up a sweat on the journey! Last night I walked in to the main town of Thongsala to the food court and shopping area. For 110-baht or $3.50 I had pork fried basil and rice, a Tiger beer and a scoop of coffee ice cream. The atmosphere was lively and fun! I think I'll try it again tonight. The low price for a meal helps with my budget for the next few days while I am paying a higher hotel rate than for a month long bunglow rental.
I’ve been in Thailand almost a week. It is very different than India. The filth and chaos in India is hard to handle sometimes. So the cleanliness and orderliness in Thailand is one of the first things you notice.
Within 24-hours of being on Ko Phangan, I ran into several people I know from Rishikesh from my yoga studies. It is comforting to arrive to a foreign country and already know some people!
Koh Phangan is in the South and located on the Gulf of Thailand near Koh Sumai, a larger better known island. Koh means island, pha means meet or find, Ngan means a sandy beach that can be seen at low tide. Most of the people are Chinese descendents. It’s 100 kms from the mainland, 168 square kilometers in size and has a population of 14k. This island is famous for its Full Moon Parties. They are generally located on the other side of the island, thank goodness.
I rented a scooter from an Agama yoga teacher. It is a bit older but I got a fair monthly rate for it. After we greed on the rental, he said “By the way, you need to put the orange string tied to the key around the handle bars.” After making several start and stops and running errands, within hours of renting the scooter, I looked down and the key had vibrated out of the ignition. I panicked and called the owner. He was kind of a smarty pants and said, “The thing to do is to retrace where you have ridden”. I rode for 45-minutes looking for the key to no avail. We met with the bike still running for about 30-minutes without me riding it. His spare key had broken and wouldn’t turn off the ignition either. You would have thought that the owner should have a spare key that works. I complained to him about the brakes. Remember, the bike is still running and instinctively he tried to use the brakes while standing at the handle bars. So instead of squeezing the brakes he squeezed the gas and was run over by the bike. He jumped out of the way then it hit another bike nearby. What a fiasco, but luckily with very little damage. I never found the key, nor had a new one made from the broken one. I ended up getting a new ignition installed for him. Thankfully it was not expensive! But I am thinking he should re-imburse me because he should have had a spare key and/or the bike should have been fixed before he rented it to me.
I booked a beach bungalow with the Milky Bay Resort on-line with travelfish.org prior to my arrival. The rate was great for such a nice place! When I got here, they tired to put me in a Robinson Caruso bungalow. It was adorable with lots of amenities and had beautiful views of the beach. But it was pitch black on the inside and you had to open the shutters for light and views. There was nothing on the large open shutters and I felt too exposed since my room robbery in Guatemala. I didn’t want to wake-up with two men in my room again! Besides, my last night in Bangkok, I awoke at 1:30 am to someone trying to get into my room. Honest mistake right..........NO, I looked out the keyhole and disocvered this Thai man trying to get into several rooms. I guess he was hoping people forgot to lock their doors. It was an old-fashioned lock at a pretty nice place. So you can understand I am overly concerned with my security now. So this hotel did not have another room in my price range and put me at their affiliate, a lower end property called Lime-N-Soda. It’s cute and professionally run by a lady from South Africa, but a tad overpriced in my opinion. I planned to stay here a couple of days anyway until I could find a suitable monthly rental. So today I finally found a bungalow. Of course I am here during high season so everything is way over priced. I’ll move in 2-days and have the bungalow for a month. It is cute, has a kitchen and a great location with everything but air conditioning. I hope I won’t burn up! It’s terribly hot and humid and little to no breeze. I haven’t had a/c since August, and hope I’ll acclimatize!
I’m still adjusting to being here and ready to have a routine. Because of the high tourist season, I am unable to take my Level I yoga class again for free. I am too early for Level 2, it starts in early February. But my visa expired so I had to leave India. There are 80-people in the class and the management says it is too crowded for any more people. I am missing the quaintness and quiet days of Rishikesh. Repeating some of Level I was a selling point to joining the program and for me coming here to Koh Phangan. I’m a tad pouty and realize it sounds like I am complaining. Although I really am happy and grateful to be here! Just a bit bummed.
The massages are more expensive here than Bangkok so I can’t afford one every day…. darn it! I got one earlier today and it was quite good too. I was sore from the ones in Bangkok and needed a few days to recoup.
While exploring the island on the scooter I rode to a waterfall and scenic over look. Boy did I work up a sweat on the journey! Last night I walked in to the main town of Thongsala to the food court and shopping area. For 110-baht or $3.50 I had pork fried basil and rice, a Tiger beer and a scoop of coffee ice cream. The atmosphere was lively and fun! I think I'll try it again tonight. The low price for a meal helps with my budget for the next few days while I am paying a higher hotel rate than for a month long bunglow rental.
Monday, January 16, 2012
First days in Bangkok
I arrived in Thailand after an exhausting trip. I had an easy one hour flight from Goa to Mumbai then an 8-hour lay-over there. We had a one hour flight delay, then a four hour fight. Coupled with a one hour forty five minute stand in the immigration line at the airport and a one hour taxi ride to my hotel. I checked in about 10 am and crashed for a few hours! I was so tired I could barely stand up.
Afterwards I walked around the hotel a bit on Khao San Road, a big low budget tourist area, then enjoyed a 2-hour massage. My gawd, I'll get one daily at $10 for 2-hours! You can't be bashful thpough. There is no privacy. The room is filled with 6-mats and full of other people. I guess I can't expect much with those prices.
I walked the road at night. It turns into a lively outdoor market area. This is the tame area, but some of the things I saw were pretty eye catching. I paused for some fresh mango, then a Tiger Beer and a pork salad. Smoke was coming out my ears it was so spicy. I have to be careful asking for "medium spicey". People were getting their hair done in dreadlocks, henna on their hair and tattoos. Young adults were drinking mini kegs of beer and signs read, "Very strong cocktails, we don't check ID's here". Vendors were selling everything from clothes to street food. I saw a lady selling fried grasshoppers, worms and ants! Her signed said 30-baht please for photo! People were getting fish pedicures and one lady kept laughing and pulling her feet out of the water because it tickled. It was fun to watch! The live music and the trance CD's were blarring all down the street. The hedonist I am had to stop for a $3, 30-minute pedicure, even after my 2-hour massage earlier in the day. It was bizarre to see 25-people on the street getting pedicures. Some drinking beer, others half asleep and relaxed yet others had conversation with friends while their feet were rubbed. It was nicely done. The chairs were clean and matching and all the workers had uniforms on. All the sudden the foot therapists starting grabbing their chairs, stools and supplies and running. I thought it was about to rain, or there was a bomb scare which there had been in Bangkok recently. But the cops came. I think they weren't suppose to block the streets. Within minutes all the street vendors were gone where the police had just passed. If I get the courage and desire, my next journey is Patt Pong..................the sleezy, red light district with sex shows! I've always wanted to go there and will do so if I decide to stay a couple of more days here!
Today I enjoyed and included breakfast at my hotel, the D&D Inn. Later I took a tuk-tuk to the Grand Palace, one of the major tourist venues. It takes a lot to impress me and this did so. It was 60-acres of grandeur where the king lives and houses government offices. I took a delightful free tour of the grounds with six other people. It was terribly hot and humid. To get ack to my hotel, I took a cheap scooter ride back then I was off to get my teeth cleaned. I was certain I had some issues. I had 2-cavities that needed filling along with the cleaning. It was a professional dental experience, other than the dentist talking on the phone a couple of times! I have never had my teeth cleaned with lazers. The entire experience was not painful at all. Most of my fillings are over 40-years old. The new fillings look natural.
I intend to write more on my final days and reflections of India, but for now, it is time for another massage!
Afterwards I walked around the hotel a bit on Khao San Road, a big low budget tourist area, then enjoyed a 2-hour massage. My gawd, I'll get one daily at $10 for 2-hours! You can't be bashful thpough. There is no privacy. The room is filled with 6-mats and full of other people. I guess I can't expect much with those prices.
I walked the road at night. It turns into a lively outdoor market area. This is the tame area, but some of the things I saw were pretty eye catching. I paused for some fresh mango, then a Tiger Beer and a pork salad. Smoke was coming out my ears it was so spicy. I have to be careful asking for "medium spicey". People were getting their hair done in dreadlocks, henna on their hair and tattoos. Young adults were drinking mini kegs of beer and signs read, "Very strong cocktails, we don't check ID's here". Vendors were selling everything from clothes to street food. I saw a lady selling fried grasshoppers, worms and ants! Her signed said 30-baht please for photo! People were getting fish pedicures and one lady kept laughing and pulling her feet out of the water because it tickled. It was fun to watch! The live music and the trance CD's were blarring all down the street. The hedonist I am had to stop for a $3, 30-minute pedicure, even after my 2-hour massage earlier in the day. It was bizarre to see 25-people on the street getting pedicures. Some drinking beer, others half asleep and relaxed yet others had conversation with friends while their feet were rubbed. It was nicely done. The chairs were clean and matching and all the workers had uniforms on. All the sudden the foot therapists starting grabbing their chairs, stools and supplies and running. I thought it was about to rain, or there was a bomb scare which there had been in Bangkok recently. But the cops came. I think they weren't suppose to block the streets. Within minutes all the street vendors were gone where the police had just passed. If I get the courage and desire, my next journey is Patt Pong..................the sleezy, red light district with sex shows! I've always wanted to go there and will do so if I decide to stay a couple of more days here!
Today I enjoyed and included breakfast at my hotel, the D&D Inn. Later I took a tuk-tuk to the Grand Palace, one of the major tourist venues. It takes a lot to impress me and this did so. It was 60-acres of grandeur where the king lives and houses government offices. I took a delightful free tour of the grounds with six other people. It was terribly hot and humid. To get ack to my hotel, I took a cheap scooter ride back then I was off to get my teeth cleaned. I was certain I had some issues. I had 2-cavities that needed filling along with the cleaning. It was a professional dental experience, other than the dentist talking on the phone a couple of times! I have never had my teeth cleaned with lazers. The entire experience was not painful at all. Most of my fillings are over 40-years old. The new fillings look natural.
I intend to write more on my final days and reflections of India, but for now, it is time for another massage!
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