Sunday, June 1, 2008

yes, yes, I have returned....if anyone is out there, my apologies for not continuing after the near-pacaderym collisions in Chiang Mai...travels end and 'life', or so it seems, returns...and with it crowded neighborhoods, ghastly rents, double shifts filled with dreams of a far off land that doesn't really exist...everything exists everywhere...all of our problems, our challenges, our passions, our dislikes...all the emotional, mental, physical turmoil, pleasures and pain is not a figment of our situation, it is who we are...and we are who we choose to be...

everything changes and nothing stays the same, and the sun rises and the full moon sets on the horizon; the lizard bathes in the warm sun in the desert, and shit happens that is painful and transformation and healing (eventually, yes, it will) takes place...

hard drives crash and dvds filled with photos get scratched in transport and weeks worth of photos remain hidden...maybe next year...

many photos included in the slideshow at right...from misty forests in Castle Rock State Park in California to sunsets at Tokyo Narita airport, to Angkor Wat, islands and villages and hot, dusty streets of Thailand...enjoy, immerse, and share...

accept all, be attached to nothing...

Thursday, April 3, 2008

sorry to report no photos of the latest happy events, but today had two near collisions while trucking along on my pastel pink bicycle (with bell and basket) through the (relatively) calm and organized streets of Chiang Mai...the first event on my way to the school where I am taking another Thai Massage course, those damned car doors...it is a universal phenomenon that individuals DO NOT look when opening car doors into streams of oncoming traffic...Luckily i swerved at the same moment as the backlog of motorcycles and scooters behind me...whew...and the latest fun adventure, i narrowly missed getting sideswiped by - yes, get this - an elephant. Dirty bastard was just lumbering along, trying to sneak his trunk into the corner pad thai stand when no one was looking, and backed up,... almost into me. Now, had that happened, I am sure i would have been the worse for wear, but at least would have had a pretty good story behind the scars.

..okay, i know you would probably love to hear about the shooting stars above the ocean, the private yoga room in the jungle that i practiced in last week, and the hike through the forest to an overlook that had serious incentive pre-installed - pause to catch your breath and a swarm of mosquitos that darkened the sky descended upon every inch of sweat-soaked flesh. (there were piles of tennis shoes, minus the laces, from the latest victims along the trail)...yes, i'm sure you would love to read about that, but i forgot that my journal so use your imagination, and don't forget the vertical roads!

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Angkor Wat, take 2...


ahhh...thatäs more like it...pardon the random keys from another alphabet, but iäm pleased to be able to share a few photos from angkor wat with all of you...

and can i just say`?hooray for bicycles! to revert back one week to my journal from Cambodia.....here we go,

22 march 2008
I canät wrap my head around paying for things in dollars. I find myself converting from dollars to baht )and back to dollars again)..just because that is how i have been budgeting for the past month...a month! A single month...I do not know what prompted me to modify my usual 2-month minimum rule for this trip...oh well, I just unnecessarily spent 150 dollars - Gasp! - how does one do that in a place like Cambodia? easy, actually, i bought a plane ticket back to Bangkok...a single, one hour flight that will save me another endless day (or so i thought...) of dusty potholes and endearing qualities of young, money hungry transportation touts (see previous post for more lucious details on that endeavor)...

a side note on that lovely road,...if one would care to ask why the 150 kms of road from the Thai border to Siem Reap, a major thoroughfare by Cambodian standards, even called the National Highway, so why does this road take at least 5 hours to traverse, with only 5 kms of it paved and all but 2 of the bridges dismantled with bus-bottoming detours? The unofficial story relayed to me by a seasoned British expat is that a high-ranking political figure has financial ties to a certain airline that flies into Siem Reap, so why repair the road when keeping it in such dire conditions provides incentives for more tourists to fly...less money into road repairs equals more money into political pockets...sounds like a good plan to me, and itäs apparently working out well. To be fair, the road has improved, as up until 2 years ago, only pickups with 4wheel drive and high clearance could traverse this stretch (imagine 5-10 hours in the back of a pickup...hmmm, fun), and work IS being done..the 5 km of freshly laid pavement is 5 km more than there used to be...baby steps, baby steps...

On a brighter note, did I mention that I love my bicycle? well, all three, 1 for each day i pedaled in the predawn hours, ringing my bell at the tuk-tuks and tour buses passing me by...i felt like i should have a straw hat as i rode away in my flip-flops, basket full of water, batteries, and a camera full of potential amidst the Hindu and Buddhist carvings decorating the slabs of stone.

Hindu and Buddhist, dependant upon the religious persuasion of the powers that be at the time...the temples of Angkor Wat were constructed between the 8th and 15th centuries by a series of Kings who decided to be Gods as well. (who was going to argue with them?)...well, constructed by them is a long shot, but during their reign before the Thais sacked the Khmer Empire once and for all in 1431 A.D. Said to be the largest religious monument in the world, and the largest preindustrial city with an urban sprawl encompassing over 1,000 square miles...

Many of the temples have been restored and others left more ´as is´, with century-old Banyan trees spreading their roots through the cracks in the foundation...The largest single temple, Angkor Wat (the name given to the entire complex as well as the main temple site), devotes entire ½ mile long walls to recreating the cosmology of Vishnu, with thousands of carved Bas relief demons fighting the gods in a massive tug of war.

Most of the Angkor site remained overrun by jungle until its rediscovery by French archeologists in the late 19th century, and subsequent restoration through much of the 20th century continues until now.


More photos to come shortly, i assure you...and more words on that lovely flight that didnät quite save me all the time I had intended...just FYI, think CAREFULLY and patiently before flying Bangkok Airways...



Friday, March 28, 2008

Angkor Wat...or, if hell had temples on a bicycle tour

Just an inside note for all of you planning on heading to Angkor Wat for your next weekend getaway - when they tell you in the guidebooks that the journey by bus from Bangkok is a frustrating, all day affair (even though it's only 400 kms) and that the road from the Thai-Cambodian border to Siem Reap is bad, that would be bad by Southeast Asian standards...believe them, every single one.

Believe that you will have a nice, pleasant 4-hour journey in an air-conditioned bus on smooth, paved roads from Bangkok; believe that you will stop at a restaurant 3 kms from the border, be told to eat lunch and hand over your passport, please; believe that you will wait for an hour, a little bit anxious since your only valid identity has just driven off on the back of a motorbike, choking down fried rice in the open air; believe that you will then be herded like cattle through immigration (passport returned, thank you), and walk into a world of dusty streets and border-town trading, where since you left one country and haven't yet arrived in the next, do you even really exist for those minutes?;

believe that you will have your Cambodian visa stamped and be shuttled into bus to be driven 200 meters down the road to a room empty but for a few chairs set in rows, occupied by a few blank white faces who look like they have been waiting for a few minutes or several hours; this is where you will wait for your bus to Siem Reap, gateway to the majestic Khmer temples of Angkor Wat...and wait...and wait...until the bus drivers' friend who also rents taxis garnished enough business from frustrated travelers (who already paid for the bus, but the taxi leaves now...) and decided, yes, okay, we can finally leave;

believe that all the bridges will be out and, yes, that pothole we just drove around did swallow a car yesterday; believe that the air-conditioning will be broken and the windows won't open for the first three hours and the dust will pour in through every gap and the seats do make the steps on those temples you are about (someday?) to see feel like feather pillows...welcome to Cambodia, pleased to meet you that will be 5 dollars please...

yes, believe that prices will be in US dollars and it really doesn't get any cooler at night; believe that it will feel more like the chaos of Calcutta than the organized calm of Chiang Mai; believe that you will arrive late at night (if you are lucky and the bus only breaks down once), be accosted by beggars and wonder what was it you were coming to see in the first place?;

believe that the $150 flight back to Bangkok is sounding like a right fine idea and can you get a ticket for tonight, please?; believe that you will sleep soundly across from a river that resembles a green version of the Yamuna and wake up eager to bike 30 kilometers in 95 degree weather with 90 percent humidity...yes, believe that the Japanese tour groups are almost as annoying as the American tour groups, and believe that you will find a tiny corner in a deserted temple with stone carvings on every side and the sun hitting just right so the faces seem alive, 300 year old banyan trees spreading roots through 3000 year old rock temples built by hand and, yes, believe that despite the rash on your bum from sweating on a bike (which has a bell and a basket!), you are really glad to be here...

(and believe that really, i did take photos (about 1,000), and soon i will be somewhere where the internet connection rivals the cell phone reception and i will post some of them for you to see - unfortunately, the place where Thai cover bands sing Nirvana at 2 am doesn't seem to be that place...)

Monday, March 17, 2008

whereabouts...


my flea bits are fading, as are my memories of cold (er) nights requiring use of the sleeping bag and layers of clothing filling my pack. Yes, I appreciated them in the village, but now they simply take up space as I'm sweating in the dusty streets of Chiang Mai with nights just cool enough to sleep with the fan whirring on low...tomorrow I depart the north of Thailand for a 24-hour journey to the temples of Angkor Wat...I've learned from the hours spent wandering in search of cheap rooms and booked a bed ahead of time...wow, how organized is that! I admit, it's a first for me...so, just as I had thought, my birthday will be spent surrounded by centuries-old Buddhas overgrown by jungle...i'm off to the night market, camera in hand, to snap photos of the leftover tradition from Asia's great trade circuit...and possibly consume some decadent mango with sticky rice!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Lahu village life



We create the world that we live in, and live in the world that we create...


For the past two weeks, my world has been a slatted bamboo hut perched on stilts 4 feet above the steep hillside with plenty of room for pigs, dogs, roosters, and small children to dart, crow, and lounge in the dust underneath.


It's a Lahu hilltribe village with blue tin roofs and an hourly timekeeper in the form of fix-it monk in a small, white temple cramped inside with speakers and engine parts in various states of disrepair. The top of each hour from 5am until 10 at night announced with a 10 second blip of some commercial showtune or long-forgotten lullaby piped out across the hillside with enthusiastic volume.

The roosters were not content waiting until 5am to announce the coming arrival of the sun (which didn't rise until 7, thank you very much), competing for the earliest bird award at last count won before 2 am. Which of course wakes the dogs, who bark for the sake of barking, proud to let anyone or any dog know that, yes, they heard that too...

I just returned to Chiang Mai yesterday afternoon after a 12-day Thai Massage intensive in a village 2 hours away in the back of a pickup with 10 people + backpacks squashed into place. We piled out onto the crowded, polluted streets like clowns from a VW bug, dispersing into the maze of guesthouses, intenet cafes, used bookstores, and 7-11's, Certificates in hand, 90 hours of training under our belts, a couple dozen meals of sticky rice and heavily chilied vegetables churning in out guts.

Doobiyoo! Doobiyoo! (hello in Lahu, pronounced like the letter W, with a slight inflection)

Meditation and yoga every morning with at least 6 hours of giving and receiving every day...hmmm, a small break with a trek to a nearby waterfall for a swim in bikini tops and pants...pants?? hmmm...the unusual female village taboo of revealing the knees. Shoulders (the usual taboo in Thailand's wats) didn't garner a second look in the village, and breasts flashed frequently, but gasp! keep those bony patellas covered! The only story relayed to me by our teacher Fiona to explain this village phenom is that because of the public bathing areas and lack of privacy (bamboo huts are not known for their acoustics, or their soundproofing abilities), the only body part women kept sacred for their partners was their knees, revealed to their husband's adoring gaze during love-making...of course, this theory has limited validity, but I kind of like it.

The roadwork underneath our bamboo practice platform and occasional intestinal eruption not withstanding, the course went smoothly and I for one learned A LOT. So grateful to have that opportunity to study and practice...volunteers lining up as we speak, and hopefully by the time I return, will have sufficient skill and confidence to pass along this amazing work.

I'd post more pics but it takes a LONG, LONG time to upload any images...a few now for your perusal...

Peace and love...




Wednesday, February 27, 2008

ouch...

A few rainy, cloudy days before the sun broke through and i tested the strength of my all-natural, paraben-free sunscreen...it failed, miserably. Despite slathering it on from the predawn hours, I got the worst sunburn i think i have ever had in my life. it hurt to move, mostly my stomach and front of arms, even my stomach muscles hurt! i didn't know that was possible, to burn one's muscles, but now i am a firm believer...

two days hence and two tubes of aloe vera gel, later, i can move and eat again, and am heading up North tonight for some more stifling hot, humid weather, this time sans the cooling ocean breezes...and what made me think that coming to Thailand in February was better than in December? I'm not complaining, really, just enjoying the massive display of overlypriced, but highly valuable used books, 20 baht Phad Thai cooked to order on the street, and the lack of anything in particular to do at any particular time (except, of course, getting to the bus on time!)...

blessings, and if anyone wishes a postcard, send thy address hence!

Sunrise.


I woke up on this island, alone with memories, feet swollen from the humidity, scratches from climbing on the same rocks that are here forever, the ones that do not move to us. Remaining unchanged for this lifetime of ours. I meditate, eyes closed, mind wandering, repeating in my mind a mantra with each breath, watching the sun hidden behind clouds rise above the ocean. Now the rain pours down, thunder crashing in the gray skies above, pouring sheets of moisture through the green canopy in a way that convinces you it will not last long, but god dammit, you'll know it's here while it lasts. Torrents, short-lived, creating space to breath and move, for the air to once more fill with humidity and symbols to fill my mind, demanding permanence on my flesh, should I choose to make them so....tattoed by skilled hands clenching a long, thin sheath of bamboo...a different sort of scar


I get up early this morning, almost too late to run to the other side of the island to watch the sunrise, but I do so anyway, sweating in the pre-dawn heat...I sit for a long while, it rains and I squat underneath a rock until it stops...the sun appears
and I practice yoga for a while and enjoy the feeling of the rough rock on my bare feet...my flesh pealing away in layers, leaving an imprint, my imprint...I was here.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Sprouted islands, elusive sunshine...

Hello all, not to complain about the weather, but...it's humid as hell and the clouds crowd the sky...similar to the bungalows on the beach...a lot changes in 3 years...

At least one more bungalow has been sandwiched between each pair that existed before, ...a formerly lonely side of rocky beach now boasts a paved trail leading down to the ocean, with bungalows on each side...Thai's sweep the dirt streets wearing Hawaiian adventure t-shirts, makes me wonder what life was like here before the foreign invasion. What were these islands like before every spot of available beachside had been doused in concrete and manufactured to sell Coco-cola and bottled water, with Reggae music on the side. I feel like i'm reverting back to 'The Beach' (the movie or book, take your pick), reminiscing about a Thailand that may or may not have ever existed...

A few more days and I will heading to a village to study Thai massage, sleeping on a mat under the stars amidst jungle mountains...I hesitate to romanticize what I haven't seen, but i'm looking forward to being immersed in that study...giving and receiving all day...

blessings, apologies for my meloncholy...it happens even in paradise...

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Flat tires, smoggy Fridays, and some damn good pad thai..


Well, I finally arrived in Thailand, several hundred dollars and a couple days short, but here none the less. Just for future reference...I would not recommend missing a flight. I've traveled quite a bit, and thankfully or luckily or perhaps just by chance, didn't ever have to have the misfortune of arriving to the airport, check in counters closed, watching the plane I paid to be on fly away into the great, big world....without me. Well, first time for everything, I guess...and hopefully the last. It just turned out to be the most expensive flat tire I've ever had experience with.

My dear friend who agreed to drive in the rain to deposit me at SFO, well, the car had other plans, and halfway up Hwy 17 decided that damn right front tire had had enough. Okay, still time....I plan ahead, after all...trusty backup friend to the rescue...uhh ohh..., hmmm...we are only going 10 mph...an accident miles ahead slowed us down for a good 40 minutes, and by the time we flew down the summit and up Hwy 101, the clock was approaching 11:15...hmmm...flight at noon, supposed to check in two hours before...I'm calculating in my head how fast i could run through security to get to the gate...

I was ready to break into a run at the check-in counter, boarding passes in hand, but wait?, what's that?, I'm too late? Thank you very much, Ms. Ticket Counter person, come back tomorrow...I breath....I keep breathing all the way to rental car counter, sure, okay, i'll pay your obscene taxes, just get me out of this airport!

*I headed to Castle Rock and ran in the rain, and decided I had been meant to miss the flight in order to see the insanely beautiful fog floating in through the redwoods, with soft forests of moss growing sideways on the trees...filtered light drifting sideways. Hmmm...maybe winter isn't so bad after all...

Arrived at the airport EXTRA early the next day, only to just barely make it onto this plane because of the nice pleasant Indian-accented representatives from cheap0air.com...bastards, I almost got away with just the $100 date change fee...oh well, what are credit cards for?

I ran around the Royal Palace this morning, appreciating once again the efficiency that comes with stop lights, and drivers who obey them (and p.s. I didn't fall like last time, though I did catch the sidewalk trying to move on me)...

I'm off to the islands tonight, to wallow in the warm Pacific with yummy Pad Thai in my belly...(hopefully it will stay there on the ferry!)...

Photos to come, my friends..blessings and much