One of the questions sure to be asked while traveling, "What is your favorite place?" is impossible to answer. Every place has it's own unique character and special memory. These past few weeks Mal and I have bounced around from island to island in the south of Thailand. While not every place has been our favorite, we have managed to make the most of each moment.
After I met up with Mal and our Aussie travel friend, Alicia, we headed for Ko Lanta where I was looking forward to some fun in the sun after the big city, Kuala Lumpur. Unfortunately, we arrived to a completely deserted island. We knew it was rainy season, when many of the shops and restaurants would be closed, but we weren't expecting to see the whole island shut down! One of the perks, however, was cheap accommodation, where we scored an awesome bungalow right on the beach. Making the most of our own private island, we spent our days hitching rides for meals, chating with the locals, lounging by the beach, and really just enjoying doing nothing.
However, you can only enjoy nothing for a little while, so we moved to Ao Nang where there was a little more action. Ao Nang was basically a Thai version of the Virginia Beach Oceanfront - not exactly a backpacker's dream. But, once again, we managed to make our own special memories. We took a boat to one of the most beautiful dive sights in Thailand off the island of Ko Phi Phi where, The Beach, was filmed. Gigantic limestone cliffs and clear turquoise waters set the stage for the neon corals and fish below. Finally, I braved the curvy roads and crazy Thai drivers while driving a scooter for the first time. We enjoyed one of the best Thai luxuries, massages, right on the beach. And, some much needed shopping was in order since friends and family tend to get a bit testy if you don't bring them back anything from paradise. Just FYI, I have agonized repeatedly over what to get everyone back home:)
Just a quick longtail boat away, we traveled to the next cove off the coast, Railey. Railey is known around the world as one of the best places for rock-climbing, which of course Mal and I were anxious to try. After a few not so awesome locations, we were stoked to stumble upon one of our favorite places on this trip. We had the best tea in the world - served by a shirtless Rasta man at an outdoor coffee shop. I climbed 30 meters, almost ONE HUNDRED FEET...the sea surrounding me and the monkeys climbing next me. The hottest bartender/singer/DJ/fire-twirler entertained us every night at our favorite bar. And we met some of the coolest locals and travelers around. All-in-all, it was hard to leave. Railey is the one place I would travel back to Thailand to see.
Sadly, my journey with Mal is complete. Tomorrow my mom and I fly to Indonesia, and Mal is off to Vietnam. It is hard to say goodbye, even though I will see her again back home in a few weeks:) While my long vacation is not over (3 more weeks in Indo!), it will not be the same without my best friend. It has truly been a journey of a lifetime.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Time is Running Out
This parallel universe I have been living in for the last 3 ½ months has never felt as real as it does now. In just 4 weeks’ time I will be back in Virginia Beach with a completely new life than the one I left behind in Northern Virginia and the one I’ve been living in Southeast Asia. I can’t quite wrap my head around the transition that I will be forced to make. For the last few months, I have been waking up whenever I feel like it. My days are filled with relaxation and fun. Work is so far from my mind, I have forgotten how to even do it. Responsibility? What’s that? Basically, I have to start a new life all over again. I admit, starting all over is a little refreshing, albeit a bit daunting. Just to start, I have to find a job, find a place to live, and buy a car…ASAP.
Many backpackers never make the transition back home, getting sucked into their own parallel universe of fun and freedom. They adopt new lives, new friends, and new families in their chosen paradise. On one hand, I am jealous of these people living the ‘perfect’ dream life. But, on the other hand, I am sad for them. How bad must their lives be back home that they feel the need to abandon it all together? And then I remember why I am choosing to return home. As the end of my trip keeps rapidly approaching, instead of thinking about all the things I will be giving up, I remind myself of all the wonderful things I will be gaining and all the not-so-great things I will be leaving behind.
Things to look forward to at home
1. Food: CHEESE, especially goat cheese and Mexican food. Both are hard to come by here and way too expensive when you can find it.
2. New clothes. Basically, I have been wearing the same 10 articles of clothing over and over and over again.
3. My bed and comforter. Enough of the board-like mattresses and stained sheets already!
4. My awesome, cuddly, cute dogs
5. Last, but not least, my amazing (but sometimes crazy!) family and friends
What I cannot wait to leave behind
1. Toilets. A bathroom with a toilet I can actually sit on, flush with a handle, AND toilet paper is a luxury over here.
2. Packing and Re-packing. Packing occurs about every 4-7 days and everything must fit in a bag I carry on my back. You can’t truly appreciate the term ‘backpacker’ until you’ve experienced it.
3. Haggling. I just want to know the price of something and pay it, period.
4. Travel time. About a quarter of my trip is spent in a tuk-tuk, taxi, minivan, bus, train, or boat. None of which are all that comfortable or efficient.
5. Being dirty...all the time! It doesn’t matter how often I shower (which frankly isn’t that often) I am still always dirty from the heat, grime, and not-so-clean clothes.
I will paraphrase what Mal so perfectly stated: There is always a price to pay for living in paradise. Can you handle it??
Friday, July 8, 2011
City Girl Transformation
After almost 2 weeks of silent meditation, hitting the city streets of Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur (KL), was a bit jarring. Now, I'm already not a city person, much preferring the beach vibe, but I was especially thrown out of my element after such a calm meditation experience.
My Canadian travel partner from the Cameron Highlands and Pangkor decided to join me for the meditation retreat, so we continued our travels together to KL. After a long 2 hours of traveling in circles looking for the backpacker area for a guesthouse, we finally gave up and asked a taxi for a ride. Apparently, we were so close the taxi driver refused to drive us and pointed us 'just' in that direction. Now, if you have ever tried to navigate in a foreign country, you know that 'just' does not exist. The taxi driver's directions included a right, left, right, which inevitably turned out to be a right, straight, left, but nonetheless we finally found our destination. Exhausted from the long bus ride and city heat, we retreated to our room for some much needed rest.
We had a few days to explore the city before my friend headed off to India, and I moved on to meet Mallary and our Aussie travel friend Alicia. So, what to do in the big city? Of course, we had to visit the Petronas Twin Towers, equally famous for their debut in the movie Entrapment (with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones) and their former status as the world's tallest building. I have to say, the building is truly a marval with it's impresive steel structure and miles of glass windows. We were one of the lucky 1,000 people to receive the coveted tickets that day to view the city from the tower's 41st floor skybridge.
One of the best parts of KL is spent wandering the streets, admiring the contrast between the building ruins of the past and shiny modern architecture. We spoiled ourselves with Subway, Papa Johns, and a midnight 3D viewing of Transformers. I swear, we could have mistaken KL for The Big Apple. But, does NY have a theme park in their mall??? I think not!
There were some lazy times lounging by the lake, wandering the very expensive mall (KL's got bling!), and watching a mini Bellagio water show. By the way, if you ever need to disguise beer while walking the streets, try a Starbucks coffee cup. It looks just like a latte!
Pretty soon, it was time to say goodbye to my travel partner. That is one of the bitter sweet experiences of traveling. People come into your life, and if your lucky friendships develop that continue across borders. But, as the saying goes, there are friends for a reason, friends for a season, and ultimately we all have to continue down our own paths. At least I have a place to stay in Canada now! That is one of the other perks of meeting people all over the world...free places to stay!
Gratefully, I had a couple days to myself before meeting up with the girls. I'm a people person, but sometimes it is exhausting being with people 24/7. I had the perfect couple of days wandering the streets alone. I am notoriously bad at navigating maps, but with nowhere to go in particular, it was impossible to get lost! Highlights include reading by a peaceful lake just outside the city center, taking in local culture at the National Art Museum, strolling through Chinatown and Little India, and savouring a variety of international cuisine at cheap street stalls.
After about a month traveling through Malaysia, it is time for me to say my final goodbye to this magnificent country! What an adventure visiting the stunning beaches, majestic highlands, and grand city. Thailand, here I come once again!
My Canadian travel partner from the Cameron Highlands and Pangkor decided to join me for the meditation retreat, so we continued our travels together to KL. After a long 2 hours of traveling in circles looking for the backpacker area for a guesthouse, we finally gave up and asked a taxi for a ride. Apparently, we were so close the taxi driver refused to drive us and pointed us 'just' in that direction. Now, if you have ever tried to navigate in a foreign country, you know that 'just' does not exist. The taxi driver's directions included a right, left, right, which inevitably turned out to be a right, straight, left, but nonetheless we finally found our destination. Exhausted from the long bus ride and city heat, we retreated to our room for some much needed rest.
We had a few days to explore the city before my friend headed off to India, and I moved on to meet Mallary and our Aussie travel friend Alicia. So, what to do in the big city? Of course, we had to visit the Petronas Twin Towers, equally famous for their debut in the movie Entrapment (with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones) and their former status as the world's tallest building. I have to say, the building is truly a marval with it's impresive steel structure and miles of glass windows. We were one of the lucky 1,000 people to receive the coveted tickets that day to view the city from the tower's 41st floor skybridge.
One of the best parts of KL is spent wandering the streets, admiring the contrast between the building ruins of the past and shiny modern architecture. We spoiled ourselves with Subway, Papa Johns, and a midnight 3D viewing of Transformers. I swear, we could have mistaken KL for The Big Apple. But, does NY have a theme park in their mall??? I think not!
There were some lazy times lounging by the lake, wandering the very expensive mall (KL's got bling!), and watching a mini Bellagio water show. By the way, if you ever need to disguise beer while walking the streets, try a Starbucks coffee cup. It looks just like a latte!
Pretty soon, it was time to say goodbye to my travel partner. That is one of the bitter sweet experiences of traveling. People come into your life, and if your lucky friendships develop that continue across borders. But, as the saying goes, there are friends for a reason, friends for a season, and ultimately we all have to continue down our own paths. At least I have a place to stay in Canada now! That is one of the other perks of meeting people all over the world...free places to stay!
Gratefully, I had a couple days to myself before meeting up with the girls. I'm a people person, but sometimes it is exhausting being with people 24/7. I had the perfect couple of days wandering the streets alone. I am notoriously bad at navigating maps, but with nowhere to go in particular, it was impossible to get lost! Highlights include reading by a peaceful lake just outside the city center, taking in local culture at the National Art Museum, strolling through Chinatown and Little India, and savouring a variety of international cuisine at cheap street stalls.
After about a month traveling through Malaysia, it is time for me to say my final goodbye to this magnificent country! What an adventure visiting the stunning beaches, majestic highlands, and grand city. Thailand, here I come once again!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Just Breathe - My Meditation Experience
Back to life...back to reality! A few days ago I finally escaped my 12-day meditation enduced coma. I am not even sure where to begin to explain this unique experience. Let's start with the fact that I was straight up legs crossed, back straight, hands on knees, eyes closed meditating for TEN AND A HALF HOURS a day!! Seriously. Before this retreat, I don't even think I could sit still for 5 minutes! From 4:30am to 9:30am the 8 meditation sessions were broken up by meals, a meeting with the teacher, and a video discourse on the technique. Sometimes I would be meditating for 4 hours straight! For three of the sessions, we weren't even allowed to move at all for 1-hour! If I had an itch, forget about it.
Let's add the fact that no technology (music, computers, phones, etc.), writing, or talking were allowed. Bascially, my fellow 100 or so students were supposed to create a feeling of isolation. Surprisingly, giving up all these "luxuries" wasn't the hard part...talking, eehh, is overrated. The hard part was working through meditation.
The type of meditation I was practicing is called Vipassana, an ancient Indian technique discovered by Buddha. Vipassana focuses the mind on the body's physical sensations. The idea is to train the mind to neither have cravings for good sensations or aversions to bad sensations. When equanimity or balance to all sensations is achieved, suffering and misery are eradicated. It sounds crazy, but if you think about it, all misery is tied to craving for things we want (money, love, etc.) or aversion to things we don't want (sickness, pain, etc.). The energy from cravings and aversions are built up in our bodies over time and block the mind from ultimate happiness. It is about accepting what is real and true in the moment, whether good or bad, and realizing that ultimately everything changes at some point.
This is how the meditation worked in practice. In order to train the mind to focus, the first step is to observe breath. So, for the first 3 days, all I did was sit (FOR 10 1/2 HOURS!) and just breathe, feeling my breath go in and out of my nostrils. On day 4 apparently the mind is trained, and I started observing sensations all over my body. Starting from the top of my head and down to my toes, I observed any sensation - sweat, tingling, vibration, pain. At first there was a lot of aversion, "Oh my gosh make the pain go away!" But eventually the pain subsided, and I started to feel waves of electricity pulsing through my body from head to toe. It was crazy!! Those sensations were always there, but my mind was always focused on so many other outside distractions. By day 7, once my mind was able to become balanced and stop any new craving or aversion, I was able to purge all the built up energy. I kid you not, I could feel the energy gather in my chest and rise through my throat. It was like little demons trying to escape. Now, it is not likely that ultimate healing is achieved in 10 days, so there is more healing to be done, but I know I am on the right track.
I can already see a difference in how I think and act. I can honestly say I am truly happy in this moment. Because this moment is all I have. I am not going to waste any more time hurting from the past or wishing for things in the future. It is what it is. May all things be happy.
More lessons to come from the newly enlightened one:)
Let's add the fact that no technology (music, computers, phones, etc.), writing, or talking were allowed. Bascially, my fellow 100 or so students were supposed to create a feeling of isolation. Surprisingly, giving up all these "luxuries" wasn't the hard part...talking, eehh, is overrated. The hard part was working through meditation.
The type of meditation I was practicing is called Vipassana, an ancient Indian technique discovered by Buddha. Vipassana focuses the mind on the body's physical sensations. The idea is to train the mind to neither have cravings for good sensations or aversions to bad sensations. When equanimity or balance to all sensations is achieved, suffering and misery are eradicated. It sounds crazy, but if you think about it, all misery is tied to craving for things we want (money, love, etc.) or aversion to things we don't want (sickness, pain, etc.). The energy from cravings and aversions are built up in our bodies over time and block the mind from ultimate happiness. It is about accepting what is real and true in the moment, whether good or bad, and realizing that ultimately everything changes at some point.
This is how the meditation worked in practice. In order to train the mind to focus, the first step is to observe breath. So, for the first 3 days, all I did was sit (FOR 10 1/2 HOURS!) and just breathe, feeling my breath go in and out of my nostrils. On day 4 apparently the mind is trained, and I started observing sensations all over my body. Starting from the top of my head and down to my toes, I observed any sensation - sweat, tingling, vibration, pain. At first there was a lot of aversion, "Oh my gosh make the pain go away!" But eventually the pain subsided, and I started to feel waves of electricity pulsing through my body from head to toe. It was crazy!! Those sensations were always there, but my mind was always focused on so many other outside distractions. By day 7, once my mind was able to become balanced and stop any new craving or aversion, I was able to purge all the built up energy. I kid you not, I could feel the energy gather in my chest and rise through my throat. It was like little demons trying to escape. Now, it is not likely that ultimate healing is achieved in 10 days, so there is more healing to be done, but I know I am on the right track.
I can already see a difference in how I think and act. I can honestly say I am truly happy in this moment. Because this moment is all I have. I am not going to waste any more time hurting from the past or wishing for things in the future. It is what it is. May all things be happy.
More lessons to come from the newly enlightened one:)
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