Hello loyal readers, I'm posting from a little complex of bungalos outside of Chiang Mai (in the north of Thailand) http://www.secretgardenchiangmai.com/ and today I'm going to be entering a 2 day retreat in a Buddhist wat (temple) with other travelers and monks in the city. But let me backtrack a little.
Out last day in Koh Samui we planned an excellent day in the Angthong National Marine Park, a collection of around 42 islands in crystal clear blue waters. Unfortunately it was pouring when we awoke in the morning, but when has a little rain gotten in the way of us doing what we wanted? It was unfortunate but the marine park was still pretty incredible. The ocean waves had carved the rocky limestone islands into giant towering skyscrapers, interesting in thier almost man made shape and mammoth in size. We got the chance to kayak around the big island, which required a considerable amount of effort considering what good shape Dad and I are in. It was quite beautiful though and even though it wasn't so sunny we managed to have a good time. That is, until I went in the ocean with my camera in my pocket. But before this happened I climbed some very steep, knee braking steps to the lookout over the emerald lake. The emerald lake, like the name is a beautiful green color and surrounded by great walls of limestone rock, truly spectacular. After the long and ardous journey down I was so sweaty and overheated I jumped right in the ocean. Me being the idiot that I am, my nice, fairly new, digital camera was instantly water-logged and fried on the spot. But as they say here, mai pen rai, roughly the Thai equivlent to akuna matata (for those of you crazy people who have never seen the Lion King it means 'no worries').
It was unfortunate that our last day in Koh Samui was rained out but Chiang Mai seems like the real cultural heart of Thailand. Famous for it's beautiful temples and insane night bazaar, it's really a great place to be. Yesterday, after arriving by plane around 1pm, Peter (the owner of our 'hotel') took us outside the city to where Secret Gardens Bungalos. Peter is a nice German man in his 60s with a silver Mark Twain mustache and a soft German accent. We arrived at the hotel in a sung tao (two benched bus truck) and after unpacking and talking in the dining area we took a tuk tuk into the city. I love tuk tuks. They are these little three wheeled motor rickshaws whose drivers, as if they are attempting suicide, weave in and out of the clogged traffic at very high speeds. They're a great way to see the city and only around $1 for a ten minute drive. The sung taos are even cheaper at about 30 cents and will take you anywhere in the city so long as it's in their general direction. They're kind of like buses except on the back of pick up trucks and slightly more dangerous.
Yesterday in the city we did two things, the first was Monk Chat followed by a visit through the night market. Despite being incredibly sick yesterday, Monk Chat was incredibly interesting. At a small temple in Chiang Mai there is a place where foreigners can go to talk one on one with local monks about whatever they want, from cricket to reincarnation. The monk we talked to was named Boon (sp?), a smiley and friendly young man from Laos. He had been a monk for around 3 years after he joined against his parents wishes. His two older brothers had beocme monks but his parents needed their third son to work in the rice fields. Sneaking out to the temple daily he slowly realized that becoming a monk was the only thing he wanted to do. We talked about Buddhism, the daily rutine of a monk, psychology and numerous other topics, all of which spoken about so eloquently by the young monk. Every word that came out of his mouth was wise, as if he had memorized a book of Buddhis proverbs (I wouldn't be surprised if he had). I had to go earlier then I wanted to find a pharmacy for some medicine for my stomach but the overall experience was really facinating. Today I will be going on a two day retreat in the same temple, talking with the monks, doing quite a few hours of meditation, and interacting with the other, probably much older, travelers participating.
Yesterday we also went to the night market. We have to go into town now but I'll just say really quickly that it was giant. We probably covered about 1/4 of the place and we walked around for around 2 hours. They have everything from silk boxers to sea food and anything in between and the prices aren't bad either. Especially if you bargain (which I find very fun) you can get really great prices.
Well I'm off to my retreat now. I'll try and update soon after it is finished. Hopefully it will be an enriching and interesting experience. I'll let you all know how it goes.



P.S. Sorry for spelling/ grammer errors for all those nitpicky readers. I type these entries very fast and never have time to profreed, so I apologize. Hope you can enjoy anyway.