Bikini's and booze Part 1.

I look out of tinged windows in Bandaranaike airport, Colombo – the clear blue skies tease my eyes and prickle my skin as I think back on the most beautiful holiday that I’d been thinking about for months, and now it’s come to an end. The smell of cinnamon and cardamom waft around my computer screen as I sip on a chai latte in coffee bean and reminisce…

We started off here in a very different zone, our ‘4’ hour journey (that ended up being about 10) was delayed about 5 times before we landed. The one runway in Male (the capital of the Maldives) proved quite troublesome when there was more than one plane that needed to land, so we waited in the air until it was our go, with regular 3 minute updates from the talkative pilot.

After a conversation at dinner the other night I found out that the Maldives have made an agreement with the US to move there once the islands sink, I think they’re predicted to last for another 40 years? How bizarre though, imagine being from this side of the world and uprooting to a totally different country because yours was underwater..

So we sat in Male, confined to our cabin on the plane without being allowed to leave as they walked up and down every 20 minutes spraying that horrible air freshener, itbeginning of our holiday…

felt like a scene from Auschwitz – we entertained ourselves playing drawing games and making lots of noise with the onset of cabin fever and slight insanity that was relieved a few hours later when we reached Colombo! Excitement soon turned to panic as dad realized he’d lost all three of his bankcards at the

My brother mooched around the airport pushing trolleys and asking us all to hurry up, I comforted dad with extreme empathy for his situation – was it 3 or 4 bankcards I’d managed to lose over 6 months of travelling? Mum wandered around asking the people behind the travel booths how to get her sim card to work and then we received the good news that the cards had been found! So we all waited in anticipation for another 40 minutes, to then discover that someone else’s cards had been found… booo!! With the stress of the situation, the heat from outside and the long journey, everyone’s temper was on the rise. We all crammed into a car with our mounds of luggage along the new and pristine highway that made us feel like we were back in KL – it’s a beautiful highway, appropriate with the increasing tourism in this country post-civil war, but half the country can’t afford to drive on it! On top of that, it was built for free by Chinese prisoners, as the money to build the bridge was borrowed from China hence they’ll reap half the profit for the next 20 years while not having spent anything on the labor to build it! A recent response from a Singhalese taxi driver on the issue was ‘It’s ok though! They were put in prison for petty crimes, they’re not murderers!’ haha, love a bit o’ positive thinking.

Morning yoga

So we got to our friends place, showered up and got ready for dinner, to find dads cards stashed in a ‘secret’ zip of his wallet, dear.oh.dear.

We walked over to ‘The Lagoon’ in Cinnamon Grand, our favorite seafood restaurant in Sri Lanka, for a reasonable price you get to sit next to a beautiful garden/ pond adorned with fairy lights, the fresh seafood is lain out on beds of ice with the ‘cooking styles’ chalked onto a black board next to them. You choose your seafood and cooking style and then watch the chefs cook up a beautiful meal of tamarind prawns, red curry fish, black bean oysters etc. with a few complimentary chocolates to take the edge off after the meal.

The boys chilling

J was arriving on a later flight so instead of dossing on the computer I went out for a drink with mum and a few mates, the Asian glow set in pretty fast but thanks to the dim lighting it could be played off as over-done blusher :p. R. was an interesting man, despite his financial success he took the greatest joy in living on $300 a month in a little town on the border of India where he went back to basics and enjoyed life, void of society’s stressors. He could only do that for half a year before having to return to Colombo to work for another 6 months – but what a dream! We discussed the value of money vs. time and a 'In Time' was mentioned in which time was the currency – the rich always had too much and the poor are always running out, doing anything to gain even a few valuable minutes, living in panic until they realize it’s too late.. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdadZ_KrZVw), Interesting concept eh.

Ulpotha

We got home, swaying slightly, and after half an episode of ‘Orange is the New Black’, J walked through the doors buzzing at having had a great conversation with the taxi driver. A glass of water, PJ’s, snuggle time and finally, sleep.

In the morning J and dad went off to Kolpethi fish market, an experience within itself if you’ve never been to a hot, smelly, loud and busy fish market in Colombo. Haha, I laughed at the prospect that this was their first bonding activity, I guess they’ll remember it well. I did my yoga, met up with J and tuk-tuked around Colombo, pointing out all the familiar sites, vijithayapa bookshop, the national museum, my old house, shops and restaurants. I couldn’t believe how much was changing – the Shangri-La has taken up a massive portion of land, right next to the ‘ECT hotel’ (whatever that is…), the Marriott’s round the corner from that and TGI Fridays has moved into town! When I lived here our one hang-out hot spot was the Coffee Bean! That’s old news now… A quick stop in Odel and then Liberty Plaza to buy a camera for the trip before rushing home to make our deadline – 10 minutes before the van pulled up to take us to Kegal that was about 4 hours away. Up the windy roads we drove, playing ‘who wants to be a millionaire’ on the iPad while noticing the light outside dimming to darkness. The van couldn’t quite make it up the steep hill to Guava House so we jumped out, grabbed our bags and walked up to the fairytale house of wood and glass that R. had designed. Big hugs were in order with our second family who’s house it was, all of whom looked absolutely knackered post-hike up Adams Peak – a gorgeous site that we didn’t manage to conquer this time round. The darkness of the night hid the rubber trees that surrounded us and as J hadn’t seen it during the day I nattered on about what would be revealed come sunrise.

Guava house

We sat down to a yummy Sri Lankan dinner that left our lips swollen and noses streaming with the hot green chilies and after a few flower fumes and a glass of wine we were chatting and laughing away until our eyes began to droop. I crawled into bed while J and J managed to stay up with a bottle of Arrack (Sri Lanka’s local rum, made out of coconut) to accompany them until 3am, only to be awoken by me a few hours later tehehe.

Our days in Guava house included drunk rounds of charades, some heated debates, hot curries, muscly fish, frisky walks in the forest, cold swims and morning yoga – a fantastic start to the holiday ahead.

Ulpotha was our next destination, a ‘5-star hippy commune’ that was created by our friends G and V. No electricity, organic vegetarian food, yoga, Ayurveda, a fresh water lake for swimming, natural outdoor showers, bicycles, mud-huts and mountains – we’ve been coming almost-annually for New Year and I was excited to share this experience with J.  As it’s such a hugely spread out place, it’s always disorientating arriving at night and walking around with a little light while trying to stamp your feet loud enough to scare off the snakes on the path. We made our way into our little room in the mud-hut by the cade – a little ‘snack/ drink’ hut that always has something yummy to munch on but is packed with enthusiastic yogis at about 7.30am – a natural alarm! Hmm..

We’d made the mistake of leaving our kerosene lamp burning in our room with no windows, so re-entering our hole after leaving it greeted you with a strong waft of kerosene gas, no wonder we slept so well…  The next night was the attack of the mozzies so I suggested sleeping on the 1-person swing chair next to the rice paddy outside. We dozed in and out of shallow sleep until the yogis wondered past us at about 6am and we grumpily slid away into our den. As though we’d paid off our karma by sleeping on the swing, that day we had the choice to move to the lake hut that required a boat to access it, or the tree house that was about 25m off the ground in the top of a beautiful tree overlooking the lake. We chose the tree house, not realizing quite how scary it was to climb up it. I dreaded thinking what would happen after a few drink on New Year – luckily we managed by not going back until 8am the next morning while we were dysfunctional with fatigue but not too intoxicated/ wobbly.

The moment it turned NY!

The ambalama was near us so we knew when meal times were, grabbing a clay plate you fill it up with all the delicious organic curries and red rice, eating gracefully with your right hand and pushing the food into your mouth with your thumb. Large finger bowls with pieces of fresh lime were set out to clean your hands after eating so you could grab a slice of fresh pineapple and a cup of ginger tea. In our hut we had a secret stash of goodies that I’d share out when red eyes appeared, the novelty of English sweets wasn’t so high anymore now that I lived there, whereas the others reacted with ‘Real MnS sweets!? What!’ bursting with excitement as they fumbled with the blue toffee wrappers.

The first fireworks of new year

After dinner we’d go and sit with the adults to sip on Patron in the little courtyard that was bathed in candlelight. Flower fumes rose over to the swinging chair that hung over the lake, as we thought about the crocodile that’s bright eyes stood out against the darkness very close to where we were sitting a few months before we’d arrived. They’d managed to catch it and release it into a different lake by dangling a poor puppy as bait... survival of the fittest?

This year the lake was very low as the rains hadn’t come as planned, the water mark could be seen about 1.5m up the ancient stone rocks that stood in clumps in the water. Trees that were usually completely underwater now stood tall and where we had once swam was now land dressed in grass that we claimed as our private beach, laying our towels over it and roasting in the sun. The peace was occasionally disturbed by the odd BANG as A.’s son scooped together mud to create bombs that he filled with firecrackers, left in the sun to dry and ignited with a quick shout to warn us all. ‘What’s your son planning on becoming?!’ Dad said jokingly, A. turned to his son ‘There are bigger firecrackers in the car, just warn us before you set them off so we can run’ this is when computer games get taken too far... But a pretty cool skill for a 10 year old I must admit.

Ambalama

Once we were sufficiently roasted we’d wade into the water, the bottom of which can’t usually be felt at all but now you could walk across the whole thing.

‘Let’s play water polo!’ G suggested, the oldies against the teens. It’s hilarious watching adults get competitive as the mature demeanor fades and everyone’s inner child comes to play, wading through the lake with thick squidgy mud sifting between our toes, it got everyone panting soon enough! After a while I called half time for a quick beauty-break during which we lathered the mud all over our bodies, it rapidly turned into a mud fight. Mmm, muddy hair, muddy body, muddy everything and rinsed off with only a few wriggles underwater leaving your skin soft and clear – how’s that for a new product slogan :p. A side effect that must be mentioned is the slight ‘fake tan’ look that for some reason only appeared on dad haha.  

Outdoor showers

I went to wash off the residue in the shower and as I put down my soap on the stone beneath the palm tree I heard a big thump, as though something had fallen from above my head, I glanced up to see the second half of a 2m long rat snake slithering between the dried palm leaves and out of the showering area. Ugh, I shivered and got under the cold water to rinse off the memory, at least they’re not poisonous…

On the last night we treated ourselves to a romantic hot shower. You ladle out the hot water that’s boiling in a huge cauldron outside over fresh flames and mix it to your desired temperature into your own little cauldron. While one soaps up, sitting on a large rock, the other pours water over them with a coconut ladle until the cauldron’s empty and then you swap over. It’s always more convenient having one before the sun goes down so your imagination doesn’t go too wild with creepy crawlies emerging from the depths of the forest.

As we were the ‘friends’ and not the ‘paying guests’ at the retreat, the yoga classes were always full to the brim so we took over the empty yoga shala once everyone had left, stretching into our body gloves and filling up as much space as possible. One afternoon we engaged in a deeply intimate meditation called ‘____’ in which you look into your partners eyes continuously for however long you can, I wriggled at how uncomfortable it was for the first few minutes and soon followed J’s lead and got into the flow, watching each others faces distort and change color with the intensity, it was an interesting experience to say the least… So the ‘calm’ box was ticked off, now the craziness was due, it was New Years eve after all.

The Sri Lankan drummers made their appearance in full traditional dress with anklets jingling and their hands moving against the drum faster than anyone I’ve seen before. Caught in a mesmerizing trance, the girls came out to elegantly dance to the rhythm followed by the little ones that moved in impressive synchrony. And then, dinner was served. Spread out across a huge rock by the beautiful banyan tree that was adorned with flags and hanging lanterns, we sat and ate our New Years meal, drinking beers and arrack to keep the spirits high. I was told about an hour before this, that I was to DJ part of the evening with no playlist planned whatsoever, how bloody stressful, flicking through all your songs one by one with total despair even though you’ve heard them all a million times before. But despite the stress it was a musical success, we all danced and jammed and lay on the straw mats, looking up at the array of stars and down at the lotus lights floating in the lake. Fireworks went off every hour until 8am by which time the village shaman had arrived to give the blessing for the New Year by boiling and eating the notorious ‘milk rice’. We’d spent the last few hours sitting with the remaining party animals around a fire with a few spliffs, watching the light of the sun slowly mask the stars, we climbed our way back up to our tree and crashed out till lunch. New years eve wasn’t a very messy night besides my poor brother’s first drunken spew all over dads white trousers, you gotta learn somehow…

The evening of the 1st was a little more eventful, I paced wide eyed between the huts, guiltily trying to avoid the game of charades that I’d organized earlier for all the yogis in the ambalama. They all soon went to bed and we created our own games that were paired with funny conversations until the room began spinning in various directions and the night came to an end after 3-glasses of wine and my head in the toilet. J lead us back to our tree with the help of the little Belgian man shining his torch up to us so we could avoid a terrible fall on our last night in Ulpotha… Avoiding confrontation with people from the night before, we left with heavy heads at 6am the next morning for a 6-hour drive to the beach down south. ‘http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M36OGCfYp3A'

Seaside and sunshine to yogis and gongs

Breakfasts in the pavilion at Seagarden

The birds are tweeting and the yogis are chanting; I'm on my third day of a detox retreat at 'Hariharilaya', located 12km North of Siem Reap. The days typically start at 5.30am, the resonating sound of the gong entering into our rooms as our soothing wake-up call (a nice change from your typical iphone or blackberry alarm!) Everyone makes their way to the yoga hut for the morning set, stretching into your body glove with eyes half open and finishing fully energized. The yoga varies in type every morning, some days it's rigorous Hatha while others it's slow and steady vinyasa/flow. A half an hour chanting session follows, to focus everyone's mind as we read the sanskrit words in front of us, before the 20 minute meditation, the last item on the agenda before breakfast is spread.  The rest of the day consists of various talks (on spirituality, Dharma, enneagrams etc), more meditation and optional workshops, acupuncture, blind massages, reiki, opportunities to cycle around the village, explore nearby temples, sun-tan naked in an enclosed bamboo hut, paint, draw, exercise,  read from the library of books and so much more. Everyone's typically off to bed by 10ish, worn out from the full-on day of activities. The man responsible for all this is 'J', a 33 year old yogi, who from the age of  6 joined the philharmonic orchestra in the US, touring the world until he decided to go to university and study linguistics for 6 years. Continuing on his spiritual path he has since created a yoga centre for people to share their passion and knowledge.

Woop woop!

It's amazing giving your body a break from any sort of toxins. The food is vegan here, and so creatively thought out. Incredible superfoods are available every day, one example is the amazing Kombucha tea: 'a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast' that's fermented using a fungus (manchurian mushroom) for months - it sounds odd, but tastes delicious after the natural flavourings are added to it  like lemon, mint, passion fruit etc. it's quality is to detoxify the body and energize the mind, basically, it's amazing, and is gulped down minutes after being released. Bee pollen's available in sachets to sprinkle over breakfast and if you need a bit of sweetness, 'bliss balls' with dates, coconut, palm sugar and oats are available for a dollar! ;)

I've been cycling around the village at 5.30am every morning since I've been here - A nice way for your eyes to slowly open into the day. It was funny coming out of my dream world and seeing the locals totally awake as they hacked away at pig heads and trotters in the local market and stopped the cat- fish from wriggling around in the big metal bowls. Further on down the dusty lane a little 6 year old boy rode a bicycle, carrying his friend behind him. Another little boy, who looked about 10, was leading a herd of cows along the road. He stopped, I wished him good morning in Khmer as he returned it with a shy smile, and continued walking the skinny cows through the lush paddy fields. A naked little girl held her arms out, balancing as she put one foot in front of the other on the high wall that surrounds 'Bakong Temple' - part of the ancient ruins known as Angkor Wat. My direction sense is hopeless, so of course I made the one wrong turn you could make and ended up lost and surrounded by empty food stalls, stressing out about what time it was, with no watch or phone to assist me. A sweet Khmer lady offered me a coconut and lead me to the right path and luckily, I arrived back in time for the gong to reverberate through the room, signalling the beginning of morning yoga.

I've come here for a bit of self-reflection, while J works for a few more days in Otress. I can't quite believe my stint there's already over. Every day merged into the next, probably due to a few too many flower fumes and the lackadaisical attitude of the place. Each day started with a morning swim while the sea was metallic and still, followed by a meditation and an Ice coffee (that we've now mastered, as well as the odd cocktail recipes that we want to remember). There were down days in paradise, when M's puppy died unexpectedly and the mood fell low as we all felt his sadness. But having to work at a bar and socialize always forces a smile that's eventually taken on as something real. The chefs (that hated what they did, and took it out on us constantly) had a nice streak one day, and prepared a group meal of fresh fish, lettuce, rice noodles and a delicious sauce to top it off - a great way to unify everyone for a few minutes before business took over again. I managed to finally cut my own king coconut, nearly chopping my leg off as I swung the machete in the wrong direction. But with time, lots of whining and too much sweat, I finally managed to do it without J's help, or A telling me that I needed 'more power!!' That night we had 9 of our mates sitting around the bar, dealing cards from our side, we managed a massive game of 'Yaneev', an Israeli card game that every traveller must know. It was a struggle playing, dealing the cards and making drinks at the same time, but it kept the night moving. That evening the liquor was flowing, so I decided to go craazy and have 2 shots! It was the end of the night, and my job was to wash the glasses. I gripped onto the bar stools trying to straighten my vision as I grabbed a chair, dragged it behind the bar, and proceeded to wash the blurry objects in front of me, sitting down with soap and water pouring everywhere - I was a mess. Soo since then alci's been off the wish list.

The Bizarre aeroplane club

 The next day before work J and I went to explore a few of the local beaches, coming across a bizarre Russian-owned club. The theme of the place was 'aeroplanes' and they took their theme seriously. They'd installed a massive aeroplane in the centre of the club, that you could climb into and mess around in. The DJ booth was the front of a truck and the sides of cars were hung up on the walls. It lead onto the beach, right next to a busy harbour. We jumped around, played pool and sped off to the next beach as the seconds ticked on before work was to begin. The other beaches were all beautiful and completely empty, similar to the expensive resorts, that were 5-star but lacked the main component - guests. One huge island that we could see from the beach, had recently had a huge, ugly, concrete bridge constructed from the mainland, allowing you to drive across. Only it wasn't for you to drive across, it was for the Rich Russian owner of the island, that built it because he wanted the pleasure of driving to and from his island in his expensive car. What some people do with their money just makes me laugh..

A fraction of the Sunshine Family

Topcat's been one of the best forms of entertainment, and although it's only $2 an hour, somehow every time a group of us went, each of us always ended up having to pay a bill of $20+.. We've since watched: 'Death at a funeral', 'One flew over the cuckoos nest', 'Senna', 'Lawless', 'The matrix', 'Exit through the Gift shop  and various others that don't spring to mind. After watching 'Exit through the Gift shop , a documentary made by a family friend that shows you the true grit that street artists experience, you really feel a sense of respect for them (the good ones). It's funny how a piece of art can be illegal one minute and then valued at $14,000 over night. Just another example of the impermanent nature of humans and our interests..

Otress sunsets

Our nights after Topcat or whatever excursion we'd been on, usually ended with a huge group of us sitting together on the big, comfy circle chairs on the beach, passing around doobs, playing shithead or yaneev and laughing about silly things. J's hungover mornings always made me laugh, especially when he had to dig out the drain for the dishwasher. Looking at his delirious, sweaty and unhappy face made me giggle - a glass of ice water was all I could offer. Every day went pretty well at work, we were usually on top form and had great chats and relationships with all the customers that came and went. However on one rare occasion, it didn't go so well. After only half a cookie that D&S had with us (if you're in Otress, $6 cookies at mushroom point ++!), things began slowing down and getting funnier. The orders were all confused, calculations for bills weren't happening and conversation started getting really difficult. We had 'a talking to' the next day, and it never happened again..


After a very slow night, I woke up with itchy feet again, so J and I rented a kayak for half the day, and journeyed off to a mystery island. We were the only ones there apart from the few fishing boats that were anchored in the surrounding sea. We climbed over big rocks, looked into stagnant rock-pools of mosquito larvae and dead crabs (that looked like 'the pit of death' in 'The Life of Pi'), caught crabs, meditated in the shade and skinny dipped in the clear blue water, with no one around to tell us not to. We'd taken a plastic bag with us for the few things that we'd decided to bring, and noticing the condensation in our bag of flowers, J spread them out on a rock in the sun, family Robinson style. 5 minutes later, it crumbled to dust in our hands - it was that hot; and no matter how much sun cream I lathered on, my skin still managed to turn a light shade of red. Despite the burn, it was probably one of the most exciting experiences, discovering a new island, that yes, had probably been seen by a quite a few others, but it was so nice being able to enjoy a place for it's beauty without being hassled or charged. After a few hours on the island that we'd claimed our own, we kayaked back, tension rising as we battled against the current, the frustration causing us to argue over meaningless things, with no way of escaping each other. We'd stop now and then to re-direct our kayak that seemed to have a mind of it's own and finally, we arrived back, everything resolved and nothing to complain about. It's funny how even if you're in paradise, you can catch yourself whining or complaining about nothing to just fill the time and find some imperfection. Try and see if you can have a day of not complaining about anything, just catch yourself before you do, and see how you feel afterwards - it's one of my goals.

Our adventure day on our mystery island

A new group of mates washed in and out with the tide, lovely E returned home to the Isle of White after a few blissful days. One of my favourite moments was on that perfectly moonlit night, a group of us all went swimming in the still shallows of that perfect Otress ocean, mouths hanging and eyes glistening as we watched the lightening storm miles away, flashes of light filling the sky every 5 - 10 seconds as I rocked with J's arms wrapped tightly around me. The girls were supposed to leave a day after E, but like everyone caught in the Otress spell (and a few financial mishaps), they thankfully prolonged their trip. W'W, a friend we'd made a few weeks before, surprisingly returned also, and now has a job on one of the nearby beautiful islands 'Koh Ta Kiev'; his excitement manifested itself in trying to convince all of us to move there and enjoy the benefits of his job with him 'free kayaking, return trips to the island, snorkelling, fishing, food and weed' we could recite the list a hundred times over, a few more days of hearing about it, and his ability to speak would've been severely impaired by one of us.

DC's BBQ

We visited Koh Ta Kiev on 'DC Tours', run by a mate in Otress who takes you island hopping to laze around on beaches, munch down on a BBQ of fresh seafood and giant clams, followed by spear fishing, cliff jumping (off a natural rock that looks unbelievably identical to an elephant - hence the name elephant rock) and lots of snorkelling. The Seagarden crew was on-board and we shared many laughs, fumes and games of frisbee before jumping off the boat and beginning our evening shift. The next day the weather changed and the clouds blew over, whenever a storm blows in, it's always an interesting time. The animals react, the attitude changes and the restaurant gets emptier. We were sitting on the big comfy chairs talking about going into town before the thunder began to rumble; we jumped up, got onto our bike and zoomed off down the road to get there before the storm could catch us. We were running from the rain, along with the other bikes on the road, I looked up to see swallows struggling against the wind, 50 shades of grey were visible in the clouds above it. We made it inside just as it began to pour and pour and pour - cleansing the town of its stagnant humidity.

My tummy's rumbling and my brain's rewinding back to the few days that the tummy bugs took over. At our restaurant we had guests running to and from the bathroom, people in the guest house opposite us, to our left and down the road, were all suffering similar illnesses. One man was rushed off to the hospital with severe gastritis and another bused back to Phnom Pen with a similar illness. As everyone was in such close proximity, eating the same foods and sharing the same J's, we all got each others lurgies. The thing about being sick in the tropics, is half the time you don't know what it is or how you got it. It could've been the water, the puppies, the food, the air - you've just gotta let it ride and hope it's nothing serious.. being sick all the time gets tiring though and the Otress chapter was coming to a close.

W'W rescuing the J from between the floorboards

We'd made a date to leave and J was going to head to Siem Reap for a week, but plans changed and Otress seemed a better option, the heat's always easier to deal with on the beach. We'd left our jobs at Seagarden and the deal had changed from 'free food & accom' to just 'free food' - not really worth it for a 7 hour shift. So sunshine became both our home and J's work - causing tension between both places as they were situated right next to each other. A sad way to end such a great streak, but hugs were shared all round on the last day, so at least the last note was somewhat sweet. The puppies ran to me as I said goodbye, they were so hard to leave, in just a few weeks they'd grown so big and developed such personalities - but every good thing comes to an end. Our last time at Topcat was lavish, chocolate, happy herb pizzas and lots of movies. We all sweat buckets sitting at 'We One Cafe', drinking ice coffees and zoning out as we attempted to put our attention into a card game. The girls had an amazing fresh pizza at Papa Pippos, our neighbouring restaurant, followed by a refreshing passion fruit sorbet. I Inhaled my last dinner -- a stodgy burger and chips, and W'W lifted the mood by performing the heroic act of the night, rescuing the J from between the floorboards with chopsticks - making the Chinese prouder than ever. I'd ticked everything off my bucket list, I could now drive the bike alone! My last drive back from town was a bit scary, helmetless and a bit lost I somehow made it home, J. breathing in a sigh of relief when I returned intact. We'd had our last 'Toga' party and I'd done my last walk down to Otress 2 to shell hunt with lovely L from mushroom point. On my last day the clouds were grey and I prayed that a storm would come, and so it did. It was so exciting sitting in the unusually rough ocean, feeling the force of the wind knocking you back while the waves pushed you forward, the big bang that needed to happen.  I'd bought a $7 phone to call J when I got off the sleeper bus, of course an hour in, it ran out of battery. I lay there looking down at my beautiful crystal necklace, designed by a mate who replaced us at S.G, she was constantly weaving and sewing her beautiful pieces of shell, bone, wood and crystal depending on what the customers ordered. But my eyes began to droop as the val kicked in and luckily no one sat next to be so the double bed was used to its fullest as i stretched out and fell asleep for the entire 12 hour bus ride.

Coconut man

Before I started travelling I envisioned myself getting through libraries of book (ok that's a slight exaggeration, but a fair few), yet unless you make your time available for it, it just gets eaten up by a million other things. I have managed to finish 'Freakonomics', a fantastic read that I never thought I'd enjoy, given that I don't find economics a particularly fascinating subject; yet the way Steven D. Levitt writes, is so applicable to what's going on today (the chapter on 'why most drug dealers still live with their mums' is definitely the most interesting!) I've just started the 933pg autobiography 'Shantaram' by Gregory Roberts. A man who was a criminal and a junkie, yet he escaped from one of the top security prisons in Aus by 'jumping over the wall', flew to Mumbai, joined the mafia, and took part in lots of other mind boggling escapades - it's a long but fascinating read.

The end of a beautiful day

So I've said goodbye to the crystal waters of Otress; the same waters that's current pulled the 3 girls out to sea when they attempted to swim to the island a few nights ago, arriving back hours later on a fishing boat, to a worried crowd. But more beautiful and mysterious seas are to come in Thailand. And for now, I'm embracing this break in the middle of the madness. The next post will be full of the teachings that will take place over the next few days, with our resident magician/ hypnotist, a chiropractor, a psychologist, a yogi, an actor, a director and so many others that are here to share what they know. The flower girl's tuning into her flower girl self and is soo excited!


Recipe of the day: Vegan pumpkin soup 
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/soupsstewsandchili/r/pumpcoconutsoup.htm

From bowling balls to swirly clouds

I sit dozily at an incredibly slow computer in the underrated town of Vang Vieng - Laos. We've since conquered Luang Prabang, the french world heritage site with no loud noises, hundreds of monks in bright orange attire and beautiful french architecture lining the streets. We began by finding our guesthouse that had been reccommended by our french friends in the previous town we were in. We rocked up, picking up a few new friends from the boat E., J. and O. on the way. A cool dude from the Isle of White and 2 lovely Canadian girls that are almost finished uni. The beauty of arriving in a big group (given there's space) is you practically get a dorm for yourself, making it our new home again and again by draping cloth and clothes here and there, lights on when you want them and curtains closed when you choose. J. emptied the contents of  his bag all over the bed as soon as we arrived, and those that shotgunned the shower first hopped in after a long and sweaty 7 hour boat ride. It was funny coming out of the shower smelling like Shampoo and walking into our dorm that 10 minutes ago had smelt fine, but the contrast was appalling as everyone's dirty washing created a not-so-pleasant odour..

V.Ball at Utopia

Veg Buffet

The boys followed their stomachs and were out of the hostel faster than we'd arrived, looking for food in the night market. J. and I decided to follow a different crew for a meal - settling with noodle soup for $2.50 that left our mouths burning and our noses streaming. We walked through the markets after dinner and it all came rushing back. You know when you've been to a place before, and you return to exactly the same scene, it's like travelling back in time. The little ladies selling their wares. Handmade shirts, colourful bags, block printed paintings, metal bracelets made out of bomb fragments, bottles of dead snakes fermenting in rice wine. It went on and on and on, getting hotter and hotter as you walked passed the smoky BBQ's and street vendors, the smoke getting trapped under the cloth above our heads. We bumped into our Israeli friend that had moved on a few days before us - having drinks at a suave french bar after being succesfully seduced with a 'free cocktail' flier. The curfew here as I've said before, is 11pm, which makes everything rather rushed once the clock's struck 9:00pm. The place to be in LP is Utopia, an outside bar with comfy cushions where people lie smoking shisha or watching extreme sports. Round the back is a huge volleyball court where the drunk gather to smash the ball in whatever direction they please as hand-eye-coordination slowly declines. It was so bizaare when you walked around and noticed the huge missiles sticking out of the ground, the missile that had been turned on its side and made into a BBQ or the one that the toilet paper rested on in the corner of the bathroom.

Golden Buddha's

When 11pm strikes, the crowds are whisked off by eager tuk tuk drivers, to the bowling alley, the only place in LP that stays open until 3am. I expected disco lights and dancing but we arrived to bright, fluorescent lights, bowling and Justin Bieber in the background. It wasn't until later that I realized why none of the bars here have dance floors.. dancing in Luang Prabang is illegal. Go figure? I don't understand the logic..
It's nice having everyone staying at the same hostel, it means you can be shuttled away with a group and will most likely end up home -- the second floor being the post-bowling gathering spot where bongs, papers and cups scattered the table and a sign reading 'Stay QUIET after 12!' was prominently stuck on the pillar above the table.
The next morning we all herded to the breakfast vendors selling fruit shakes and fresh baguettes with your choice of filling. We noticed how it was only foreigners eating here, ah well it worked for us. We wanted to do something productive with our day so haggled a tuk-tuk down to a reasonable price and headed off to the waterfalls. We arrived to the garden of Eden, 'a Disney scene', an Oasis. I'd been before but it never ceases to amaze how stunning the turqoise water is. Nothing could spoil this scene but bad weather, luckily the sun was on our side. We swung off ropes all day into the still water, hopping out as the little fish nibbled your toes and later meditating in the serenity.
That evening everyone was starving, so we appropriately found a vegetarian buffet in which they gave you a plate for just over a dollar, and allowed you to pile it as high as you wanted -- the boys came over to the table precariously balancing their piles of food. Utopia and various moments of chunder followed that night.

Typical breaky

The next day, after a painful experience at a ridiculously slow internet cafe, attempting to upload photo's as back-up and having the computer turn on and off for an hour. The day got progressively better luckily, as we explored temples around the town and had a coffee and a few flower fumes at a sweet cafe over hanging the Mekong and then ending up with the crew at the notorious Veg. buffet again.. the law of 'no dancing' wasn't an issue that evening as we lay happily watching extreme sports in awe, monged out on the cushions. That evening we met a Kiwi Off-shore worker thats minted mate was having a 33rd birthday party at 'the pool' the next day, with $1000 tab to share. Ah the beauty of bars.

Crazy missiles

The next day was 'Justin's big birthday', we arrived to see hundreds of people and an empty tab that had been cleared of drinks in the first 2 hours, it was only 2pm. We talked, swam and kicked around the ball until dinner time when we treated ourselves to our regular Indian. Seeing the total price made us laugh as for 10 people we were paying the equivalent of 1 person back 'home' (in London). We ended with these little tapioca rice puddings that they serve in little banana leaf boxes on the street, and chunks of vibrant red watermelon. The night brought us back to the second floor of our hostel, with our new Israeli friends 'Tslil and Daphna', it was interesting discussing religious views with the first agnostic Israeli-Jew I'd met so far. We'd be interrupted momentarily by the annoying child that ran around constantly crying and throwing toy trucks at the stray cats that roamed the area.
The following night was the same child's birthday I think, and it was a night of silence for once. The owner of the guesthouse provided everyone with a free 'instant noodle' dinner and birthday cake that lined everyone's stomachs well for the night that followed. I was missing wheat -- having a wheat-allergy restricts a lot in terms of diet. No instant noodles, baguettes, toast, pasta. It's a lot easier to follow in Asia when rice is the main starch but I was missing my western food as well and craved a baguette or an oreo (that's all the rage here). That day had been a relaxed one. We'd spent it reading, writing, sorting out bank stuff and eating banana-chocolate-peanut butter crepes. In the evening 'Life of Pi' was showing at 'the bookshop'. It was upstairs, in an attic almost, where books lined the walls and everyone had a cup of tea of hot chocolate. Cushions were scattered everywhere, and we jumped on a spot right in front of the screen as soon as we could. I was apprehensive about watching the movie when the book had been so good, but it projected the writing so perfectly onto the screen. It teaches you so clearly, in a very hollywood-esque way, about so much. It talks about how the bible/ religious texts are just elaborated stories of the simple and basic facts, how to conquer the 'evil' within yourself to survive (symbolized by a tiger) and realizing via coming across the carniverous island, that paradise/ heaven on earth, can turn into hell just as fast. All part of the Yin-Yang I guess.
After the movie we decided to show our faces for a few hours at Utopia, bumping into the girls we'd lived with in 'Sapa, Vietnam' during our home stay. Listening to their adventures/ horror stories about being in a bus that crashed and covering themselves from shards of glass with thin blankets. We touched wood with sympathetic faces, hoping we wouldn't be repeating the story with us as the new characters. That evening we looked around the table, feeling slightly wavy, and realizing most of our crew had moved on to Vang Vieng. It's funny looking around and not recognizing anyone, apart from the new Swedish boys we'd been speaking to, picking up as many tips about our next (and their previous) destination.

The sun-bears by the waterfall

The waterfall

The morning after was the day we were supposed to leave. And it was rather rushed to say the least. J. jumped out of bed at 11.00am realizing he had to pick up forms at the hospital, as I packed his bag and rushed to Utopia to re-claim our clothes that we'd left (who's surprised?) the night before.. We all arrive back in-sync realizing we had over an hour to relax before the bus came. That hour was spent getting breaky and doing a bit of basic chemistry.. extracting Codeine from Paracetamol to crash out on the long, and windy 6 hour bus ride to V.V. 'What's the time' someone mentioned, and when the response was '1:34pm' when we were supposed to leave at '1:30pm' we all slumped our shoulders, realizing we'd indeed missed the bus. Luckily our manager set us up with a 'VIP mini-van' for less than the local-bus price and we all hopped in an hour past 'leaving time'. The mood was wavy until we hit the windy roads, and everyone bit their tongues and kept their stomachs in check as we sat through the very long first couple of hours that lead us into the clouds. We got out at last, letting out a sigh of relief that we were somewhat closer to our destination, and gaping at the thick fog that surrounded us. It was cold again and felt like we were back in Hanoi, the jumpers came out and everyone dissapeared pronto as you couldn't see a metre infront of you. We finally arrived to a dark and quiet Vang Vieng, jumping out at 'Santii-villa guesthouse' that had been reccommended by the Swedes. It was exciting having such huge rooms, clean beds and our own showers. That evening we ate our noodle soups in silence in front of 'Friends' that was showing on TV at the restaurants. Half-way through the meal running into our mates from LP made us all smile. We passed out in front of HBO and a few flower fumes that the bar next door sold in great variety on his 'Happy menu'.
Being in Vang Vieng feels like being in a fairy-tale. It's like the Amsterdam of Asia - menu's selling 'shroom-tea and opium shakes' like it's the most normal thing in the world. We skipped a day at the blue lagoon the next day for a pineapple shroom shake and a day of reflection. Stumbling across a magical bridge that lead to a surreal reality of a stunning lord-of-the-ring'esque river, mountains, locals washing their clothes and people floating individually in tubes down the river. Hot-Air-Balloons rose above us and everyone closed their eyes to experience the visuals and the understanding of the world beyond our shallow perception. We made our way back in time for sun-set to our rooms for a boogie to Pink Floyde, that suddenly seemed so much clearer. That evening was full of laughs on every level.

The day of reflection

Funny tea

The day after we joined the crowds and came back down for a bit of tubing down the Mekong. Though It's changed from a crazy, drunk-tourist centre, it's changed for good. We floated in peace, with the optional bar or 2 a long the way, through spots of sun and in front of gigantic fictional mountains all the way to the end-point that was a few hours down the line. Seeing people get stuck on rocks and tumbling in rapids making everyone giggle a long the way. Sticks were our method of paddling and hooking onto each others feet our way of sticking together. The evening ended with hot showers, a big family dinner, free banana milkshakes and a movie night infront of the 'big screen' at 'Sakura', everyone grunting in frustration as the end of 'Snatch' froze. Banana-chocolate crepes made it all better, and our soft pillows awaited beaming faces back at Santii-villa, our home for the moment being.

Recipe of the day: Rice dumplings

http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-kenny-laos-rickshaw-dum-74872

Jumbled fascination

The grapes and M.

Pool sessionz

My light blue kurta is flitting to the movement of the fan above us, the little blue flowers dancing in broken rhythm  with the familiar melody of Stevie's 'isn't she lovely' swirling around the room. I'm zoning out on a Saturday morning to the smell of roasted coffee beans as dad puts on his morning brew and my brother sits perfectly content in his usual indention in the bed with his laptop and headphones to accompany him. I'm still floating in the post-yoga high when seconds seem to tick slightly slower and your thoughts weave in and out of each other instead of coming at you all at once. My eating routine's taken a change of course after being given a pre-op diet by the doctor. I already choose to whine about the restrictions in my usual diet - 'no wheat' being the most straining factor. But now it's no dairy, caffeine, green veg, cheese, wheat, nuts or alcohol. Doesn't that cover pretty much every food group excluding meat? I guess my decision on weather to go veg. or not has been made. But it's quite interesting having to have such self-discipline regarding what you eat (not that I stick to it very often). But when you do, you learn to be creative and combine different flavours to give yourself the same satisfaction that something you'd normally eat would give you. This morning welcomed me with porridge oats, milk and fresh berries, with lemon & honey tea - there are alternatives!
I'm realizing as I learn more and more about nutrition and food that there are 10000+ methods to follow diet-wise, whether you choose to go with what's best for your blood type (read my previous post called 'blood red munch' if you're interested), your personal preference (vegan/ vegetarianism etc), a Buddhist diet (where they tend to avoid stimulating/ heating foods like ginger, garlic, meat etc. because it keeps the mind too active during meditation) or your ayurvedic constitution.. I know this is a lot of information in one go but bear with me.

Double J

Recently I've become particularly interested in the last method I mentioned, and am learning about it slowly. Basically in ayurveda they split people into various 'types' or 'dosha's', this is based on all of your physical, emotional and psychological workings and once you've found out what combination of dosha's you are, you can adjust your diet or lifestyle based on what's 'best suited' to you. E.g. some people don't work well with a rabbit diet (salads and light foods) whereas some people do. You'll find that with all of these different methods, much of the dietary/ lifestyle advice overlaps so you can really refine what's best for you - if you're interested that is ;). (http://doshaquiz.chopra.com/) - if you want to find out what you are, check it out and see if it makes sense.

Besides dietary concerns, due to my temperamental tummy bug I stayed in bed last night, snuggled up under the covers after having been diversely remedied from both sides of the family. My mum lay with me and vigorously rubbed the never-failing remedy of Chinese oil on my tummy until it generated enough heat to kill the pain, and my dad brought over a cup of  dandelion and wild honey tea. I felt satiated with all the heat and my petals wilted down into bed with a big hoodie and baggy trackies; my eyes closing as credits from 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' scrolled down the screen. As my heartbeat slowed and I drifted into a dream-world, the motif of the movie (in response to the ever thought provoking question, and a common topic of girly conversation 'why do good people always go for the wrong people') danced around my head in italic font, 'we accept the love we think we deserve' - a deep message to conceptualize, and reflecting on it stings..
I'd read 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'  by Stephen Chybosky a few years ago when a best friend and I did our 'favourite book swap' in an attempt to get back into reading (I gave her '13¹⁄₂ lives of captain bluebear' by Walter Moers - amazing book). It worked - I raced through the book, connecting to the characters so easily. The movie lived up to more than I thought it would, the scenes of the protagonists lunacy being scarily relatable - they reminded me of those rare intoxicated/ delirious moments that happen when you feel like you're going crazy and you realize it's all in your own head.. or maybe that's just me :p. It was interesting seeing what brought on the lunacy though, the driving emotion being 'guilt' that is said again and again to be the emotion with the lowest vibrational frequency. Meaning harbouring guilt, causes pain, disease, injury, lunacy even.. So the mountain of thoughts, questions and worries continuously spun around my head, but darkness eventually prevailed.

We're baaack

The last few days in KL have seemed to blur together as I'm sure everyone's has. It's always like that when you're in the hustle and bustle of seeing friends and engrossing yourself in your old environment, parties, pool days, lunches, rekindling old flames, sessions here and there - it's all so fun, but it doesn't stop. Seeing how friendships have changed, who's adapted to uni life and who's still hanging on to our glorious past. You stop questioning and wondering how we're all going to stay intouch and what our future holds because seeing each other just makes you appreciate when it does happen. The Lumineers are strumming along to 'Flowers in your hair' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sb6LduFwRM) a song that was sent to me by a friend the other day. I'm wondering where I put my phone 10 minutes ago, this memory-loss thing is really starting to get to me, I almost feel like I should write a book on 'Alzheimers for Teenagers', but noticing the same trend amongst the majority of my friends makes me feel slightly better.

Oh Bush

Indulge me in a bit of reflection on the bigger picture. A few weeks ago I was told that our DNA is 94% identical to a fruit flies - yet that 4% still deems humans to be the top of the food chain? I was talking to my uncle D. about why this was and gained some rather interesting insight. I learnt about his business that he started himself a long time ago, with a typewriter in a dingy room. He expanded and worked his way up to own one of the most successful PR businesses in the UK, that he then happily sold on at it's peak. At the point of selling his business he was offered the most life changing job, to be the top CEO of some huge marketing company ladidadida, and after weighing the pro's and con's, he didn't choose the luxury, the parties and the girls but instead to drop his ego and focus on what he wanted, having a family and a lifestyle - which I commend him for.We got down to the thrawl of things and why you'd choose one decision over another and concluded that greed is what drives humans. A very real example of this can be seen in politics.. in a speech made my George Bush (who I don't particularly respect, but this point had a level of sanity to it) regarding the kyoto protocol (the climate change deal that he did not comply with). He believes the way forward is investing in technology as opposed to forest conservation etc. A seemingly ignorant opinion at first but his reasoning is that because technology has the power to do everything for us, and humans create technology because it essentially makes our lives easier. Hence technology benefits us and should be invested in because greed is what drives technology production unlike forest conservation. They've already proved that technology can take over from natural methods. Just look at the answer to the extinction of bees, they've now created 'robot bees' to pollinate flowers in a faster and more precise manner than real bees - is it the natural way of doing things? No. But that's another debate. So while Bush seems like a dick for not wanting to support the environment, his cynical view is quite realistic, and ruthless. Amongst all of the clutter that I've just mentioned, even if we are driven my selfish motives, sometimes in the hardest decision it takes a drop of the ego to make the choice to consciously stand at the top of the chain.. otherwise we may as well lose the 4% and join the fruit flies.

Sci-guy

Another blurry day

I'm still floating a little from all the thinking and the meditation, and I catch a passage from Guru Singh's lecture on how to ground yourself, what a coincidence! I hear him say in his laid back Cali accent "Buddha once said 'walk the middle path', I call that boredom, and that's what grounds you. 'Knowing' is boredom because when you know something, there are no more surprises, just guarantees. " That's something to think about, just in case you didn't have enough ;). So I'm going to sit in 'knowing' for a bit as I come back down to an overcast KL afternoon. I can see little children running around and laughing downstairs in the pool.. it makes a change from the usual giggles that escape the mouths of a group of teenagers sitting in a circle with a few beats and a steady stream of smoke. My brain feels fed, now it's my tummy's turn - lunchtime!


Recipe of the day: Overnight oats

http://www.katheats.com/favorite-foods/overnightoats