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Thursday, March 10, 2011

Retreat in Khao Sok National Park, Thailand

After a long journey from Phnom Penh in Cambodia, I made it to Bangkok on February 12, at 7:30pm. I spent the night there, near Khao San Rd. The next day I was planning to enbark on another sixteen hour bus ride to Surattani, Thailand. My previous ride from Cambodia had taken nineteen hours. I needed to be at the Surattani airport at 11:30am. the next morning. I wasn't having much faith in the whole bus thing.

I decided instead, to buy a plane ticket that would get me to Surattani in 1 hour. I spent the night at a guest house near the airport. This was a good choice, as I was still feeling nauseous from the last bus ride.

The next morning I took a taxi to the airport. I was a little anxious as I was preparing for this next phase of my journey, since I knew that once I left, I would have no contact with anyone for the next eleven or twelve days. I was going into the jungle where there would be no cell phone reception and no Internet. It would be a real lesson on letting go of attachments.

This is something which I am investigating on many levels. We become attached to everything: food, things, stuff, beliefs, routines. I feel that attachments and addictions are quite closely linked. My desire is to understand how to dissolve attachments that are not serving in a positive way.

I took a taxi to the airport and I was on my way. I met my crew of Jungle yogis at the airport.  There were eleven of us altogether. I was the only Canadian. Everyone else was European. We all piled into a van for an hour-long drive to the Khao Sok National Park. From there we traveled on a longtail boat for an additional hour. I was so wiped out that I fell asleep at the front of the boat in the sun. I woke up as we glided into the dock of this beautiful floating guest house.

The energy had shifted from the busyness of the city to the tranquility of nature. I took a deep breath,...

Our guest rooms were wonderful! Little floating huts on the lake. The participants all had private rooms. Our huts had  double beds with mosquito netting.  There was a little hammock hung on each balcony.  I could open my front door and jump right into the lake. It was quite a trek to reach the bathrooms, but a great way to get in some exercise. The bathrooms and showers were up at the top of a hill.

On the main platform was the restaurant. Next to it was the Jungle Yoga Studio.

This is where I would be spending the next 11 days.  Each days would start at 7:00am., with thirty minutes of meditation followed by seventy-five minutes of yoga. After breakfast, we would spend six hours doing Thai Massage. This is a beautiful place for learning and receiving. From the yoga space we could see monkeys playing in the distance.

After arriving we had a great Thai lunch and then some downtime, to settle in. In the evening we enjoyed a mellow yoga class to ease into our new space. My body was so happy to slow down after all the moving around. I brought way too much stuff when I left Canada. What we have, we must carry, I'm learning as I go.

I was eager to watch the rest of the film that was in my laptop. My friend had left me his DVD "The Fog Of War", a documentary feature on Robert S. McNamara, Former  US Secretary of Defense. I am interested in gaining an understanding our  volatile history. We often fight for our right to be different, rather than learning how we are similar. Humans are more similar than they are different, yet we don't seem to focus on that. We alienate each other, our races and our countries.

It was the first time in a long while, that I had been bathed in silence. As soon as I lay down to sleep on my first night, I was out like a light. I slept like a baby.


Thai Yoga Massage in The Middle of no Where! Thailand Slideshow: Ocean’s trip from Bangkok, Thailand to Surat Thani was created by TripAdvisor. See another Surat Thani slideshow. Create your own stunning free slideshow from your travel photos.



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