We made it! Good thing we decided to skip Jaipur due to the 108 temp missing the bombings AND we missed the cyclone that hit next door in Burma. Thank you God.
We finally got to Thailand after an all nighter flight delay and landed ourselves on the infamous Khosan Rd. A very hip place with lots of guest houses and shopping. Unfortunately, Celeste got sick and was in bed for two days. (Good thing this traveling bugs never hit us at the same time.) Anyways, we hung out there for a couple of days getting messages and mani/pedis for 5 bucks and I got to see my dear friend Ross who has moved here to marry his Thai Sweetheart. We then headed north for Chaing Mai. It's about an hours plane ride north into the mountains of Thailand and much cooler that Bangkok as far as the weather goes. Very cool shopping at the night market that starts at 6pm and goes til about midnight. I bought a pair of silk wrap around pants for 8 dollars US that were going for 149 US in Hawaii...I got two ;O.
But by far, the coolest thing we have done to date it to go hang out with the elephants for the day. Not only did we get to ride them bareback for several hours, we got to bathe them and swim with them as well. We left at 7am and returned around 5pm less about a one hour drive each way. We started with learning the daily medical inspection that included checking their sleep marks to make sure they laid down to sleep at night and then we got to check the dung for moisture and consistency...nice. We then learned the three ways to mount and elephant and all I can say is that it is NOTHING like riding a horse! We rode about and hour+ out to the waterfall where we got to swim with them and can I say...this was the most amazing thing. They completely submerged themselves on their sides in the water and of course could stay under forever because they could breathe through their trunks. They stretched and played and rolled from one side to the other as we all tried to stay on. We then gave them a break for lunch and we served a traditional Thai lunch of various rices, banana crisps, eggs and sweets. Meanwhile, the elis played freely in the water until we fed them the rest of our uneaten lunch. We then mounted and proceeded to the nearest road for the ride back. Can you imagine....driving down the road and seeing 4 elephants walking single file? It was all pretty incredible. I'm really still in awe over the whole experience.
Oh ya, and my Eli's name was Boon Puk. Oh, and there was Pai Mai, a 5 week old baby who thought it was super funny to head but me while I was feeding his Mommy bananas. And one more thing...there is not much you can do when your three ton elephant wants to stop to eat...every two minutes! There are no rains and no saddle and not even a God given mane to hold on to. So, you walk 5-6 strides and they eat, then you walk 5-6 strides and they eat, and so on and so on and so on.
The scenery was quite amazing. At one point we were walking our elephants through the and it dawned on me...I am in Thailand, riding an elephant, in the river and it's poring down rain. This is the best thing ever!
I have soooo much more to tell, but it time for my 10 dollar, two hour message so it will have to wait. Until next time.
Khap Khan Kaaaa, P
PS We got to give them baths too...pictures to follow upon our return :)
PSS Tep was Boon Pucks trainer and everytime BP went for food on his own, I would call out to Tep to come get his elephant.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Post Navaratri
Navaratri. What can I say? I am still shifting so much from the experiences I had there, that I might be able to put concepts to words by some time this fall. Suffice it to say, my heart snapped, crackled and popped wide open with a little help from my new friends (and a LOT of help from one closest to my heart in particular), and I no longer have any ideas of what the future holds. Prior to the trip, I thought I had an idea of the future, but was paralyzed with fear. The fear is gone... and every thought running around my head these days has to do with how I can bring more light through my heart to share with this planet. There's also quite a few thoughts dedicated in the general direction to that one closest to my heart...but I have to sit back and see what happens with all of that.
Prema and I wandered to Chilianaula for Ayurvedic PanchKarma the same day I tearfully waved goodbye to all of my new friends. She let me cry on her shoulder for awhile and held me up. ;-) Luckily, I was able to reject getting sick until we were at the ashram and unpacked, though the trip to the ashram was with a troubled and sour tummy. Then I was able to relax into "Delhi Belly in the safety of the ashram. Happily, I was not puking, and one bathroom had western style toilets. The timing rocked, as I saw Dr. Vijay the very next morning, weak and somewhat trembling.
Prema took tremendous care of me. I am so grateful for her. She let me rest and packed up our ashram room so we could move into the guest house. So sweet. I was relieved I only had to drag myself out of bed in order to place my body in the next one.
PanchKarma is definitely NOT a spa stay. I never thought I'd say this, but after day 3, I remarked to Prema, "I don't think I can handle 2 massages a day for 5 days!" The oil massage is no big deal, and I'm loving the steam bath (don't tell my masseuses, but I play with my sweat while it's pouring off of me when I am sitting in the box ;-) ), but the powder massage is gruesome! Do you remember giving/getting snakebites when you were a kid? Where you grab someone's arm with both hands and twist the skin in opposite directions? They do that on purpose while grinding this powder into my skin! Not just the arms, either -- the thighs, the stomach, the arms, the breasts, the back...Ouch!!
I just keep repeating "Om Namah Shivayah, Om Namah Shivayah, Om Namah Shivayah" in my head. The girls giggled at that when I told them.
And as far as enemas go...Let's just say it was a nice little extra special gift that I had diarrhea before the enemas started. For those of you who don't know what PanchKarma is, there's a great description on this website. http://www.babajiayurveda.info/EN-English.htm They are really not a big deal, but it was sweet to start my treatment "clean" so to speak.
The food is good. Bland, but good. It's really healthy, of course. Raju, our cook, immediately took to calling me "Butterfly" because of my eye glasses. It's kind of cool to have been given 2 new names in one week!
2 days after we got here, Muniraji came to stay for a couple of nights. We were able to receive chandun 2 more times from him. He hummed the whole time...
The people here are sweet, and it is nice to see some familiar faces from Herakhan. Aarti is an entirely different event here with the celebration having finished. Last night, we sang without a harmonium to lead us in song. THAT was a treat 2 ways: 1) I'm really am actually learning the words and cadence of the songs, so it must be getting close to test time, and 2) It's certainly a practice in non-judgement when the whole group starts to sing really flat because there's no music! I love it! Had to laugh...
Prema has left for her time share and I have a big room all to myself. Last night, a young woman from California who has been in treatment for 40 days(!) did a tarot reading for me that was amazingly powerful and, of course, dead on for everything that has happened, and everything that I can feel coming into my life. My immediate future calls for introspection and reflection, and I can't think of a more perfect place to be than here right now, for doing more inner work.
From my heart to yours,
Saraswati
aka
Celeste
aka Butterfly
Prema and I wandered to Chilianaula for Ayurvedic PanchKarma the same day I tearfully waved goodbye to all of my new friends. She let me cry on her shoulder for awhile and held me up. ;-) Luckily, I was able to reject getting sick until we were at the ashram and unpacked, though the trip to the ashram was with a troubled and sour tummy. Then I was able to relax into "Delhi Belly in the safety of the ashram. Happily, I was not puking, and one bathroom had western style toilets. The timing rocked, as I saw Dr. Vijay the very next morning, weak and somewhat trembling.
Prema took tremendous care of me. I am so grateful for her. She let me rest and packed up our ashram room so we could move into the guest house. So sweet. I was relieved I only had to drag myself out of bed in order to place my body in the next one.
PanchKarma is definitely NOT a spa stay. I never thought I'd say this, but after day 3, I remarked to Prema, "I don't think I can handle 2 massages a day for 5 days!" The oil massage is no big deal, and I'm loving the steam bath (don't tell my masseuses, but I play with my sweat while it's pouring off of me when I am sitting in the box ;-) ), but the powder massage is gruesome! Do you remember giving/getting snakebites when you were a kid? Where you grab someone's arm with both hands and twist the skin in opposite directions? They do that on purpose while grinding this powder into my skin! Not just the arms, either -- the thighs, the stomach, the arms, the breasts, the back...Ouch!!
I just keep repeating "Om Namah Shivayah, Om Namah Shivayah, Om Namah Shivayah" in my head. The girls giggled at that when I told them.
And as far as enemas go...Let's just say it was a nice little extra special gift that I had diarrhea before the enemas started. For those of you who don't know what PanchKarma is, there's a great description on this website. http://www.babajiayurveda.info/EN-English.htm They are really not a big deal, but it was sweet to start my treatment "clean" so to speak.
The food is good. Bland, but good. It's really healthy, of course. Raju, our cook, immediately took to calling me "Butterfly" because of my eye glasses. It's kind of cool to have been given 2 new names in one week!
2 days after we got here, Muniraji came to stay for a couple of nights. We were able to receive chandun 2 more times from him. He hummed the whole time...
The people here are sweet, and it is nice to see some familiar faces from Herakhan. Aarti is an entirely different event here with the celebration having finished. Last night, we sang without a harmonium to lead us in song. THAT was a treat 2 ways: 1) I'm really am actually learning the words and cadence of the songs, so it must be getting close to test time, and 2) It's certainly a practice in non-judgement when the whole group starts to sing really flat because there's no music! I love it! Had to laugh...
Prema has left for her time share and I have a big room all to myself. Last night, a young woman from California who has been in treatment for 40 days(!) did a tarot reading for me that was amazingly powerful and, of course, dead on for everything that has happened, and everything that I can feel coming into my life. My immediate future calls for introspection and reflection, and I can't think of a more perfect place to be than here right now, for doing more inner work.
From my heart to yours,
Saraswati
aka
Celeste
aka Butterfly
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