Siam Mae Hong Son

Well - I've arrived at my final week! It's going to be strange Friday knowing I have to leave. I'll really miss the kids at OPC.<br><br>Back on my own - my friend Eric has gone back to Chiang Mai, and another volunteer who showed up on Wednesday (Sevi from USA) and stayed until Saturday, has gone back to Bangkok. She'd come from another couple of locations and had already done a couple of weeks in Chiang Mai and Nong Khai (but wasn't ...

... the highway on my bike, yelling out the odd wahooooo (kinda like my elbows out, pedal to the metal, don&#8217;t worry mum and dad I wear a helmet), to watching Helixes look important, to chatting to NGO workers in a local bar, sitting by the lake watching monks clean the temple, people do tai chi, visiting the boarding house and nursery&#8230;.I tell you people I am living the dream. No I&#8217;ll recorrect that, I am living my dreams, working in the field ...

... and I really liked my little Cave Lodge crew, and it really sucked that I was feeling really really awful and sick the whole time. I used every bit of energy I could muster to stay up with everyone by the campfire until 10PM, but then I just felt so awful that I couldn't take it anymore and went to bed...and that's basically the story of the last few days!! I guess I caught some sort of traveller's bug, because I've had the worse nausea for three days now, feel so weak, shaky ...

... Anscheinend gibt es in MHS ab** wohl nur das Hospital, also ging es dahin. Ein thailaendisches Provinzkrankenhaus ist auf jeden Fall imm** einen Besuch w**t und nach ei***** Wartezeit, ein paar Formularen und ein** recht kurzen Unt**suchung kam die A**ztin dann zu d** Diagnose das alles ok ist und mit Vitamin C und Paracetamol alles wied** gut wird. Mit 1,50 Behandlungs und Medikamtenkosten ...

... calcite formations and gazed a the most massive and interesting columns, stalactites, stalagmites, that I've ever seen. A new touch were the fascinating shimmering formations made with some particular calcium mineral deposit. There was no manicured walkways and hand rales. No this was climbing and maneuvering through holes, and narrow passages, and over strange magical and unsteady ground. All with only a canteen to keep the ...

... stained a deep blood red from chewing betal nut. There was only a couple of other farangs on the bus and lots of interesting people. The road was not for people who get car sick as it twisted and winded through beautiful green fields of garlic, and heavy forest. The teak trees were growing alongside pine and banana trees, quite a site! It become clear that the bus was not doing so well, a burning plastic smell permeated the inside and it could barely ...

... After my first week of meditation, I was showing progress but was nowhere in the neighborhood of enlightenment, not even in the same zip code. A meditation mantra is that we are always on a path. Sometimes our practice is tranquil and clarifying, other times it is difficult and frustrating. And for the most part, this was my experience at Doi Suthep. On my good days, I was able to meditate with a sense of ease and purpose, focusing ...

Aha, ich stelle fest: Die zeitlichen Abstaende von Eintrag zu Eintrag sind umgekehrtproportional zu der Zeit die ich noch in Asien verbringen darf... Zunaechst zu Angkor. Ich habe 3 Tage damit verbracht mir die alten Tempel, bzw. Grabstaetten und Staedte anzuschauen. Dann war mein Gehirn mit Staub (scheiss dirtroads) und den Ueberresten einer beeindruckenden Kultur gefuellt. Wer mehr wissen will sollte es sich anschauen, es ist es wirklich wert. Danach machte ich mich auf den Weg nach ...

... we headed back down the winding mountain road about 4-5 kilometers and stopped at Wat Prathat Doi Suthep, one of the highest elevation temples in Thailand. This temple previously required a walk up the steep hill that took about 5 hours time, but a road was added more than 20 years ago. The bottom area of the temple is very much a tourist trap, with everything imaginable available for sale. I say the bottom area because the rest is quite a distance away. As you ...

... heard you can go there for any amount of time and learn about Buddhism and meditation from the monks. Next time! It was also the first time that I was exposed to the sex tourism in Thailand, and it left me really unsettled, and I'm sure that was part of all of this. I've heard there are plenty of karaoke bars (with "entertaining" Burmese girls) and brothels in Mae Sot, but they are hidden, and I don't know much about them ...