Splitting up
Trip Start
Jan 03, 2008
1
12
20
Trip End
May 30, 2008
Pai, Thailand,
Thailand
Thursday, February 21, 2008
So Ash and I have split up!!! No worries, we are both safe, but just decided to travel to different places for this part of our trip. So Ash is now in Cambodia and I'm now in Northern Thailand. I'm staying with the couchsurfer collective right now in this amazing house with a sauna and mini pool! This village is beautiful and I'm quickly falling in love with it. We were in Bangkok two days ago which was a huge culture shock after living in a small village for two weeks. Afterward, I left for Chiang Mai (northern Thailand) it was a 12 hour bus ride but I was asleep for the most part. After arriving in the city, I walked around to find the bus station and came across a monastery. The gate keeper of the monastery motioned for me to enter so I did, afterward, we started talking and it turns out that he is Chinese -Thai so we were able to communicate in Chinese. I told him of my desire to live in a monastery for a couple of weeks and he took me around the town and showed me this nunnery. There are only 3 nuns who live there and they have never had a foreigner stay with them but they were very open to the idea of me staying with them. Afterwards, I sat and had lunch with them inside the monastery and got a inside tour of the whole place. However, due to the fact that my visa for Thailand is going to expire in 4 days, I had to part ways but I told them that I would be back in a month.
Now that I've arrived in Pai, its reconfirmed that I'm definitely not ready to leave Thailand yet. Something about this country is magical, mystical, and the perfect place to remind you of the capacity of humanity to give and to love. The stories are endless. I've met some amazing people like Lek. The owner of a cafe called the Witching Well where a water well filled with waters from 12 different sacred sources flow. He was a graduate from the Academy of Art University (my old job) what a small world. And recently watched his partner die in his arms. Sitting and talking with him felt like I was home. This place feels like home...
This is all for now. I miss you all very much and sends all my love.
and remember...in the end, its not about how well we can take care of ourselves, its about how well we can take care of each other!
love,
alice
