Friday, January 27, 2006

PATHOM ASOKE (part 1)

Yes, this is going to have to be in installments. ;) So much has happened in the last few days that merely looking at this blank little blogger posting box makes my head swim. When are we gonna get those Matrix brain-download interfaces?

Well first, the run-down:
Pathom Asoke is a sustainable Buddhist organic farming community about an hour outside of Bangkok. Like Thailand generally, the flavor of Buddhism in Pathom Asoke is Theravada, but the monks there are actually considered a controversial sect which was effectively ex-communicated from the mainstream for its lifestyle and beliefs. The Asoke community takes the Buddhist precepts (similar to the Commandments of Christianity) very seriously, and as a result life a very simple, frugal, vegetarian lifestyle close to the land. They also participate in protests and political activism and actually have their own political party with delegates currently in government and one very powerful ally as the ex-governor of Bangkok. I was initially attracted to them because their lifestyle and activism (both environmental and social) is directly inspired by Buddhist values. They certainly didn't disappoint! Best parts of the trip were: an amazing interview with one of the original lay members of the community who spoke great English and reminded me of my 12th grade English teacher (awww), waking up with the sunrise, hanging out with the kids who live there at the community, teaching an impromptu English class one night~! (pictionary and hang-man bridge any language gap), and hunting for elusive herbs in the garden for our morning breakfast. Within 4 days, I felt like a member of the community. I'll never forget it.

These past few days have been like stepping in and out of a The Village sort of utopia. Without the lies of course, but everything on the outside just seems sort of surreal. Getting there was quite an adventure. After snaking through stalls of pirated CDs and Louis Vuitton knockoff purses we finally made it to the bus ... which was more like a death cab. Imagine a Greyhound barreling down a four lane highway, its driver LITERALLY honking the horn every ten seconds at every moped and little car in its way. We'd weave across three lanes just to get around a little spot of traffic, straddle two lanes block a car trying to pass - and the best part was this guy who stood next to the door, yelling at people on the street (presumably to get them on the bus) and who sometimes, for no apparent reason, left the bus entirely and tore off down the street, only to jump back onto the bus in the nick of time as it was rolling out. The bus deposited us in the center of Nakkhom Pathom, with only the name of our little community to guide us there. Not a problem. :)

After a short time we met a couple of moped drivers who offered to take us there for 70 baht on the back of their bikes. We arrived, hanging onto the back of those bikes for dear life and grinning. After a bit of humbly walking around huge open-to-the-sky temple areas and thatched huts that looked eerie in the growing dark, we mumbled a hello to someone who immediately got us settled into our sleeping spaces. No questions, just welcomes. The girls and guys sleep on separate sides of the community, so Jennifer and I waved goodbye and went off. My spot was on a roofed top deck of a building, on a tiled floor. That night I used absolutely all of my clothes as blankets, bed pallets and pillows. And although I had been warned that nobody at the community spoke English, I was delighted to make a friend immediately with one of the lay people there named Chalampon who blessedly helped me say a little more than "hello" and "thank you" in Thai.

And who should be sharing my deck but ... Gob from Arrested Development's twin brother from England!! Okay not really, but I mean, SPITTING image. This guy though was a trip, waking up and doing his karate KEEOOP yells next to my bedroll and explaining to me with large earnest eyes why he legally changed his name from Hyram Fairbanks to Towa Free-Spirit Fairbanks (yes, too funny to be true??). On top of all that he is currently dragging a half-deaf, illiterate 50 year old Portugese man with a speech impediment who doesn't know English -- to China. We did however have some great conversations about life, philosophy, travelling, and Buddhism over shelling garlic cloves and sweeping the grounds and whatnot.

Okay well that's all for tonight. Part two to come soon. We're still on farm-schedule and 9:30 is way past our bedtime. Yes, there were roosters and yes they woke me up at 5:30 on the dot. Hey - farm, right? Goodnight, send me emails and love? Miss you all.

(Giggling to Jennifer in the internet cafe: "this trip is just one long poop metaphor". I won't explain that statement. Okay, I will. Any of you other bloggers out there feel a post-poop satisfaction when you hit the publish button? Am I alone here?)

Friday, January 20, 2006

Koh Chang, Thailand (paradise)

Well, whatever strange sickness I may or may not have had in Seoul, the warm tropical airs of Thailand have worked wonders. :) All I could think of coming over here is that scene from Ocean's 11 when the Bernie Mac character puts in a change for "warmer climates" and then it cuts to him in the back of a taxi, riding over the Nevada state line, grinning like a champ. That's pretty much the grin I had coming over here on the plane. Thailand! Well, we arrived in Bangkok at two in the morning. Before we got out of the airport terminal, we saw a rat running around, probably waiting for a plane. Maybe rats are good luck? They're in the Chinese zodiac, they can't be half bad. Took a rather overpriced cab into the city center to Koh San Road, which is probably one of the sketchiest parts of the city, but by all logic the only one that would be open when we arrived. It was three when we got there, and although the street was mostly deserted the expats and a fair amount of Thai locals were all lounging about in this one bar. So that being the thing to do, in we went. :) Ended up having a few drinks, I played pool with some sassy Thai girls who ran the table like no-one's business, we tried to understand the drunken mumblings of a demented one-sandaled, no-shirtted Scotsman who had just come back from the Full Moon Party in Koh Phanagan and hadn't slept in 4 days - and who also had about 20 baht and change (the equivalent of about 60 cents) to his name, which he continually shoved in our faces, although we assured him that we'd be buying his drinks and he needn't worry about it. Sometime in the night he threw it out the window. We ended up picking up this guy named Sam, a 29 year old English teacher in Korea on holiday, and we all headed out to the bus station at 8 in the morning to catch our bus to the ferry point down the Thai coast.

5 hours of questionable sleep later, Sam wakes up a little shocked and disoriented - turns out he didn't FULLY remember us from last night, though we didn't drink so much it seemed everyone else had, given that they had quite a few hours of partying on us before we had arrived. Luckily for all of his, he turned out to be an amazing guy drunk or sober, and he ended up staying with us on the island for the last 4 days, just leaving today for Pattaya. We also met a couple of cool cats named Kevin and Caroline on the ferry over, and the five of us have been having a pretty amazing week together. We got a hut up on a cliff overlooking the water, a literal stone's throw from the beach (I know, I know, pics coming soon...). The huts are amazing, raised on wooden stilts and nailed together Swiss Family Robinson style. There's a family of monkeys living in the jungle right behind us, we saw them one morning and we call them the "uh-oh" monkeys, cause that's what théir uhh... mating call? ... sounds like.

There's so much to do on the island, we haven't really covered half of it yet. All sorts of great dishes at the restaurants - every conceivable variety of Pad Thai, yellow green and red curries, fresh milk from coconuts hacked up and fitted with a straw as you watch, lassies and smoothies, and my personal favorite - the fabulous banana pancakes. We went to the markets yesterday and saw among other things: grilled toad, chicken feet, fish (the whole fish, anguished straight-outta-hell open-mouthed expression and all) on a stick, and what I ended up getting - two baby octopuses on a stick. Another bit of wildlife that's really omnipresent here has been ... GECKOS! My friends here have learned to groan as I gush over every gecko I see, and man are they everywhere. They mostly come out at night, and they crawl around the roofs and pillars of buildings, so they usually join us while we're eating. Dogs and cats run around free here, and we usually end up having an unexpected friend for dinner. :)

Yesterday we rented scooters and motored around the island for a bit, and stopped off at a waterfall toward the center of the island. I've never swam in a waterfall before, and this one was so nice and cold. Some of the Thai teenagers were climbing up on this ledge above the waterfall pool and jumping off, so Kevin Sam and I went up and jumped too! Jennifer, bless her heart, took a movie with my camera. :) So, I can cross off jumping into a waterfall off my list, ehh? ;)

Man, this is turning into a monster post. Okay, wrapping it up. Swimming's been amazing - the water is divine, and our beach is on the west coast and we watch the sunset every night. Bought a hammock and strung it up between two trees and yesterday fell asleep in the afternoon to wake up to purple and orange light over the water. I've never before been so soaked and saturated in natural beauty. :) There aren't really words for it. We'll be here until maybe Monday at which point we'll be heading back to Bangkok for a night and then over to the organic farm. We're thinking about renting a kayak for the afternoon and boating to one of the smaller islands for a nice secluded beach ... I'm having the time of my life. :) Love and miss you all ...

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Seoul, South Korea

I'm sitting in a wonderful motel overlooking the art street of Insadong in Seoul - our own computer and my little mp3 player connected to the laptop speakers. It actually, feels like a dorm room. :)
In all honesty, I've been sick as a dog for the past week. It's coolldd out here, and running about all crazy-like hasn't given much rest time. I know, I know, it's my fault - and yeah, it probably is. But the good news is that I'm getting better now, and Jennifer and I are in the "oh-my-god-its-really-going-to-happen-like-tomorrow" stage of planning our trip to Thailand, and more specifically Thailand's little island of Koh Chang, which we hope will look something like that paradise in The Beach.

I'd like to talk a little bit more about the hiking around Namsan. There are paths that lead up and down and around the mountain range from all directions, side paths and unmarked paths and all sorts of ways to wander. We followed tiny sides with names like "Sitting Buddha of Yongsil" to find Buddhas hewn out of solid cliffsides bigger than we were, or motifs of the Buddha and bodhisattvas carved as line drawings in rocks. As I said before, one of the cliffs had a path up and we ate lunch on Buddha's head - accompanied by a skull !! Looked like a dog maybe, it was dog sized. At the "Grand Buddha" we met a couple of older Korean men sketching the Buddha carving, sitting on rocks on the edge of the mountain, rolling mountainsides with mist and trees behind them ... This, and my experience at Mt. Songnisan back in the summer with Fulbright - definitely two of the best days in Korea.

Today Jennifer and I did some wandering around Insadong, stopping in at a great restaurant for bulgogi, writing postcards over hot cups of tea, and walking around art galleries. I've been trying to get to a place with a card reader for my camera, or maybe even a photo shop to get the pictures onto CD. They might be easier to find in Thailand. At any rate, sorry for the lack of pictures.

I've been paring down my packing now that I don't have to lug around warm clothes, and I decided to actually use my smaller backpack, the hefty day bag, for the next month around SEAsia. I've started growing a bit of a beard, and I'm mailing my razor to Jeju along with my extra t-shirt, books I've read, and other miscellaneous junk I haven't really been using. Just got word back from the professor that I've been in touch with that the monks know we're coming to the community to volunteer. But of course - beach first. Thailand, baby. Oh my god. :)

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Gyeongju, South Korea

I'm here in the ancient Shilla capital, taking in some Buddhist history. Wish I could relate everything here, but here are some highlights. :)

-conversations about Buddhist philosophy over tea and vegetarian Korean food with the friendliest businessman on Earth named Mr. Lee
-drinking tea in a shop in Insadong and wishing there was time enough in the world to see every place just like this
-eating Reese's and cheese (not together though, gross) at the army base in Seoul, and partying to Bob Dylan and Rock and Roll Circus on a tiny DVD player
-listening to music and staring out of the windows of trains at rural Korean countryside
-receiving a calligraphy scroll from a smiling Confucian man at the Andong Folk Village museum
-wandering around Mt. Namsan, finding hidden Buddhist relics on nearly every cliff-face, lighting incense in front of Buddhas carved out of rock on the mountainside, and eating lunch on one Buddha's head :)
-lunchtime and dinnertime conversations with Jennifer about travelling, who we are, what we experience, and uhh ... mystery science theatre.

I hope that's a healthy cross-section. :) Gotta run, catching an early morning train back to Seoul! Temple stay this weekend ...

Friday, January 06, 2006

Seoul, South Korea

I'm writing this from QUITE posh little motel room in Seoul ... with it's own internet! It's bitter cold outside and Jennifer and I are huddled in here, playing cards and listening to music and chilling out. It's been a crazy couple of days. Made it out to the airport to pick up our young intrepid traveller from America - only to find only her, and not her luggage. We still haven't found it. But we haven't let that ruin anything. :) It's been wonderful to look at Korea through the eyes of someone who hasn't experienced anything yet - my weeks at orientation in Chuncheon were like that, constant wonder and amazement at the smallest things. Eels in tanks on the side of the road, old men hand wheeling carts of cardboard, cell phones from what could only be the near future ... I love getting a bit of that amazement back, just watching her. And of course, feeding her all sorts of Korean surprises. :) We had galbi and samgyapsal, bibimbap, mandu, and kimbap already ... and I think we might just be brave enough to eat the live octopus when we make it down south to Mokpo.

So today marks the first of probably many days in which I will wash my clothes in the sink. I ... only brought one pair of pants. Yep. Two tshirts, a few layers, but not much. After hauling pounds and pounds of all sorts of business I didn't need around Europe, I decided - never again. This month will be a meditation of glorious minimalism. And the soft drippy drippy of all our clothes will lull us to sleep in these cold night hours. :) Tomorrow we're heading right to the shopping district, and buying big wool coats. Like whoa. Living on Jeju has made me real soft against this thing called "winter" ...

I hear they don't have it down in Thailand. ;)

"I don't believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive." ~ Joseph Campbell

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