Koh Tao

Since I became an advanced diver I have been relaxing on Koh Tao. Yesterday was the world famous full moon party, which is one of the reasons young people come to the gulf central islands. The party was held on Ko Phangan, and I was turned off by the sound of it, and decided not to go. At first the idea seemed appealing, because I'm a curious person, and I do love a good party. But the party is swarmed with 25,000 people and has a reputation of robbery, bartenders or passer by's drugging peoples drinks with hard drugs, people shitting, pissing, puking, and doing-it in the water to the point of extreme pollution and dead fish flooding the beach the following morning. The party mostly consists of young adults in their gap year of college who want to get blitzed out of their brain, and I don't consider that to be a good time. So, I stayed on Koh Tao. It was quiet last night, because everyone was on the other island, the gov't elections were in progress, and there was a wicked storm. My friend Kelly was on Koh Sumui for work, so her husband Rhys and I walked to Sairee beach for the best seafood green curry in the entire world. Then we walked home in the rain laughing it up. Good times.
Tomorrow I leave for Ko Phangan, now that most people have left or will be in their hotels/bungalows recuperating from the madness. On Ko Phnagan is a yoga retreat resort which I'm indulging in for a week. There I will do yoga, meditation, and a detox/cleanse. The 7½-day program: It takes exactly seven days to cleanse the entire bloodstream by fasting, and seven days to thoroughly rid the lymph system of toxins. This program is comprised of seven days of fasting, herbal detox products, colemas to cleanse the colon, 7 one-hour Thai massages, and 7 visits to the herbal steam sauna...That's more my idea of a good time, because it will enhance my professional and personal practice, as well as rebalance my mind and body. To each their own. The next plan is to take an overnight ferry to Suratthani for a 10 intensive Vipassana meditation where I must commit to a vow of silence, service, and contemplation. I'm really looking fw to this! I hear that many people have difficulty sticking it out and leave 5 days in, but upon completion you have an option of allowing a monk to give you a traditional Thai bamboo tattoo. Also, I have to sleep on a concrete slab like the Buddha....Ok, that part I'm not looking fw to, but the experience sounds interesting, and god knows I love trying new things that force me to look at life in new ways.

Australia is no longer going to work out. I am disappointed, but I cannot force what is not meant to be. Although obtaining my visa was a piece of cake. Getting there has proven to be too daunting on my pocketbook. That trip is not affordable for me. Instead I'm using the money I have to spend on my travels in a productive and proactive way: Yoga, meditation, spending time with friends, being a dula to my friend during the birth of her baby boy, and indulging in a 1 mo. intensive Professional Thai massage program outside Bangkok through the Internationally renown and 1st ever Thai massage school: Wat Po. I look fw to seeing the people I love on and after Oct. 1st. :) The right will always surface if we are patient and open.