What day is it?

What day is it? Saturday I believe, but I am not certain.

That is one of the most delicious parts of traveling.

Leaving days behind.

Hours stretch without borders when a name is not attached to it.

Here I am on a Cambodian beach on some sea that I should know the name of.

Only the mellow licking of the tide sings in the air.

The day was perfect in fact. I slept soundly as the wind rustled thru the leaves and the sea rolled to shore.

Six brown skinned mermaids laughing despite the horrors of their history amongst the rocks. We splashed and tossed to exhaustion.

Two hour, four handed massage= $20

Bungalow overlooking the sea= $10

Fresh seafood BBQ= $3

How is it that I continue to be so blessed? Time and time again of magical moments. Choice, luck, manifestation.... A long life lived. i would not trade it for my very soul....

Time is a dress maker

September 29, 2008

Living this dual life sometimes makes me immune to all the magic that surrounds me. Thailand is pushing forward in it's love affair with globalization. The unfamiliar has become familiar. The streets I so casually walk blur. Sometimes I forget to open my eyes.

Thailand still exists within the folds of everyday. The glitz and glitter hold hands with straw hats balancing baskets of fruit on bamboo poles.

Martin and I have always lived by the code: "when in America be an American, when in Greece (India, Thailand...) be Greek".

Written in the fabrics of my consciousness.

Stamped with validation through Morocco, Nepal, Bangladesh.

When in Rome.....

And that is how we traveled. Refusing to step into 'tourist' institutions, too proud for our own good I am sure. And I would expect others to do the same. I was pretty unforgiving.

I have broken the code several times since my arrival to Thailand. But that has become ordinary since I have begun leading groups.

So perhaps my code has changed.

It is easier to hold flexibity rather than the rigidity. Oh I may believe the experience may not be as "AUTHENTIC" if I do not eat every meal tucked into tsome one's quarters if someone's home atop wobbly card tables filled with chili, peanuts, nam plaa, sugar and nom sam. But who is to say what is authentic anymore. It is all reality tangled into chapters of life.....

Time is a dress maker, specializing in alterations-Faith Baldwin

Tours to Thailand

Our tours include some of the musts that every guide book strokes (including 1,000 places to see before you die) as well as many off the beaten path side bars that having you leaving Thailand feeling like a local
Massage at Wat Po
Tour of the Grand Palace in Bangkok
Monk's Blessings
Visit with local Shaman
Morning Shopping at Chatuchak Market
Overnight Meditation retreat in Chiang Mai
Monk Chats
Massage recommendation at temple locations
Fish Pedicures
Muay Thai event
Siam Niramit production
Cooking classes
Caving
Shopping

Out tours to Thailand are designed for several different types of travelers:

1. Massage therapists (and lay people) wishing to learn Thai Massage
2. Yogi's wishing to participate in a yoga intensive
3. People wishing to journey to another land without any need for planning, to indulge, play and unwind!

Elephants

Elephant Nature Park in Northern Thailand

One of our goals at Culture Junkies Head Quaters is to create tours that heal the soul and the planet. The day at the Elephant Sanctuary http://www.elephantnaturefoundation.org/ is by far one of the BEST days of the trip-pictures speak louder than words!

Bangkok

With most cities, one can develop a love/hate relationship with it. The senses are stimulated and pushed. The air is dirty, the noises pulsing. Since it is fairly common knowledge that the relationship will be love/hate, I figure why not just love it while you are there.... So.... I encourage Culture Junkies, if you can approach a city with curiosity and wonder...well, then the sky is the limit-especially in Bangkok where ANYTHING can happen:

Fish food

Just before I left the States, I was at the gym and watched a Good Morning America Show: one of the features: the host trying the newest in pedi/massage modalities-fish pedicures. When Lenny and I were in Siem Reap we saw a sign for the opening of a fish spa-to open days after we were there.....

Crushed-me because I wanted to try the newest fad and Lenny to have another beer, I stored away the location for my next trip.

Well.....one night I took some of the folks from my group to a Jok restuarant for dinner (in Chinag Mai, Thailand) (lesson-always take Beth up on an offer to go out to eat-you NEVER know what is around the corner :-) ). The evening was full-great food, curious discussions and a long walk home. We hailed a tuk tuk-all 5 of us climbing into the three wheeled Disney ride. Zipping thru the city, four packed in the seat and I on the battery I hear Jason yell out" Fish spa, what is that?". Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Scrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaccchhhhhhhh.

"well we must do it" I say, inserting that I had seen it on Good Morning America and therefore it must be the newest and hippest...

We handed over 100 baht for 1/2 hour, stepped onto the platform, sat down, feet dangleing over the pool of hungry fish and tentatively began the decsent. nibble nibble nibbles nibblessss-Far too freaky, holding hands, yanking feet out at the slighest touch....
by the end of the 1/2 hour we were giggling at our primal fears.
Oh and by the way the bigger fish in the other tank didn't feel as weird as the little guys....

Of course I had to go back a second time with the rest of the crew.....

a week of bliss

Sometimes I love my job even more than other times. This week, I traveled to the island of Koh Samui to see if I could locate a spot to bring a group. It is an island Martin and I have gone to often the past few years since we are always a little short on time. The days of catching a fishing boat to a dot in the middle of the sea not really doable in only a week.

So Samui has been our retreat, a haven of sun and sand and people. Chaweng was always the easiest, lots of bungalow choices, lots of Thai food, long stretches of beach with restaurants catering to seafood grilled over coals on the beach. But it is busy-full of cabaret shows, loud bars, wall to wall concerete bungalows replacing the once quaint thatched rooves of years past.

My group indicated on the survey that beach time would have made an already delicious trip absolutely devine, and so I took it upon myself to search the sandy beaches for a perfect holiday spot for my travelers.

I started in Lamai, another long strip just south of Chawang that boasted pampering spas and infinity pools-what a LONG way I am from my weeks lazing on a bamboo floor paying $80 for a weeks accommodation and nightly seafood BBQ's. But we are in the 21st century and like many of my travelers, there is something yummy about going to sleep in crisp linen, dining by candle light to Jack Johnson and a beach towel that is replaced each day. I discovered many great hotels/resorts, ran miles on the long beach, swam until my fingers withered. But the "town" of Lamai consists of Seven Elevens, boom boom bars and more souvenir shops than Khao San rd. I knew there had to be some place better. Someplace that resembled the Thailand we remembered from long ago.
I hired a motorcycle taxi on Saturday. With my back pack stuck between his legs, we soared through the hills of the island to the north end. Hours later, after checking out at least a dozen resorts scattered along Maneam beach, I settled into the quaint (yes, there is still someplace quaint in Thailand) of Bophut. The Fisherman's village still holds the charm of yesteryear:old wooden shop houses, fisherman trawling the waters, sarongs and lounges not uncommon. Added to this are fabulous boutiques, delicious restaurants fronting the sea, coffee houses. I fell in love instantly.
Yesterday I worked again, wandering the beach barefoot in the linen pants Maew had designed for me. Stopping at each resort along the beach, looking at rooms, facilities, menu's, spas. Bophut will be added to my Thai Massage/Yoga tours. Discovered several wonderful places that would be a perfect addition to our trips right in the heart of the charm yet in the middle of paradise! I spent the afternoon lounging by the sea, finishing Amy Tan's The Hundred Secret Senses, pinching myself. Bliss. Complete bliss. The only down side is that the sand is coarser than Lamai and very hard to run in. But the waters are calm and you can swim forever-which I did yesterday! Bophut is one of those places were you can be barefoot the minute you step out of the taxi, wear only your bathing suit and a sundress and turn brown as a berry!

and ... I am so excited to begin my Stress Escape tours! The resort I found to pamper those that need complete R&R will be thrilled at the treasure I found!