Heading to Bangkok

I have to say the Koh Samui airport, though small, is one of the best I've been to.  Just the men's room was pretty spectacular - with frosted sliding glass doors opening onto a huge bubbling aqarium.  The stalls were big, with a shelf for my satchel and very private with full size locking doors.  And air conditioned!  And best of all, no mosquitoes biting my back and bum.  What a revelation.

And Bangkok Airways has it's own gates, with excellent wifi and a snack area!  They have platters of mini-pastries and buns and weird Thai desserts.  Two of the pastries had chicken, so they were actually pretty substantial (I didn't try them).  They had a popcorn thing like you'd see at a carnival with little bags to put the popcorn in.  They had ice coffee on tap, and hot coffee and tea and lots of icky orange type drinks.  And water dispensers so I could fill my bottle up - with cold water!

And comfortable couches and rattan chairs.  All in big open air lounges.  Really something amazing.  When it's time to board, you walk out to little trams that wisk you away to the runway.  I was sitting on a very comfy couch when a polite Bangkok Airways attendent leaned down and said "Sir? - your flight is boarding now".  Oops.

I had two early morning swims at sunrise.  It was hard to say goodbye to that lovely bay.  Some of the wait staff at the restaurant were very warm in saying goodbye.  They must see hundreds and hundreds of us come and go, but I think they are really sincere in their warmth and friendliness.  They work really hard - someone told me 12 hour days!  

I left a very good tip in the tip box and I know most of my students did as well.  The woman who had given me so many great massages happened to be out on the beach as my ferry was pulling away, so I got to wave goodbye to her.  That was sweet.   I left Eli, my 18 year old student on the island - the last one left.  He gets to stay for one more day.  Marco and Nika took the ferry with me.  Nika was my first EFT practitioner way way back (I was client) and Marco took my workshop.  That was a sweet and unexpected blessing, having them with me.

Okay, now I'm in Bangkok, at the Buddy Hotel on Khao San Road.  My whole family was here ten years ago (not at this hotel) and we LOVED it.  The atmosphere at night struck Krista and I as a magical carnival and we were swept away by it.  Unfortunately, a lot seems to have changed in ten years.

The street isn't super long - it might be the equivalent of ten blocks or more.  It's blocked off from cars and has tons of vendors selling t-shirts, cheap clothing, fake IDs (seriously), scorpions on a stick, pad thai for 30 baht, drinks, hammocks, you name it.  There are countless streetside cafes and shops.  It could be quite charming except for the godawful noise.  I can't even call it music.  Pretty much every street bar is blaring electronic music and top volume - places right next to eachother, or across the street from one another.  It's so fucking loud that it hurts.  Communication involves shouting or screaming if it can happen at all.  

I mean, seriously, what a nightmare.  I saw a few people "dancing" here and there - getting into the spirit of the thing I guess, but most folks just look distressed to me.  I walked the length of the street and back, eating some pad thai, but after a short while I couldn't eat anymore - too disruptive to my body.  The vast majority of the tourists here are young white kids from Europe or the states.  So maybe they like it?  I felt asaulted and had to ask myself - what the fuck am I doing here?!  

The guy at the front desk says the 'music' is over at 2pm.  I hope I can get to sleep earlier than that!  My taxi leaves for the airport at 7:30am.

The Aftermath - Day 8

Yesterday was the last day of the workshop.  It was supposed to be a practice day, but I still had some sections to cover and we ended up doing some very interesting tag team tapping - one client then we'd rotate in and take over where the last one left off.  Pretty cool.

It's been really intense being together for 8 days - not just for the workshop but also breakfasts and lunches all together and most of us sitting together for dinner too!  Today we all tried to sleep in a bit, but I think only one of us managed it.  I was down on the beach by 6:30am trying to beat the sun (without much success).  

I did 3 sessions today for students!  I wasn't expecting that at all, but there was some unfinished business for some of them and they wanted my help.  One of the students had a big place with a living room and aircon and she graciously let us use her place. By the third one though I was flagging and we kind of gave up.

It's dusk right now, the sun is just going down over the mountain and all the color leaching out of the scenery - it's a bad time for mosquitoes!  And it's still hot as hell.  Must be about 90 degrees with super high humidity.  Ugh.  My clothes are kind of stuck to me and my legs have several intense bites.  

I could be out swimming but I'm super hungry!  I spurged and ordered a whole pizza with roasted aubergines for myself.  Takes a bit longer but really really good!  I'm going to stuff myself, sink into a coma and go swimming in the dark.

Day 5 of the Koh Phangan Workshop

I've been getting up at sunrise every morning and heading down to the beach.  It's my favorite time to swim, as the water is mostly warm and the air mostly cool.  Once the sun is up it can be very hot!  Though yesterday it was overcast most of the morning.

Today was glorious as there's waves coming in.  Mostly the sea has been pretty calm - just some little rollers.  These were just big enough to do some mild body surfing....so fun!  

There's a platform out in the bay, with a platform and hammock.  It's just far enough to feel a bit scary or challenging for me (not being the strongest swimmer).  The amazing thing is laying in the hammock and being rocked by the swells.  Divine.

Last night I had dinner at a table on the beach with my old friend Nika and her husband Marco (he's taken the first 4 days of EFT training).  I hadn't seen Nika for 5 or 6 years and we both arrived here on Koh Phangan on the same day!  

She had lived here for a whole year - she rented a beatiful bungalow up on the cliffs overlooking the bay.  We had a lovely visit with the waves breaking and candles flickering.  She wouldn't let me take her picture though!

The workshop has been really intense for some of the students.  Not sure why - maybe the heat?  I've had to do three emergency sessions - EFT triage - to help them be okay.  For two of them the issue was eachother!  They had a big conflict in the first few hours of the first day and it's been rather strained ever since.

I did a remimprinting with one of them before breakfast yesterday and it seemed to help a lot.  This stuff always leads back to childhood trauma.  The other gal just wrote to say she's leaving and won't be continuing.  She's been so prickly and difficult with everyone, and taken up so much of my time and energy that I think perhaps it's for the best.  I hope she finds what she needs.

So I've had my hands full!  But I've met some really interesting folks from England and Europe, I've had many lovely swims - the full moon night was magical.  I was out in the warm sea with the moon rising before me - it's light shining across the calm waters right to my heart.  And Venus and Jupiter rising right behind me over the mountainside.  

The food here has been consistently great.  I arranged for the class to take our breakfasts and lunches together and it's been very yummy and very healthy both.  Twice they've served us yogurt that is SO alive it's actually bubbling.  I've never had the like before.  You can just tell it's so good for you.  Really intense.  And served with incredibly fresh tropical fruit - the mango is my favorite.  

There's not much to complain about - just the incredibly oppressive heat and humidity, the mosquitoes, the 'sea lice' that sometimes sting while we're swimming, stupid Europeans who smoke cigarettes near the restaurant, and straining my voice to be heard over the chorus of cicaidas outside our Zen Hall.  Not bad at all!