Tag Archives: thailand

The Turtle Island

img_0885
Koh Tao is very nice. I expected a tourist nightmare a’la Ao Nang in Krabi, but Tao is not like that all. Despite the (over-)development, the island has its chilled atmosphere and charm. The main local attraction is naturally diving, as Koh Tao is the second biggest diving spot in the world after all. Dive shops are everywhere offering all kind of courses ranging from no-certificate diving to free diving. Snorkeling is another option and for that you do not even need to go further the nearest beach, as spectacular marine world with its corals and funky fish begins only 10 meters from the shore line. Hopefully further development won’t destroy the corals, as it happened in other parts of Thailand (eg. Railay beach in Krabi). Partying is another attraction here. Something goes on every night and globetrotting DJs visit the island on a regular basis. Cagedbaby played while I was here, but it was rather nothing special. Just a house producer spinning tunes. Unlike in Had Rin Koh Tao party scene has no messy touch, but is rather tidy and chilled.

Scandinavians dominate the island. Swedes take the top spot, you hear Swedish and see blonde people literally everywhere. Many Norwegians and Finnish too. I went to a dinner with Jussi and Mirka to Intouch (the restaurant popular among Finns) and a Thai (!) waiter after hearing us speaking Finnish asked me where I was from, as I was obviously was not Finnish judging by my accent. Amazing.

I spent a total of 9 days on Koh Tao completely losing track of time. In fact I realized that it had been 9 days only during the check-out. I did not see or do much. Stayed the entire time on Sairee Beach. Did a PADI Open Water diving course, some snorkeling and a swim to Nang Yuan island (saved 100 ba for the island entry fee too!). That’s how far my achievements go. I did not meet many people too, apart from old friends and youngsters from the diving course. It was nice for a change to hang out with people 10 years younger than myself. A different perspective and all that.

If current plans are to believe, Koh Tao seems to end the beach phase. Next stop is Bangkok, Venice of East.

Under the water

img_0990
ALL RUMORS ARE TRUE. Scuba diving is as amazing as they portrait it. The moment you go under the water and realize that hey I can actually breathe here is pure bliss. A little bit of trivia first. What is common between rock climbing, scuba diving and meditation? The answer is that all three put your right in the moment of HERE and NOW. Meditation achieves it through a patient and diligent practice. Slow, but the most effective way in the long term. Rock climbing does its magic by its sheer intensity. When you look for a next pocket hanging on a 10 meter cliff, there is no opportunity to be lost in thoughts. As for scuba diving, once you go under the water, body sensations become so apparent so you cannot ignore them. It puts you right in touch with your body and makes you aware that actually is going on inside it. Most people are not aware of their breathing in the daily life (are you now?), but underwater there is no way you can dismiss it. Same with tactile sensations, the resistance of water and differences in water temperature create such profound body sensations that you cannot help but to observe them. Plus every sensation you perceive is so vastly different: light, sound, gravity and tactile feelings. No room to be lost in thought here either.

Tropical marine flora and fauna is beautiful here on Ko Tao and as PADI course material states in 10 minutes spent underwater you see more wildlife than in 10 hours in a forest. So true. It is like Finding Nemo, but only in real life. Fish of all colours, shapes and sizes in various flavours of funkiness. Eye-candy all the way. I did scuba diving in a pool in Finland once before and the instructor praised diving conditions in Finland and downplayed diving in tropical countries. His reasoning was that there is so little to see in Finland, so if you see a barrel or something along those lines, you will remember it for the rest of your life. Hmm.. I guess they have to make money somehow.

img_0993
As for more material remarks, it pays off to shop for the best price at least here in Ko Tao. I paid 9500 baht for the course lured by an online deal, which gave me 300 baht off if I booked it in advance. That includes four nights accommodation. Upon my arrival here, I realized that I could have done it considerably cheaper and with more perks included. The lowest price I saw was around 8000 baht. Two British guys who I did a course with paid 9000 each and that included 6 nights accommodation, free breakfast and one free dive. Same company, same course, just a different deal. I eventually managed to blag free breakfast coupons using the standard “but they told me” technique. Well, at least I had a chance to successfully apply social engineering skills in action. And one last thing, the Finnish Ko Tao Divers appears to be unproportionally expensive comparing to other diving shops. No accommodation included in the price and they even charge for the obligatory PADI material separately. Seems to be the case of paying premium only because it is Finnish.

Brother Brown “Under The Water”

Escape from Haad Yuan

I spent a total of 35 days over three visits on Haad Yuan, by far longer than in any other place I have visited. Now the time has come to move on and continue with my journey. I was cautious to come back here on the second visit, as I was afraid I would spend all my Thai visa here completely paralyzing my journey. But as things have their own way to get in order, I actually looked forward into leaving this time.  Next on the agenda is Koh Tao and an open water diving course.

img_0753
One important difference of Haad Yuan to other places is that I actually lived here and not just visited. I tried to stay in a dorm in Sanctuary on my second visit, but it did not feel right. Own bungalow is a must, never mind the higher price. However, the Sanctuary dorm had its own charm with its thin mattresses equipped with mosquito nets on wooden floor. Sort of like posh asceticism.  I also had to come up with a daily routine here, unlike in most places where daily schedule is just chaotic. Early wake-up, meditation, ashtanga and swimming to kick off a day. Even earlier start on Saturday because of Guy’s Bar. Wake-up before the sunrise, a coconut for breakfast, 6-8 hours of dancing and a lunch break. Just like an ordinary work day. Open mic night on Thursdays, a movie night on the beach and an occasional concert on Sundays, all in Sanctuary. Fanuzzi live last Sunday was phenomenal. The guy had all the place dancing by the end of the night.

It will be surely missed. Things like continuous low-maintenance beach mode. Falling asleep lulled by the constant sound of the ocean and jungle. Absence of cars and motorcycles. Walking everywhere barefoot (thus solving the problem of missing flip-flops). Walks from Haad Yuan to Haad Tien, which would take a ridiculous amount of time because of all the people I met on the way. Morning swims in the rough sea. Secret menu items in Bamboo Hut (e.g. Benjamin’s breakfast or Mike’s salad)  Dinners on their platform around the sunset. Dance jams in Blooming Lotus. Exhausting hikes to Had Rin through the jungle just to get some groceries. And amazing people.

Until next season…

Joyful participation in the sorrows of life

I initially planned to do a vipassana retreat last month in Penang, Malaysia. But as it goes with plans it did not feel right, some things came forward and plans changed dramatically. Instead I ended up going to Singapore to see Sven Väth in Zouk. Vipassana and loud minimal techno, well almost the same thing anyway. However, three weeks later I found myself in a 10-days vipassana retreat taught by Steve and Rosemary Weissmann in Wat Kow Tahm on Koh Phangan. This time I was tempted to go to Koh Tao to see LTJ Bukem, but thankfully opted for meditation.

img_0710
This is my second 10-days retreat merely half a year later after Goenka’s retreat in Ödeshög, Sweden and this retreat was not as intense as the previous one. First of all, I knew what to expect. Massiveness of this project did not scare me off and I had a strong determination to use my time in the most efficient way. No slacking and no excuses, I came here to meditate and learn, take no prisoners attitude, period. Second, the retreat is really 8 full days, plus one orientation and one wrapping up day. Furthermore, it is really easy on your body, as it is a combination of sitting, walking, standing and working meditation. Tasks include sweeping, cleaning, doing dishes, preparing food, ringing a gong (mine was cleaning up and doing dishes after the evening dinner). And third, the structure of the daily schedule is designed to avoid building up too strong concentration, but rather the main emphasis is on building up mindfulness and compassion in daily life.

The meditation technique taught is mental noting and basic meditation period is 45 minutes and the longest you are allowed to spend in one meditation form is one hour. I attempted once to extend a half an hour of sitting to one hour instead of switching to the standing meditation, but was quickly handed a no-no written note. One one hand, these factors make it easy for your body, but on the other hand it makes difficult to achieve deep concentration states. In contrast Goenka’s retreats are 10+2 days, offer only sitting meditation and you may spend as much time in one sitting as you want. The retreat last August was an extremely intense full blown spiritual high experience glowing with rather profound psychedelic concentration states. People were crying, going through a mental drama, having emotional breakdowns all over the place. Good stuff. No blissful raptures or dark nights of soul in Wat Kow Tahm apart from short periods of jhana states, but it was very beneficial in many other ways. I learnt way more here than in my first retreat, mainly thanks to versatility of the practice and excellent lectures packed with useful and practical information combined with top-notch performance and subtle humor. One of the main themes was to how to apply mindfulness and compassion in everyday life, not only in the context of the retreat. The content of the lectures is practice oriented with very little ideology related talk. Among discussed topics were compassion, five hindrances, dealing with physical pain, different meditation postures and other practical considerations. A personal highlight was the lecture on Kalama Sutta, which can be summarized as “do not believe anything blindly no matter where information comes from, but find out truth through your experience”. In contrast Goenka went into lengths dissing other spiritual practices, yoga and meditation techniques and stressing numerous times that his teaching was not sectarian or dogmatic, but rather the fact of life. This produced a rather unpleasant aftertaste of cult-like mentality and put me into the state of a cognitive dissonance for many days after the retreat. Me being part of a cult, which I can actually enjoy? Inconceivable! None of this type of talk was found in Wat Kow Tahm and finishing with Kalama sutta was a very nice touch.

I had no after-retreat plans and was torn between several choices, but by chance found out that LTJ Bukem was playing in Had Rin the same day. This set plans in stone and I went partying the same day the retreat ended. This is what I call intense. Had Rin beach around 11PM was a bit too hectic for me, but thankfully the gig took place in an actual club far away from fear and loathing of the Had Rin beach. Quality drum & bass and nice atmosphere set things straight and was a nice and unexpected way to finish off the retreat. All in all, it was an excellent and beneficial experience and very different to what I expected before the retreat, which shows once again that plans and expectations are basically useless. The actual experience no matter what is most certainly going to be something completely else.

Krabi and surroundings

img_0434
Krabi is a nice town to spend a pair of days in. There is not much to see or to do, as most of the action takes place on nearby beaches Ao Nang, Tonsai and Railay, but the general laid-back atmosphere is nice. One of Krabi’s few attractions is Tiger Cave Temple on the top of a hill. You have to walk 1237 steps to reach it, but the view is well worth it (I love how in Eastern tradition they make you to do an effort to visit a temple, no easy way). Then there is a night market on weekends with plenty of food and entrainment. Lots of delicious seafood for supper and a drag queen show and a children breakdance performance for entertainment, all in one evening. It is interesting how in Western countries drag queen culture is something you can see only in a gay club, but in Thailand it is part of the mainstream culture. Other than that it is free decent internet and reasonably priced shops for essential things like flips-flops and fisherman pants. Purchased myself a fourth pair of flip-flops already, which was only 80Baht. It will be interesting to see how long these ones last.

Krabi’s beaches are another story, though. Ao Nang is a massive faceless tourist hell that could be in any part of the world. The beach itself is nice, but the environment is not with its endless chain of shops and restaurant tailored to specific nationalities. German and Swedish are the most popular ones. Tonsai and Railey are a mecca for rock climbers and apparently some of the top climbing stops in the world. I did a half day course, which was my first time outdoor climbing experience. So much superior to than indoor one, it is like a treadmill run versus mountain hiking. The course was pretty much all practice with bits of theoretical knowledge here and there. The climbing course I did in Helsinki was spread over two days with the first day filled with theory. I think I prefer Thai way much more. Other than rock climbing and spectacular scenery Tonsai and Railey were nothing special and here again the same problem as on Ao Nang – too crowded, too developed and too touristy. E.g. there were tractors on Railey transporting people and baggage to long-tail boats during low-tide. How messed up is that? Then again I am spoiled with Hat Yuan. Both places have similar environment – an isolated bay reachable by boat, but Hat Yuan is much more chilled and less developed. So after one night and one rock climbing course it felt pointless to stay there any more and made a return to Hat Yuan. Back to Ko Phangan, back to Hat Yuan.