Archive for April, 2008
Now I remember why I always leave SE Asia well before April. This time of year is just unbearable with the heat; even the Thai people complain about it every day, so it must really be hot! When you see lots of Thais in the ocean, then you know it must be hot – they usually don’t like to swim…but funny enough, when they do go in the water they wear all of their clothing…kind-of funny but they don’t like having dark skin so they wear clothes for sun protection! The real Thais also tend to be quite shy, which is hard to believe really in a country so full of blatant prostitution, but actually it is true!
I recently bought a little thermometer for my bungalow…for the last 4 weeks it has been at steady 32C (90F)…that is inside my bungalow. Well yesterday I finally got around to doing a bit of an experiment, and I put the thermometer out on my veranda at about 4pm…within 10 minutes the temperature was up to 40C (104F). Ugh! No wonder why I was feeling so miserable!
Today inside my bungalow, I’ve hit a new all-time record high of 36C (99F). Don’t really want to know what it was outside…hot, I know that.
This is the only time of year that I struggle without air-conditioning.
There are a few good things about the ‘dry season’ heat, as they call it:
- For one, I can finally have hot water showers, only because my ‘cold water only’ tap gets so hot from the heat all day!
- Second, when I take my clothes off the line, they are so warm that they feel like they just came out of a hot dryer, especially the towels.
- Also I tend to wake up earlier every day because it’s just too hot to stay in bed!
- I can take frequent trips to the 7-11 across the road just to have a browse, but mainly to cool down for awhile.
- I look forward with every day to moving on to the next season!!
April 17th, 2008
Yes, it’s the day we’ve all been waiting for here in Thailand, as the heat of the ‘summer’ has been building and building…today finally marks the Thai New Year and usually begins the somewhat less steamy days.
As for the foreigner being in Thailand during this festival, we are the ‘ultimate’ target for water throwing at all times, in all forms. The Thais take great pleasure in dousing the unsuspecting tourists and businessmen during this time. For that reason, many residents choose Songkran as a day to stay home, catch up on reading or watch a video, but basically stay out of the all-day water battles.
I myself have participated in Songkran in Thailand in the past, mainly in Krabi where I drove around with the Thais in the back of a pick-up all day splashing water on everyone from 3 huge drums we had. I must admit it was really good fun! And also because it is so incredibly hot, the water is pretty refreshing!
This time ’round, though, I am choosing to stay away from the masses…and from my bungalow on the sea you would have no idea what’s happening just a few meters away on the road, except for the yelling of the crowds and the traffic and music – it sounds like an all-day water frenzy parade from here.
But I much happier staying out of it this time! All activities at the Spa today were canceled due to the holiday, except for the meditation which I was able to do quite easily, remaining dry during the entire 90-second walk along the beach at 7:30am!!
This is Songkran, the annual water throwing festival, where no one in the country escapes a soaking. Coming at the height of the hot dry season, Songkran is a refreshing opportunity to cool down and have fun. It is also the start of the Thai New Year and a deeply religious event whose roots lie in the ancient solar calendar and farming cycles that trace back hundreds of years.
Traditions
The underlying significance of Songkran is the process of cleansing and purification, both physical and spiritual, with water. This element is present in all aspects of Songkran tradition, from the dowsing of Buddha images in the home and in the temple with lustral water, the splashing of water on friends and relatives and spring-cleaning the home. Ills, misfortune and evil are thus purged and the New Year started afresh with all that is good and pure and with one’s house literally and metaphorically in order.
As well as marking a new beginning, Songkran is also a time for thanksgiving. Individuals are asked to reflect upon the acts of kindness and thoughtfulness each has experienced during the year and to remember how such acts of generosity and compassion bring peace, happiness and well being. Respect to elders is shown by the ceremonial splashing of water.
The religious aspect of the festival sees acts of ‘merit-making’ – donating food and clothing to monks, cleaning and decorating the temple and often releasing caged birds (actually trained to returned to their sellers later) or fish into the rivers. Sand, which visitors are said to carry away on their shoes, is brought back to the temple grounds and elaborate stupas constructed as a form of penance.
Songkran is also the time for reunions and families travel many miles to see each other – this time of the year is also seen as an occasion of reaffirm strong family and community bonds.
As part of the water sprinkling, water splashing and string tying rites, you may also encounter people who smear your face, neck or torso with a white powder or paste. This is one of the oldest Songkran traditions. The paste is a sign of protection and promises to ward off evil.
So Happy New Year to everyone, and when you have your shower today, imagine the Songkran magic cleansing and purifying your spirit for a prosperous, healthy and safe year to come!!
April 12th, 2008
This is the hottest, most miserable, sweaty, lethargic and generally steamy time of year in Thailand and most of South-East Asia. This is the time NOT to come to Thailand, unless you invest in a fully-air-conditioned holiday from the most you step off the plane. Everyone here is anxiously counting down to the ‘Songkran’ holiday which falls on the next full moon (in April)…traditionally after that it should start to cool down and become slightly more live-able.
The one nice thing about the weather as of late is that the winds have died right down (hence the heat) but that makes for a very calm, clear blue and beautiful sea. So the view is nice, even if I am dreaming of cold showers and ice cube baths.
Been very busy lately doing lots of healing-related activities and such, my usual side-hobby of particular interest, and yes folks it may have even involved some ‘water up the bum’ and periods of elimination of solid food…but I try not to bore the readers of this site with that too much, seeing as this is meant to be a travel site and all….so I have branched all of those gory details into my healing site which is http://www.rebuildwithraw.com. Feel free to have a look over there and see exactly what I’ve been up to…
In the meantime, I had a great side trip up to Bangkok about 2 weeks ago…it’s kind-of funny how I enjoy going up there so much as a break from living on the beach, but the Bangkok dwellers all rush down here to escape the madness of the big city. I guess we all enjoy a nice break from whatever the regular routine may be!
I have more friends up there now having been here in Thailand for awhile, and it’s great fun to go up there and hit all the nice bars and restaurants with good company. I had a mad shopping spree as well, and hit neatly every mall, shopping area, night market and even managed an early morning excursion to the weekend market in my few days there. Between all of that I was drinking, recovering, drinking, recovering and somehow having a great time managing it all! Mmmmm, homemade ginger ice cream and homemade dark chocolate ice cream – the absolute PERFECT combo – let’s leave that safe away from the raw food website ok folks…thanks!
Having some fun with island friends
Back on Samui, I’ve been inundated with work which is fantastic…I’ve started a free workshop here entitled ‘How to Take your Healthy Habits Home’ and it’s quickly become quite popular amongst the fasters…so that has been pretty exciting and uplifting. It’s so nice to hear the positive feedback and know that I am reaching people, that they get what I’m trying to say. I haven’t had much time for anything else lately – gotta get the time management back into check and make more time for reading, relaxing and long beach walks!
Lots of long-timers at the Spa have been heading home lately with Spring just around the corner in the northern parts of the world. My old neighbor Ann Marie, author of ‘Confessions of a High-Heeled Healer’ left a few weeks ago for the UK although she says she’ll be back in 2 months, Frank the Mercedes employee from Belgium who comes here every year for 2 months just went home recently, George, another Belgian guy who has 3 generations in his family who have run circuses all through Europe, is just getting ready to head back home after having been here for nearly 6 months, Helen, a Reiki practitioner from the UK is heading back this week after about 4 months here, Mike the yoga teacher just left for his 2 month holiday in India, Greg the literary agent recently went back to the USA after having been here for about 5 months, my Hungarian neighbors just left after 2 months here – 1 was learning Thai boxing every day and the other was a musician who wrote music on his laptop most days – and so on and on – there are just so many people who pass through regularly that it makes for a very nice community, albeit a bit transient. At least people always have something interesting to talk about!
Samui Sunrise
April 3rd, 2008