Full Moon

Things continue to roll along nicely. The yoga course that I’m taking is a one-month intensive introductory course. I arrived exactly half way through a session, so took the last two weeks of a session followed by the first two weeks of the next session. On Saturday night they held the “graduation” ceremony for the people who had completed the first session. It was a pleasant evening of ritual, talent shows and socialising.

On Sunday the full moon came and went and I was able to resist the virtually non-existent temptation to attend the party at Haad Rin. That day was the first sunny day we’ve had in a while, and I caught an hour or so by the pool in the morning. I then went to a party up the beach at the house of one of the yoga instructors. I have been keeping largely to myself since I got here and I felt it was time that I became a little more social. It was a nice afternoon on the beach, with an amazing spread of fabulous organic, macrobiotic food. It was incredibly hot under the sun and I opted to come home early and get into the pool. (As I’ve mentioned previously, the sea is so shallow here, it is unswimmable. It’s also hot to the touch so there wouldn’t be any relief from the heat there anyway.) Later that evening when the younger crowd were heading out to the big party, I attended a group meditation at the yoga centre. I’m not sure what I got out of it, but it was an interesting experience and far more healthy than the wildness at Haad Rin.

There are a few new faces around now that the new session has started. I’m becoming a bit more sociable and making some new friends. The students are a bit older this time around, which makes it that much more enjoyable for me.

My only other mildly interesting news is that I had an urgent e-mail from Pat telling me that a bank was desperately trying to get in touch with me. After some investigation and a couple of phone calls home, I determined that my back-up credit card had been stolen out of my luggage in my hotel room in Bangkok. There’s no real harm to me and the thief didn’t get a whole lot out of the deal either, but it really ticks me off. I have been using this hotel in Bangkok a lot and have come to trust it. The card had to have been taken by staff as the hotel room doors have key-card access. I guess I should consider myself lucky that my laptop and camera survived the ordeal. I still have a bag in storage at the hotel and am not sure what to do for my next couple of stops in Bangkok. I will certainly tell the hotel about it, but I’m not sure if I want to go through the hassle of finding another hotel for the sake of a night or two of transit through the city. And there’s no guarantee that the next hotel will be any safer.

I was just getting this problem sorted out when I had another urgent e-mail from Pat that another bank was trying desperately to get in touch with me. Turns out that they were concerned about a couple of purchases I made on-line for flights with my credit card. All this calling home and talking to banks has been a bit of a pain in the backside, but I have to say that I’m impressed with their diligence and security practices. I probably never would have discovered that my credit card had been stolen, as I carry it for emergency purposes only and keep it hidden in my luggage. I certainly don’t check on it on a regular basis.

I have decided to pop over to Phnom Penh in Cambodia for a couple of days after I finish at the yoga school. I have a friend there that I met through some other travellers during my last trip. He’s from New Zealand and teaches in PP. He’s a great guy and it seemed silly not to visit since I’m so close. I’m really looking forward to a couple of days of his company...not to mention a gin and tonic or two on his fabulous balcony. I haven’t had any alcohol since I’ve been here – not because it’s a rule or anything, just because it seems a bit incongruent here and I really haven’t had any urge for it. I’m sure once I’m away from the school I’ll be gasping for a drink :-).

In case anyone is watching a calendar, I’ll leave Koh Phangan on October 1, arrive in Bangkok early in the morning on the 2nd and fly to Cambodia on the 3rd. I’ll fly back to Bangkok on October 7 and then to Kathmandu on October 10 (yeah!).