THAILAND - Mai Hong Son - Part 1
The next morning we woke up very sore and very confused at why we got piercings here in Thailand, but we were ready for some soul cleansing. The crazy owner of the hostel helped us find our tickets to the bus that would take us 4 hours north to Mai Hong Son, close to Burma. Here is were we will spend a few days living with the monks at a monastery, meditating daily. Going into this we did not know how long we would each stay, but I was pretty much set on 3 days just to get a taste of it. But in the end of it all I do think I would want to go back for some more clearing of the mind, but I was short on time and money for this trip and it was not my goal anyway. So Moni and I called a taxi to take us and our luggage, which we had to buy a huge plastic duffle, with minions on it, to put all the extra shit we bought just in Chiang Mai alone… I would later have to pay Moni back for having to ship an extra bag home with my stuff when she left Thailand. The taxi took us to Bus station #2, I think there are 3 main bus stations apparently. From here we got out and bought our tickets for the mini shuttle that would take 4 hours to Mai Hong Son. By this time it was late morning and we wouldn’t arrive in our new home until late afternoon. We found a seat to put our stuff, but didn’t even consider doing bus statin yoga due to our other experiences in Krabi… But we didn’t have to wait long. We snacked a little and then some random guy found us and told us the bus was here ready to be loaded. Moni got a call from her family and I went into the bus to grab a seat while she chatted as we waited for other passengers. The small mini bus was packed to the brim and I was shoved in the back corner seat next to a young woman, probably my age, and her two children that shared a seat. It was going to be a long ride. I plugged in my headphones and started listening to the same old 30 songs on my iPod. I kept having to delete songs on my phone to make more room for pictures which was a bummer. But not to worry because I had my notebook to write in and a few mind puzzle games to fiddle with. Finally it was time to go and the first hour of getting out of the city was fine. It was when we approached the mountains that things went downhill, or uphill I should say? The next 3 hours of the drive was winding through the hills on sharp turns and corners. I started to feel very very car sick, never have I felt car sick before until now. We took a short break at a side store but that was our only stop. Here I got to talk to Moni a little before we went on the last stretch of road. Of corse I would chug a gallon of water too just to make things more uncomfortable! At the top of this huge hill it got a little better for a few moments. Vast scenery of the national park was breathtaking. It was a little smokey since this time of year they were burning crops. But still I could see coming back here to do a little backpacking trip. We stop in the little hippy town Pai, that I would come to after Mai Hong Son, to pick up and drop off more passengers. We had just one more hour to go in this mini bus from hell. Finally the road stopped turning and we came down into a little valley with not much to it. Here the bus stopped and said get out. So, naturally, we got out in the middle of nowhere. Moni and I helped unload the bags from atop the bus. We both strapped on our personal packs. I grabbed the food bags, my yoga mat, Moni’s yoga mat, and my carry on bag. Moni had her pack, and the huge extra minion duffle. We looked ridiculous. Like beverly hills girls who were going on a 2 day trip but needed a bag just for shoes. At this point we hated ourselves for having, needing, and wanting so many material things. Moni led the way since she arranged everything for this place. We walked down this semi dirt road with farm land on each side of us. Up ahead we heard some rustling in the bushes near a creek, then some moaning, and then a pack of water buffalo walked across the road. Their owner swatted them and yelled as they cross. Moni and I took out our cameras to get a few good videos. After that we walked a little further, what should be a 10 minute walk, and saw a monk on the side of the road sweeping. We stopped and looked up and half of his head was missing. Very weird and creepy, but Moni asked him if this was the monastery entrance, but he pointed down the road, so Moni and I kept walking. It was once again, very hot. Moni had fell behind in walking, but I was just power walking to get it over with. The scenery around us was amazing, huge mountain and cliffs, and lushes trees and flowers laid beneath them. I kept looking back at Moni, she had now found a new system of carrying the minion bag. She did it like the locals and put the straps on her head and let it hang off the back. I stopped occasionally to check out the fruit trees and weird long beans that were hanging from the trees as well. Finally, up ahead I saw a huge clearing of green grass and what I hoped to be the entrance gate of the monastery. Right by the gate, near the creek, there was a bald man sitting on a rock, meditating, wearing all white. I stopped at the gate and waited for Moni to catch up so we could walk in together. Once past the gate we walked a little further, and this walk definitely took more than 10 mixtures by the way, and we got to a little platform area with benches. Here we placed down our stuff and Moni said right there she will leave half of her clothes to donation because she did not want to carry them anymore. I agreed. We waited outside the walls of the sanctuary, maybe someone would come great us? I wasn’t wearing any white, which was a requirement to stay here, but Moni was so she went in to go find someone. It was about 30 minutes until she came back and told me to get the bags an follow her to the front desk. As I walked into the complex, I looked around and saw about 10 people in the yard raking quietly. They didn’t stop to stare but just continued in their own worlds. We came to a large open walled building where meditating pads were all laid out on the floor pointed towards the 5 great big Buddha statues. Only a few people were cross legged sitting and meditating at this time. We found the front desk and sat our stuff down, looking totally out of place, I almost wanted to hide my face. Next to the desk was a book shelf full of Buddhism books and vital information about the religion, in all different languages. I picked up the booklet about the exact monastery we were staying at, it had rules and a schedule.
The schedule went a little like this:
5:30 a.m. - morning chanting
6:30 a.m. - rice offerings
7:00 a.m. - breakfast
8:00 a.m. - morning meditation
10:30 a.m. - rice offerings
11:00 a.m. - lunch
1:00 p.m. - afternoon meditation
3:00 p.m. - free time
4:00 p.m. - mindful tasks
5:00 p.m. - tea time
6:00 p.m. evening meditation
The rules went a little like this:
no cell phones in the Dhama Hall (meditation/eating hall)
no talking during mindful tasks
must wear all white
genders must sleep separately in different dorms
no touching the other sex
no yoga
no laying on the grass
no touching monks if woman
no eating passed 11:00 a.m.
After I gazed over the rule book I could tell that 3 days of this would be good enough for me, and I was ready to challenge myself, but I wasn’t sure what was going through Moni’s mind at the time. A Chinese looking man came scurrying to us at the table and apologized for being late. He gave us, a few others joined at this point, a booklet of our chanting songs and a quite book that we should follow. He gave a brief description of the rules and facilities, which everything was free, room and board and food. He told us that we could join for evening meditation tonight and afterwards could retrieve our blankets and bedding. We followed him to an outside fenced area where white clothes hung on string. Here I picked out a pair of ripped pants and a white t-shirt, since I did not have any white clothes I had to borrow some. We then followed him to the ladies dorm hall were only women stayed. Inside it was an empty room lined with grass mats. A few bags were laid out next to people’s personal stuff, so Moni and I found our way across the room next to the bathroom entrance and plopped our stuff down to mark our territory. We sat and unloaded some stuff, while Moni scavenged through her bag and made a free pile of her clothes. I took most of them anyway because I liked them. We walked around the grass little bit until evening meditation was called upon us by the bells. We were clueless at what to do so just followed everyone else. People had set out sitting mats in neat rows. Rows 1-3 were reserved for men only and the rest women could sit on, which to me I didn’t really like, but every religion is different and I must learn to accept anything. It was quiet as a few more people wandered in while everyone else was sitting. No one was looking around, but I tried to see with my eyes rather than turning my head to observe what was happening. Moni sat behind me on a mat and I sat next to an old Thailand woman. After everyone was seated and quiet, 8 monks of all shapes and sizes walked in with their rusty colored robes in a straight orderly line. They came from behind us and walked up to the alter with the 5 Buddha statues sat. The monks climbed up the little high rise and each sat on their own seating mat facing to the side. Here they bowed and then turned and bowed to the statues. Next the monk to my far left started speaking in Thai, then everyone else joined in to sing. I was trying to low key looked through my chanting booklet to see what page they were on but couldn’t figure it out. I had the english version of course but it also had the Thai version above it. I guess the old lady next to me saw my struggles so she out her book on top of mine to share, but hers was literally in THAI! I can’t read that, so I just smiled and mouthed the entire chanting session for about an hour. I must admit I love the sound of monks chanting and singing, it is beautiful. After chanting was over it was time for 30 minutes sitting meditation followed by 30 minutes laying down meditation. At first it was hard to get centered after a long chaotic day and coming into a whole new environment, so hard to clear your mind with so much newness going on! During the laying down meditation I fell right asleep, pretty sure more than half the other people did the same. When the hour was up, everyone, about 50 people, got up and helped clean the matts and put back all the chanting books in neat little piles to the side. After we met the Chinese guy again to get our bedding for the night. A few other people that showed up that day joined and we went to a shed outside and all worked together in this conveyer belt method to pass out all the bedding. Moni and I stayed quiet and just walked back to the dorm until we could speak again. We both reflected on our initial thoughts of the place, pros and cons, and then snacked a little since we were starved! I couldn’t believe there is no eating passed 11:00 a.m. I don’t think I’ll survive, but at least Moni and I have a snack bag with us that will last. The bedding was very light in terms of padding, just a simple pad, thin blanket, and small pillow we were given. I think my hips might break off at the end of this journey. Concrete rock bed round 2 anyone? Considering we had to get up at 5:30 a.m. for morning chanting, bedtime at 8:30 p.m. seemed reasonable, so Moni and I just passed out.
