Meditation for the meditation addict..

It's time again... The addict has to get her drug, in this case meditation.


This time I'll do a longer one, at least 10 days, but hopefully around three weeks, depending on how I feel and how the place is. Today I bicycled to Wat Rampoeng to check the place out and ask some questions. Two friendly monks welcomed me and told me about the monastery. The difference between this one and the vipassana meditation I did in Nepal is that the meditation will be both walking and sitting (not just sitting, like in Nepal). I'll have to wear white long sleeved clothes all the time. It's also a little more free when it comes to times and schedule and I will be allowed to meditate wherever I want within the compound, not in the same meditation hall all the time.

When I got back to Chiang Mai, I went shopping for cheap white underwear (they're even strict that the underwear should be white!) and came back to my guest house with the ugliest underwear I'll ever wear, that's for sure. Maybe when I'm 80 I will wear such ugly underwear again, but not before that! After the meditation these undieas will go straight to the trash can, and no one will ever see them!

When I first got to Bangkok, I had quite a culture shock! I hadn't seen so many white butts for a really long time! Everybody told me that it was really quiet because of the curfew and the riots, but to me it was crazy... Another thing that I noticed was that the area around Kao San hadn't changed in at least seven years ago(last time I was there). Everything was exactly the same, even the same stalls with the same stuff for sale. Such a weird feeling! I felt like I had travelled back in time.. Bangkok felt safe the two days that I spent there. Tourists were rekommended not to go outside the touristy areas around Kao San, so there wasn't much to do except eat fruit, drink fruit shakes, tighten the dreads and upload pictures on facebook. The heat was hard to deal with, combined with the humidity it felt like a sauna! During the night I was lying under my fan sweating and wondering if it could get any hotter.


On the second night I took the train to Chiang Mai, where I am now. Today I've bicycled around looking at temples and enjoying life.

So - no more updates for 10-26 days, depending on how the meditation goes! Around the 20th of June, I'm headed for Laos.

The people in Sri Lanka

Believe it or not - I've had various requests in the past month to start writing this blog in english. I feel a little bit of pressure combined with excitement - now I have to start writing about interesting things in a funny and well-written way. I want to state here and now that I don't promise any of these things. This blog is merely for my friends and family to keep track of me without me having to write numerous e-mails. It's a lazy blog. It used to be a lazy blog in swedish, now it's a lazy blog in english. I hereby hope to please Cam, Tom, John and the german without a name on the train from Ella to Kandy. I also hope that all of you understand that this used to be my only time to actually use my mother tongue. It's your fault if I go back to Sweden without being able to speak correctly.

My month in Sri Lanka is coming to a sad end. It feels as though this month has passed with a tremendous speed, what have I done? Next to nothing, it seems. One thing that I have done, is socializing. Therefore I will now write a little bit about the wonderful Sri Lankans, the great tourists and two of the not so great kinds of tourists.

I never get tired of talking about my love for Sri Lankans. The reason for this is that at least all of the ones I've met have been super friendly, smiling, helpful and have never tried to cheat me. As a single female traveler, I've been taken care of constantly. I've been walked to buses, shown the way to places, I've been given rides by cars and motorbikes, I've been fed, invited for tea, I've collected phone numbers and addresses "in case of danger or problems", I've got so many smiles everyday, that it's impossible to count. The only people who seem to have any kind of alterior motives are the young guys. Here's a typical set of questions that a local guy in his 20s/30s asks: "Hello! How are you? Where are you from? What's your name? Are you married?" Of course I'm married! And my husband is coming to Sri Lanka in just a few days. The positive thing about the marriage question is that there seems to be a great deal of respect for the fact that I'm supposedly taken and the "goodbye" arrives very soon after I start talking about my imaginary husband.

My favorite Sri Lankans so far have to be recognized here with a special love: Ramees, the laid back diver who's the only guy who's never asked about my civil status! He took me to see Buddhas well traveled tooth in Kandy and invited me for a delicious meal at his aunts house. Santa & Veejay, the two crazy surfers with an uncountable number of skills that they are more than happy to show: capoeira, gymnastics, drumming, speaking japanese and pretending to speak french, etc. Ranga: the owner of Beach Hut in Arugam Bay, with a huge heart and a special connection with single travelers. The woman who owns Sitaras restaurant in Arugam Bay. Yum! The food is so great, voluminous and cheap! My "host family" in Haputale. They actually started to feel like my parents almost immediately. I would also like to give some love up to all my sisters who can't speak english, but certainly can smile in the warmest way and love to touch my hair with big question marks on their faces.

Now to the tourists... Most of the tourists in Sri Lanka (that I've met) are pretty damn great. In Arugam Bay I found the really golden ones and we formed a group who practically did everything together for about ten days. From the moment the group was formed in Arugam Bay until the official break-up in Ella, I had to forget everything about reading, writing, having time for myself and being silent. It just didn't happen. Life with this group was like a festival - hanging out, talking ALL THE TIME. There was never a moment of awkward silence or not knowing what to say. A lot of the time was spent trying to get in to the conversation without being cut out after half a sentence. Yes - it was great! And yes, it was exhausting! I was more than ready for some meditation after hanging out with the golden crew.

Members: Angela from England, who has a great sense of humor and was the "planner", she led the group in a smooth yet determined way. Katie from Australia, the cool surfer who has the funniest comments when you least expect it. Tom & John: the british surfers who are just like a pair of comedians. They were also concerned to keep the group small and exclusive. My tendency to constantly invite new people caused them to give me a new nick-name: the social terrorist. Laila, the norwegian musician who was also my roomy and is wise beyond her years. Melina from England, the warm and wise.. She joined later and the first time I saw her, she was only wearing shawls, her bag had been stolen in Nepal.

As I'm on the chapter tourists, I feel a certain need to tell you about the not so great tourists. No matter where I travel, there's two categories of tourists that I just can't stand. The globetrotter and the hater.

The globetrotter: This tourist doesn't like to call himself tourist, he'd rather use the term traveler or mabye even citizen of the world. He is very common in India, but appears when you least expect it almost everywhere. He is often to be seen in a touristy restaurant and can be recognized very easely: he's talking about all the countries he's been to, all the cheap deals he's made, all the time he's spent in remote areas where there's no tourists/western food/english speaking people/guest houses/electricity, but where there's lots of danger/insects/crazy situations/discomfort/cheap stuff. The globetrotters main goal is to make you say "wow, you're so cool" AND battle you by telling you crazier stories than you. In his world there's a system of points to each and every situation and he's willing to loudly declare how few points you have compared to him. The only thing that could possibly make him shut his big mouth is if you live in the country/speak the language/stay with local friends/have done something that's crazier than what he's done (e.g. riding a donkey from Sweden to Sri Lanka via Afghanistan. If you meet a globetrotter, it's advisable to stay as far away as possible. Without going into further detail, let's just say I didn't and I wish I could get my precious time back and have my ears washed.

The hater: This tourist is - if possible - even easier to recognize. After just a few moments talk, she'll drop a comment like: "I love Sri Lanka, but I don't like the people" (this happens everywhere, I've even heard it in Denmark!!!). The hater always has plenty of stories of another kind than the globetrotter, stories of being cheated, badly treated and stories of situations where she just seems disappointed that the locals aren't exactly like the good ol' people at home. This is something that can make me so angry that I just want to yell in their faces: "go home then, you don't deserve to be here anyway, among these lovely people! They treat you badly because you are a rude, nasty and stupid person!" I don't yell, though, but i find it impossible to keep my mouth closed in these situations and I think the message comes across pretty clearly anyway. This habit of mine made Tom and John give me my second nick-name: Mike Tyson. The combination of the social terrorist and Mike Tyson sometimes gets me in trouble. At first I'm friendly with everyone and try to give people a chance. When I realize that some of them are crossing the line for what's tolerable behavior (according to me), I bite - and I bite hard!

I haven't written much about what I've done, so here's a short resume. After Arugam Bay, the golden crew went to Ella to swim on top of a water fall - it was just as fantastic as it sounds. After that I went to a meditation and yoga ashram in the forest outside of Kandy. I stayed there for five days and just enjoyed being alone and getting back into meditation again. The yoga was amazing, I really need to do more of that! After seeing the Buddhas tooth in Kandy with Ramees, I went to Polonnaruwa today. Tomorrow I will explore the ruins here and then go back to Colombo to fly to Thailand on thursday night. I've read that it's ok to fly to Bangkok, as long as I move on straight away, so I'll take the train to Chiang Mai the same day - no reason to worry!

Meditation pa gang

Hej gott folk...

Har antligen lyckats slita mig fran strandlivet i Arugam Bay och befinner mig nu i Ella, en liten by i "the hill country". Som tur ar har jag fatt med mig mina fyra vanner fran Arugam Bay och vi bor nu ihop har i Ella. Imorgon ska vi aka till ett narbelaget vattenfall och bada pa toppen av det. Fantastiskt later det, eller hur?

I overmorgon ar det dags for annu ett medtiationslager med en vecka av meditation och yoga. Ska bli skont att koppla bort lite och komma in i meditationen igen. Strandlivet var verkligen nagot helt annat!!! I alla fall kommer jag inte kunna skriva pa ett tag nu, sa alla vet det.

Okej... Trakig uppdatering, jag vet, men jag har verkligen inget mer att skriva.

Puss

Lazy days...

Nu har resan tagit en helt ny vandning. Det ar slappa som galler, jag lever ett otroligt lugnt och stilla liv har i Arugam Bay och hade latt kunnat fastna har ett bra tag. Jag vet inte ens hur lange jag har varit har, jag vet inte vilket datum det ar, knappast vilken manad.

Nar jag forst kom hit var det lite trakigt, jag hade lite Delhi-belly och jag bodde pa ett stalle dar jag var sjalv, ingen att prata med. Efter tre dagar flyttade jag over till Arugam Bays mysigaste stalle - Beach Hut. Stallet drivs av en snall gubbe med stor mage (han har alltid bara sarong pa sig, sa magen syns alltid) och tofs mitt pa huvudet. Han bryr sig mycket om folk som reser ensamma, vill ge oss bra priser och tar hand om oss i storsta allmanhet. Maten pa detta stalle ar ocksa helt underbar! Jag bor tillsammans med en norsk tjej i en tvavaningsbungalow med havsutsikt. Alla bungalows ligger i en ring och i mitten finns bord, stolar och hangmattor. Nu kanske ni borjar forsta hur pass slappt livet ar har.. Jag ar nu del av en grupp pa c:a 8 pers som gor allt tillsammans. Det ar som att bo i korridor igen, vilket ar sa gott, eftersom jag saknar korridorlivet en hel del.

Surfingen gar inte sa bra. Det ar svart for nyborjare, stallet som ska vara bra for nyborjare ar valdigt lugnt nu, sa det gar inte att ova, det kommer inga vagor. Ibland ar det dock helt galet och da rinner det saltvatten ur nasan anda in pa natten. Kanner mig verkligen misshandlad av havet ibland. Jag har alltid hort att surfing ar svart, men nu fattar jag hur svart. Till min besvikelse tycker jag inte att det ar lika kul som det ar svart, men det kanske andras om ett tag nar jag kan mer. Det ar valdigt manga surfare har, bade turister och Sri Lankeser. Coolt att ga ut och kolla pa dem nar de surfar!!! Surfarna ar dessutom mycket lugnare an resten av de unga Sri Lankeserna, de stoter inte pa en och de fragar inte om man ar gift pa en gang (men ja, det kommer upp efter ett tag, haha). Skont! Lattare att bli kompisar da. Igar hangde jag med tva killar, de tog mig hem till sitt hus sa jag fick traffa familjen och hanga dar. Det var verkligen kul. Sen borjade bada visa en massa saker de kunde, kapuera, gymnastik, trummor, osv. Det var som att sitta pa forsta parkett pa en talangjakt, men bara med tva killar. Hahahaha... Sjukt kul, jag skrattade hela tiden.

Maten i Sri Lanka ar helt underbar! Massa kryddor och curries. Perfekt for en veggo som jag! Det ar faktiskt annorlunda an i Indien, jag trodde att maten skulle vara likadan.

Folket ar otroligt trevliga och gastvanliga. Som ensam tjej far man en hel del uppmarksamhet, jag skulle uppskatta att jag blir fragad om jag ar gift c:a 10 ggr om dagen nar jag ar ute bland folk. Men det finns aven en stor grupp av manniskor som bara vill hjalpa en och ta hand om en. Jag har fatt skjuts av en massa folk (gratis), fatt ett otal adresser och telefonnummer att ringa "om det blir problem" eller "om du kommer till min stad". Ingen har forsokt lura mig eller ta betalt for nagot som vi inte har kommit overens om. Otroligt vanlig stamning helt enkelt!

Pa mandag aker jag vidare till Kandy till ett meditationsstalle dar, for att komma igang och gora nagot vettigt igen.. Dar ar det lite svalare ocksa, har ar det 35-40 grader och hog luftfuktighet. Klibb...

Hoppas ni har det bra och sa vidare.