Silence

After this post there will be a 2 week silence while I am in a meditation retreat, no internet, no telephone, no books, no talking even.. so hang in there guys, I'll be back around the 13th or 14th. :)

So far in Bangkok a lot of walking around, sightseeing, the National Museum, lots of temples, tuktuk rides, boat rides..
Last night I saw I, Robot for the price of a beer in one of the many many local bars.. All of the very latest movies are available here on dvd or vcd. :)

Well I'm off, talk to you all again in 2 weeks.. Have a good time, I will!

Back in Thailand

It hit me the moment I set a foot outside the airplane, a wall of hot, wet air! Yes this was most definately Thailand, in that moment a load of memories came back and everything just felt so right...

Of course after ten more steps I was in the cool of the airconditioned airport, but I was home. ;)  Then comes all the trouble of dealing with immigration officers, customs, finding my backpack, but even that all went so very smoothly this time.. And then comes the moment when you really step on Thai soil, when you leave the aircon and you really put on that warm, wet blanket.
Finding the airport bus to (infamous) Kao San Road was also easy, so 1,5 hour later (traffic was REALLY bad) I stepped of the bus and found quite a nice little guesthouse to stay in, my room is behind the kitchen, so every time I come back I have to walk through the kitchen.. it's great. :)

Haven't really done that much here yet, but that doesn't matter, anything you do here is different, exotic.. And I keep bumping into Japanese, which is quite funny when I greet them in Japanese, so we usually end up chatting for a bit.

I think I'll quit for now, more later.. I've already lost track of what day it is, but I think it will be Friday when I move on to my next destination, Ban Sawangjai Meditationcentre near Khao Yai Park..

Nice Jordan

4 hours to go before I have to leave for the airport, so finally some time to write about my time in Jordan..
Yesterday I finally met Yasmeen, a chatfriend for quite some time already, she was the reason I decided on a stop in Amman for 2 days instead of Dubai, so it was very nice to finally be able to meet face to face.
She works at the University of Amman, so we decided to meet there around noon, when I told the man behind the desk at the hotel where I was going he offered to write it down for me in Arabic so I could show it to the taxidriver, to avoid any confusion.
So after first visiting the ancient Roman Theatre in downtown Amman (Jordan is filled with wonderful ancient ruins) in the morning, I got a taxi and after studying my piece of arabic paper for a minute he stepped on the gas and I got my first taste of the adventure called Jordan traffic! There don't seem to be any rules, everybody just tries to almost push the other cars out of the way while honking the horn! :)
But after a 15 minute rollercoaster ride I arrived safely at the University gates.. and a few minutes later Yasmeen came to pick me up in her car, the University campus is so big you really need a car to get from one end to the other!
After catching up on things and exchanging some gifts at her office she showed me around part of the University and then we went to a beautiful Jordanian restaurant for a real traditional meal, complete with waterpipe for smoking.. Now I really don't smoke, I hate cigarettes, but the waterpipe was actually quite nice, it's really a very soft taste and it's really wonderful to sit there relaxing, enjoying a good meal, good company and sucking on your waterpipe and blowing big clouds of nice smelling smoke.. :)
Unfortunately my timing is a bit bad, Yasmeen's oldest daughter is leaving tonight for a year of highschool in the USA, and she was very very busy with preparations, so there wasn't a lot of time to spend together.. maybe on my way back next year, inshallah...

So in the evening I went to Jerash, in this case my timing was good, there happens to be a big festival going on around this time, it takes place in the ancient ruins in the town of Jerash, a beautiful place to visit any time actually, but during the festival every night there are dozens of performances happening.. Arab stars, Jordanian folklore and even folk groups from all over the world are performing.
Lots of families, tourists and kids show up to enjoy the party, it was really a great night out, even if, after 50 times, it became a bit tiring to get the same questions over and over, 'where are you from', 'what is your name', 'what do you think of Jordan'... :)
But they are really interested, so that makes it ok, it's not just to be polite but they really want to get to know you, great people.

1st stop Jordan

Well here I am then, I have to catch a bus to Jerash for the Jerash festival, so don't have much time, but want to let everyone know anyway that I arrived in Amman safely, an hour behind schedule, but the driver from the hotel was still waiting for me anyway. :)

Finally out of the Dutch cold, it's 32 degrees here! :P

Very nice people here, they all want to have a talk with you, hear about Holland, tell me about Jordan.. I'm in the spirit already!

More later, have to catch my bus now...

Byebye

A Poelie original

A few months ago I asked Poelie if she would think about creating a pendant with a Buddhist theme, I've never been much for jewelry, but somehow the idea of some small Buddhist token to wear around my neck had begun to appeal to me..
So a few weeks ago we decided it should be a wheel, a symbol for the Buddha's teachings where the 8 spokes stand for The Eightfold Path, one of the basic principles of Buddhism.

And now it's done, and in the spirit of the wheel and the positive influence it stands for, we traded; some positive vibes from Holland, in the shape of the wheel, for some positive vibes from Thailand, in the shape of a Buddha statue I brought with me on my previous trip to Thailand. :)

Oranje haiku

Halve finale
Nederland en Portugal
verlies en verdriet