Blogs from Phitsanulok, Northern Thailand, Thailand, Asia

We left Bangkok behind and started our roadtrip up North. First we visited the summer palace for the royal family. We then continued on to Ayutthaya, the old capital of Thailand. Ayutthaya had some impressive ruins including Bang Pa-In Palace which included a Buddha statue head intertwined in a Bodi tree (tree Buddha mediated under to reach enlightenment). Finally we finished up in Lopburi to visit some more Khmer ruins. The high point of this stop was the massive entrage of monkeys that live in the city. We ended the day by staying the night in Phitsanulok, a nice little town in the lower North region of the country... read more

I made it through 10 days of noble silence at my Vipassana Mediation course. It was pretty intense. I found it very challenging but worth it. I don't want to describe too much as I don't want to project any of my experiences on someone who has not yet gone through the course. All I have to say is it was worth it. The facilities were clean, the food was very good and the meditation practice itself if awesome. I was able to sit still and focus while in the center, now I have to take that diligence into the real world. I also met some amazing new friends from all around the world. We shared a cab back to Khao San Road after Vipassana was over, had some laughs and ate a wonderful dinner together. ... read more

it must be or it would be otherwise... i spent a couple of days in bangkok (which is actually a western basterdization of the name of a village that used to exist there called bang makok... the official name of the city is, are you ready for it, 'krungthep mahanakhon amonratanakosin mahintara ayuthaya mahadilok popnopparat ratchathani burirom udomratchaniwet mahasathan amonpiman avatansathit sakkathattiya witsanukamprasit' , which translated roughly means, 'great city of angels, repository of divine gems, great land unconquerable, grande and prominent realm, royal and delightful capital city full of nine noble gems, highest royalty dwelling and grande palace, divine shelter and living place of reincarnated spirits'..) planing my vipassana meditaion schedule while here in se asia... first course scheduled to begin on the 13th of may so i went and bought a train tic... read more

September 18, 2008 ....This has been by far one of the most difficult and rewarding experiences i have ever had in my life. Personally, not being able to speak, touch or have eye contact with anyone during 10 days really hit me. At the beggining is difficult to understand a lot of things, but as days go by, everything starts making sense. Being isolated & immersed in my own world allowed me to focus, to be aware of my breath for the first time in my life, to find peace of mind and go deep deep inside my thoughts & sensations like never before....from day 1, i got on a non-stop, day & night, rollercoaster of emotions.... ....I am really happy to have found the answer to several questions that troubled my mind during many years.....the ... read more