sharkgazing shramanas
Jarod and Heather Raithel Joined: May 26th 2008
Logged in: August 23rd 2010
Logged in: August 23rd 2010
"You will have to leave it all behind and go on later. Why not make it meaningful and leave it all right now?" ~Milarepa, Tibetan yogi poet
"A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest--a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." ~Albert Einstein
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Travel Blog Posts
Koh Ra waving
After nine months in Thailand, we have headed home. While we are excited to see the friends and families that we have missed so much, saying goodbye to the people, animals, and natural wonders that make up Koh Ra was extremely difficult. Koh Ra is a truly special place; one that has become a part of us. Living for this time in a natural and wild place, leaving less of a consumptive imprint, and shaking off the stresses ever present in our busy day to day, gave us some new persepctives on living a healthier and happier life, as well as renewed hope for the future. The lessons learned, new experiences enjoyed, and beautiful and dynamic people met have made this time at the Koh Ra Ecolodge one that we will remember throughout our lives. Thanks ... read more
Macaque at Ulu Watu Temple
Taking a break from the Ecolodge, we met up with Kim and Awe for a quick vacation in Bali. Starting out in the touristy area of Kuta, we enjoyed Mexican food, a movie, and a bit of surfing (Jarod got up on a board a few times at Kuta Beach). We rented an old Kejang truck and Kim drove us all over the island beginning our trip heading west to the incredible Ulu Watu Temple overlooking massive cliffs. We watched a kekak show at sunset where the men make music noises with their voices and the dancers acted out the Ramayana story of Sita and Rama. Sita is kidnapped in the forest and is essentially rescued by the white monkey god Hanuman. Beautiful dancing with great costumes! We went north to Tanah Lot, a beautiful temple ... read more
Krabi Sunset
Jarod's brother Justin and his wife Michele came for a visit in late March. They were able to spend a little over three weeks in Thailand. Fresh off the plane with no time for jet lag, we rented motorbikes and drove out to Wat Tham Sua for a hot and grueling hike up the limestone cliff with the giant golden Buddha on top showing great views of the Krabi region. After relaxing on the beach and enjoying awesome Thai food, we also did a bit of rock climbing. Always fun, but a true challenge. After Krabi, we headed to Khao Lak to embark on a 4 day/3 night scuba diving trip to the incredible Similan Islands. Brave and brand new divers, Michele and Justin did it all from deep dives (around 90 feet) to a night ... read more
Like something out of an ancient dream
Sawatdee kap khong peuan (Warm greeting my friends), So there are 61 pics included in this blog that were painstakingly uploaded via a very slow internet connection. Check them out, or at least tell me that you've enjoyed them :) Just click on the word "next" at bottom of page to view 2nd and 3rd pages of pictures. Instead of ending with one, I'll begin this entry with a quote from a great humanist, Walt Whitman, I just received from my friend Bodhi . . . "Dismiss whatever insults your own soul And your very flesh shall be a great poem Not only in its words, but in the silent lines Of its lips and face And between the lashes of your eyes And in every motion and joint of your body." - Walt Whitman With ... read more
Muang greeting guests at moken village
Happy New Year to all of you and we hope you had a very Merry Christmas! We missed our families and friends, but managed to have a very nice holiday season on Koh Ra. Things are busy as we are full with guests, so this entry is mostly pictures of our holiday season. We are doing well, but miss each of you and wish you the best in the new year! Love, Jarod and Heather... read more
Cuddling with a Cuttlefish . . .
Heather has been doing a terrific job regularly posting travelblogs, I've been a bit more inconsistent, I know that’s hard to imagine from me :) Anyways, I've caught a day off, on dry land all day today, so figured I'd try my hand at travelblogging. We have another group of Earthwatch volunteers working at the Koh Ra Ecolodge - these are wonderfully kind-hearted folks, willing to spend their vacations working on conservation projects around the world. National Geographic rated Earthwatch as the number one volun-tourism organization, in part, because the majority of their donations are directly used in funding ecological field work. We’ve had 2 groups now, eclectic, well-traveled souls, from many places including the States, Canada, UK, Germany, Amsterdam, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore. One of my favorite aspects of the ecolodge, is our cultural exchange ... read more
Bella on my porch
It seems we have been busy (or just away from the computer a lot more). We now have internet capabilities on Koh Ra, so now the only reason to go to the mainland is ice cream. Don't think we will ever have it here as we have no freezer. We have had a fun couple of months here so far. We are on our second round of Earthwatch volunteers and have lots more guests. Christmas at the Ecolodge should be busy and fun! Life is pretty good here. Slow paced, hard to know what time or day it is. It is almost Christmas, but it still feels like summer time to me. We had an exciting time last week as Kim and I arranged for the Soi Dog Foundation out of Phuket to bring their mobile ... read more
Move like a jellyfish, rhythm don't mean nothing...
Before getting down to business working on Koh Ra, we celebrated Halloween with a night of jungle mayhem. We had a total of 40 guests that boated to Koh Ra and stayed the night with a costume theme of favorite jungle or sea animal. Awe (and friends) made a huge dinner for us. Then after filling our bellies with squid spaghetti, we all headed back to our respective bungalows to change into costume. We were so impressed with the creativity of the costumes (especially as costume-making resources are limited in Kuraburi). No costume shops here! Jarod and I had a bit of an advantage after getting to shop in Bangkok and Pattaya. We had everything from Jungle Jane, Manta Ray Charles (a manta with the characteristic Ray Charles sunglasses), Neptune God of the Sea, a coral ... read more
Nothing Beats an Afternoon Siesta . . .
We have been travelling quite a bit lately. Made it back to Kuraburi only to head to Bangkok the next day. After a grueling all night bus ride (with several men snoring the entire time) we arrived in Bangkok at 3:30 am. We all headed to a friend's house to catch a few hours of sleep, shower, eat breakfast and get back on the bus for two more hours to Pattaya. We finally arrived and met up with Kim on the beach in Pattaya. We went to a huge mall and did a bit of shopping and then went out for a night of margaritas and the best Mexican food in Thailand! Was much better than anything else I have had here. The enchiladas were even tasty! I ordered so much, I couldn't finish it all! ... read more
Little fella was checking to see what I'd had for lunch
Saw wat dee ka (and krup)! puak rao koey bpai rong rian lae dton nee rao pood paa saa thai dai! (We have been going to school and now we can speak Thai!) Jarod and I are in Phuket, a big touristy island further south. Our main purpose in being here was to spend two weeks cramming Thai into our older and much slower brains. We went to a language school every weekday and also enlisted the help of a friend of Kim and Awe's here to help us as well. It was a struggle... We learned a bit from our friends in Corpus and then some from the Rosetta Stone on the computer and have picked up a few more useful phrases, but we could speak very little with an understandable tone. We completed all ... read more
