Patong – My Inner Peace

Getting lost in a Thai forest by night

After walking twice the Way of Saint James (Camino de Santiago) in Spain and Portugal, I know very well that when you start your journey with another person, you accept the challenge of sharing his / her experiences as well. So, I accepted to do this trip with a friend and after a full day on the Ocean visiting the Islands, we decided to build a more adventurous day, walking to see another beach, approximately 4 km away from Patong.

Freedom Beach Forest, Patong, Thailand, 2019

The journey was not easy, as we started walking around midday, after having a late breakfast. And when I say “not easy”, I mean it. I love walking when it’s hot outside, but the 90% of the way was without shadow at all, and we had 38 degrees Celsius, feeling like 45. 😳

We were walking up and down on the mountains, under the heet, but the beautiful scenary was like a fresh breeze helping us to go ahead.

Outside Patong on the main way to Freedom Beach, Thailand, 2019

Exhausted, we reached Freedom Beach around 1 pm, after crossing a small and beautiful forest and escalating some rocks to be able to reach the most beautiful part of the beach.

We’ve spent the entire day there, till almost the sunset. The water had an emerald color and was extremely inviting, so the first thing we did was to take a swimm. After so much heet, that bath in the Ocean feeled like a real divine blessing. Later, the palms offered us the perfect shadow and protected us from the hungry sun rays.

While we were walking on the beach, we found this small and cute crab crossing the beach and making his own way towards the shadow.

Around 6 pm, we decided to hit the road back to Patong. Following my friend’s idea, we tried a new path along the forest. We’ve noticed the way was heading in the other direction, but my friend kept hoping the new path will meet the one we did when we arrived at Freedom Beach. The nicest thing was walking bare foot and feeling the dust and the small rocks under your own feet.

At a certain point we were sweting while climbing the mountain and we transformed our bodies into a great luxurious dinner for the mosquitos. Awful feeling! Soon everything was dark around us and the sound of the forest changed into a new song while the leafs starting to move like in a horror movie. We put our shoes on, and proceed quickly towards the light.

Soon we reached the first local houses in the forest, and 20 minutes after we were back on the main road to Patong, walking along with cars, tuk-tuks, motorbike and all kind of local vehicles.

Morale of the day: when you are looking for an adventure, you may find it right over the corner. So, always be careful what you wish for! 😜

To be continued…

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Only one temple in Patong

Second day in Patong was meant for body resting and city exploration. After a long travel without sleep, jet lag and a full day on the beach swimming and disconnecting from reality, my body was craving for a good sleep. Waking up at 10 am, was a good just for an hour, when a crazy tiredness kicked me right in the head. Fighting against it was not a good idea, so I abandoned myself to a peaceful sleep till 1:30 pm. The first thought after so much sleep, was to go and see a temple. I never thought it would be so hard to find a temple in Patong. But the reception guy explained us that temples and the crazy life that Patong is offering to the tourists, are not going hand in hand.

Nevertheless, I was not ready to abandon the idea, so I kept pushing them to show me the closest temple on the map. That’s how I found out there was only one temple for monks, that could be closed. No door can stop me when I really want something, so I went directly there keeping the faith that I will be able to see something beautiful. And I did. I found this Buddhist temple. The main building was closed, but there were these small buildings outside, places for praying and worshiping Buddha.

The place had a very good energy, and at a certain point I was taken by surprise by a cat, asking for cuddles. It is amazing to see that in the Buddhist temples and praying places animals are allowed to stay and enjoy the energy created there, combining their presence with yours, celebrating together the power of creation.

After burning some incense to honor the Buddha’s statues, my steps led me to the next holy place, a Muslim Mosque. I had a great feeling being allowed to enter the Mosque, as in other places like Bangalore, India, they were not accepting women at all. So, I really enjoyed the place, I took some pics and let my feet guide me to the next place.

This time, my body choose to eat. I only had some fruits in the morning, and at 6 pm, my physical body said “stop and eat, now!”. And I followed the request exactly as it came. The food was exquisite! I had grilled squid with garlic, french fries and some toasted bread with garlic. Yep, I love garlic, what can I do?! 😜

Next stop was at the Banzaan Market where I had this huge ice cream in a coconut with a lot of toppings like fresh fruits, nuts, jelly, chia, corn and other things I can’t even remember. This is one of the things one should try when in Thailand.

The morale of the day: when you feed your Soul with good energies, the body is charging as well. However, never forget the importance of a good meal feeding your physical body and keeping it in a good shape.

To be continued…

I am an independent writter, so if you like my stories, I invite you to support my activity with a donation.

When you land in a Paradise

For me, a Paradise is a piece of land where I can express my inner peace exactly as it is. And this time, my Paradise is called Thailand, more precisely, Patong Beach. After a 14 hours journey changing two flights and catching less than two hours of sleep, landing in Thailand, was a dream come true. Outside the airport, at 7:30 am, 30 degrees Celsius were kindly expecting us. Leaving Bucharest with only 14 degrees and landing in the Southern hemisphere in a place difficult to breed, tired and sleepy, was not easy to manage. But, fortunately, I have a high adapting level, so once in the hotel, after having a generous breakfast, I went directly to the beach. Swimming and sleeping there, under the Ocean music, was another dream that took me only two hours to making it happen.

And suddenly, my inner voice was singing unwritten songs while my mind was finally resting and taking a well deserved nap. In front of such beauty created by the mighty nature every thought is melting down and disappears. There is no reason to keep thinking at usual stuff, because you are completely out of your ordinary day. And the Ocean has this power to erase every single thought and instantly the Silence mode is installed in your head for the entire day.

I must confess that living in this ”movie”, even my appetite was canceled. I felt no need to eat. Just the urge of swimming, sleeping and drinking a lot of water. I was actually flowing through the day like water itself, consuming water and becoming water. And that gave me the a new level of understanding the ”panta rei” concept. When you flow through your life like the water is flowing and creating her own path among obstacles, you are becoming aware of all the steps you take for building your moment here and now. Deep inside, you feel how each moment takes shape under your inner eyes and forms your life, like all the drops are forming the Ocean you are looking at.

Maybe the place is not looking like a Paradise for other people, but for me, it is. Actually, I think the Paradise is not external at all. The Nature beauty makes you think it’s there, but your level of awareness witnessing this Beauty, makes it a real Paradise.

I wish to all of you, reading now my thoughts, to witness your own Paradise at least once in your lifetime! Meanwhile, here are some pics from mine. 😉

To be continued…

I am an independent writter, so if you like my stories, I invite you to support my activity with a donation.