Bangkok. Or the great royal waste of time....(the peanuts were good!)

Bangkok. Full day 1.
The day started with a 2 hour massage. Thai massage. Awesome. The massage school is at a wat (temple) and although we no longer go upstairs (where the ceiling above is made of frescos of the Buddha), the massage on the ground floor is phenomenal. Two hours, plus a tip is $10. Thai massage is about manipulation and stretching. I love it. Although I may walk away from the first one bruised and battered, they get better and better with time.
From there, we went to Chinatown. It is Chinese New Year, year of the Horse. It is very different than 2 years ago- that was the year of the Dragon, AND, there was not political unrest as there is here today. It looked quite tame, and we were told the parade was at 5pm. Nope, that was the arrival of the queen mother. (Wife of the king, not mother of the king). People lined the streets. And then she went by. And then the crowd dispersed. We had eaten dinner (A whole other story of nasty looks and an inablity - or selective ability- to understand what we wanted- needless to say, it was not a very satifying meal). So, after walking a bit, and hearing that the parade would be at 8pm, we looked for a cafe to sit and wait. We found one, ordered some food and drinks and parked for 3 hours. Watching the crowds grow. The parade of people was amazing. All walks of life, tourists from Europe, Asia, America....commerce and lots and lots of police. finally, early, at 7:30 the motorcade went by. No parade, the motorcade of the queen, and her people.
yep. that was it.
And the peanuts? From the restaurant. You need peanuts for a parade....maybe we will save them for next year......

I'm leaving, on a jet plane.....

Here I am, in Maui, taking a break from the great packing adventure. I hate this particular part, love the result. Pack for 2 extremely different climates, Nepal where it is cold, and Thailand and the Philippines where it is summer and hot. What do I take and what do I leave. So, it is all layed out on the bed, I am taking a break, watching whales and hoping to get in the habit of writing. Blogging. Whatever.
The weather here in Maui has been rainy and icky for 2 days. Good for me, as I can get things done without looking longingly at the ocean and the pool.
First stop is Bangkok, meeting up with Tom and Tali who have already arrived. Tom is reporting on the insurgence in Thailand which I must admit I have not paid much attention to. I imagine I will have a crash course in politics as soon as I arrive. I am looking forward to massages by the river and the controlled chaos of the Wats although I imagine there might not be too many tourists. Only the crazy, thrill seeking, Nepal going people like us.
My life is blessed. I know that. I am done apologising for how I got where I am. Silly to think
I have to apologise for people dying. This is my life, warts and all. I am blessed to live it and
I know, without a doubt that those who went before me would be thrilled at the travel I am doing.
Enough of that. I am now writing on a tablet. The next adventure will be figuring out how to get things from dropbox or my camera on to the blog.....might be the most challenging or at least frustrating part of this all.
Aloha.

The great adventure begins again. I am in Maui, one of my favorite places on the planet. I am here because it is November, my least favorite months. Jay died this month, it will be 4 years on the 14th. I came here for the month, actually starting in Hilo for the Hawaii regional convention. What a great time that was! Now I am in Kihei, playing with beads, walking the beach, doing some work on the condo and just otherwise thoroughly enjoying myself.
It is time to start the blog again....A trip is in the works for Nepal, Philippines, Australia and New Zealand for February/March. I am so excited to have this opportunity again.

Today I hope to give a go at Stand up Paddle. I am not the most balanced Libra in the bunch, so it might be a lot of sit down paddle for me.....

And, time to start thinking about the new tattoo I am planning to get next month.....
"She believed she could, and so she did". that is the front runner right now.....

Aloha.

Russia

Here I am in Moscow, my 3rd day. The first day was simply a struggle to stay awake.
On August 13th, Eliane moved out of the house, and it officially became mine. It was a highly emotional day, with all my dead relatives coming to visit. Jay too. Truly the beginning of a new life for me. Again.
On August 14th at 9am , I was on a plane for NY where I would get on another plane bound for Moscow. I arrived midday on the 15th. The airport was eerily quiet, quite empty. I found a taxi, $100 to the hotel! It was about a 90 minute ride....I was intermittently dozing off, trying to see the "sights". I got to the hotel, and there was the familiar NA sign. Ahhh.........
I registered, got my room, and went for a brief nap. I got up around 8, went to the lobby, joined some friends, found Shane (!) and went to eat.
The next morning I watched the EDM open, and then joined several people, from several countries to visit Red Square. It was stunning. So beautiful. It ended up just Elizabeth and I , felt like old times from the Asia trip, and off we went. Slept for awhile, and then to a meeting at 9, dinner and bed.
So here we are, it is Friday, the convention is opening, and I am finally on my computer. I am so happy to be here. I love addicts, different languages, cultures, this is my happy place. And yes, I am happy.

I DID IT!

I did it. I climbed to the Tiger's Nest.
We started early, leaving the parking lot about 8:30 am. It was a rough climb, Sherab was amazing as he just kept telling me easy does it, slow and steady....(think he learned anything at the rehab???). He was so patient, and was an amazing motivator. Wonder if he might consider a job as personal trainer? Of course, he just walked up, like nothing......
We got to the tea house for tea. He told me that if we wanted to get inside the monastery, we had to leave in about 15 minutes. I was exhausted. I was also highly emotional. Not sure where it came from, doesn't really matter. All I know was the tears were flowing freely, and had a strong sense of sadness. I was more of a letting go. Like that moment where the pain of change is just a little less than the pain of staying the same. I knew I had to let go of all of them. Mom, Dad, Tony, Gram, and Jay. And letting go did not mean they would no longer be with me, it meant that I could let go of the suffering of grief. And in letting go of that, I would let them go. And I could go on, having them in my heart to love always, not carrying the burden of what I did and did not do while they were alive, when they died....all that stuff.
So on we went. I had one moment when I told Sherab how I was feeling and I was crying. He could see how upset I was. He focused on Jay, (I had saved some of the ashes I brought just for this occasion), and encouraged me to continue, focusing on what I was going to do. We would go slowly, slowly, and if the temple was closed for lunch, we would wait. And on we went. We met several people along the way. It is a true pilgrimage. And all of a sudden, we were at the steps. I could see the monastery and I knew I had to go. Even if it was closed, I was going. And we went. We got there exactly at 1pm, and Sherab asked if we could just go into the main temple. We were allowed 15 minutes. More steps. We went in, were blessed by the lama, and then I was able to spread ashes from the "nest".
Words cannot describe how that felt. Not even going to try.

The entire trip was 8 hours. We stopped twice for tea, once invited by some Nepalese followers of the Lama at the nest.

My trip to Bhutan has been life altering. I am truly blessed.

Namaste.

Bhutan, one more day....

I can't believe I have been here almost a week. What an amazing country. I cannot yet post photos, the signal is not strong enough. I have spent a few days in Thimpu, and a few in Panakha. Thimpu was mostly sightseeing, it is a big city by Bhutanese standards. One good hike, but mostly just walking. Not good if I am going to do this climb on Monday! Personally, I think my shoes are too tight, and if I had been smart I would have bought new ones in Thimpu. Now it is the night before the hike and I am flipping out thinking about the 600 steps that come AFTER the main climb!In both directions! My knees hurt just thinking about it. I will do this. If I was willing to climb the Batu steps in Malaysia, this is 200 more!
Enough of the fear talking...In Panakha we attended a festival. Beautiful colors and dancers. I was more taken with the people attending the festival. We had a picnic the second day, as did many other festival goers...I got some really good photos!
We also went to the shopping area. Mostly things for Bhutanese, a few other items, I made a purchase or two. Sherab is happy with me because I have helped the economy here.
One night, I went to a meeting. Jay would have loved it. In a little room off to the back of the rehab drop in center. IP's on the floor, copies of the draft of Living Clean, sweet (hot) coffee and they were passing around cigarettes like, well, like cigarettes! (Cigarettes are illegal here). They asked me to share, so I did. I was so damn happy just to be in a meeting!!! This is the core homegroup in Bhutan. The first group. They meet a few nights a week. The meeting was awesome. The lone woman there asked if I could come visit the rehab.
So of course I was going to do that. Now came the part of explaining to Sherab and Natin about the meeting, the rehab, me, recovery....it was relatively easy, I thought. Until the next day when the questions started. Really, it was awesome. I mean, these guys might never had heard of NA or 12 steps. And when I did go visit the rehab, Teshering (the woman I met) insisted they come in for a tea. Then the Q&A started and it was awesome. More questions on the way to Paro. and i KNOW i am the only client they have ever taken to rehab.....
What an amazing journey. The biggest part of this adventure has been the spiritual aspect. Plus, I am reading the Tibetan book of Living and Dying. I came seeking. I have found....not sure what, more is being revealed daily.
When I find the words, I will blog about this part of my journey. Not just here in Bhutan, the whole thing, starting in Maui.
Gotta sleep....big climb tomorrow!