Udon Thani

I was recently lucky enough to tag along when my mum was invited to share Ayurveda at a couple forest monasteries in Northeast Thailand. They're not really places you can just rock up, as everyone needs the permission of the abbot to enter, so the opportunity was rare. Thanks to the awesome Miss H's Christmas gift, I was nearly half-bottle full of information on the Theravada, or forest monks' way of life when I got there.

I was ready for the one-meal-a-day quota, I was ready to sleep on the floor and I was ready to go to bed with the sun. I was not ready, however, for the cold. Mum's warning that it's "a bit chilly" there turned out to be completely false. It was bloody freezing! Enlightenment apparently requires warm pajamas. As I was sleeping next to a hole in the floorboards, I proceeded to catch the mother of all colds. I would meet one of the spiritual advisers to the Thai King with a snot rag in hand. Great.

Sinus issues aside, the talks went well, the monks got their livers cleansed and I woke up before 7 (it's an occasion so rare and selfless, that I feel some kind of commemorative statue to be in order--something in gold leaf perhaps).

"Stoking the home fires" is not really an expression so much as a daily job

Most everything else was different and an adjustment as well, but in quite a good way. Rising with the sun also means sleeping with it too (10 hours sleep. woo!), as only the kitchen has electricity (for lights mostly, not stoves :p) Everyone has their own kuti--a kind of self-contained hut, and eats together at breakfast with the monks.

It's probably as close as I'll get to living on a commune. They don't farm, but they do have extensive gardens and prepare the food together. With thick forest and pristine air, I can see why so many Bankok-ians(?) were in residence. In comparison, Bangkok with its choking traffic and already a chore to live in, takes on a pretty bad light.

With the impossibly nice Thai people, the abundant random cute squirrels/butterflies/birds, the awesome food (the one meal is a 20-30 dish affair) and of course being in the presence of wisdom, I could definitely do an annual stint there. Ideas!