week one!

What an amazing week this has been! The group is getting on really well together and we have been concentrating hard on out lessons. There are so many things I'd like to write about.
Firstly I'll write about our daily routine.  We are up at 5.45am everyday and have mediation for 30 minutes. We then have asana (yoga posture) class for an hour and a half. After that we have breakfast and our first lesson starts at 10.15am. We usually start with philosophy and go on to breathing exercises or cleansing techniques. After lunch we have two more lessons during which we learn about the Sanskrit texts yoga originated from and we finish the day learning about the asanas and how to teach them. Dinner is at 6.30pm and we have self study in the evenings.
The food we eat here is all organic and local and we follow a strict sattvic/ragasic vegan diet. This basically means no processed foods or stimulants and very healthy. I have not yet craved anything because the food is so delicious I don't feel like I am missing or being deprived of anything!
We have a group of 25 students from all over the world and we all get on really well. We are also very motivated and enjoying the course so far. The couple who run the course are from brazil and india and are so knowledgable and inspiring. They employ thai people from the local town and they themselves have even started to be vegetarian because they appreciate the health benefits and feel better in themselves.
The first few days were quite difficult because it was quite a lot to adapt to but after the headaches and tiredness passed I had unlimited energy throughout the day and felt really good.
Yoga itself is a fascinating subject and so much deeper and powerful than I ever imagined. I have learnt so much about the yogic lifestyle and its principles which I would really like to try and incorporate into my life once I leave. For example this has been a great motivational boost to totally cut out sugar and processed foods from my diet so I would really like to maintain that. Not even a treat in the weekend!
So here are some pictures of the ashram!

today's the day!

Today I am off to start my Yoga teacher training course and I am very excited. A little nervous but mostly excited. I have been talking about doing this for a long time and I am so glad to have had the support that made me be proactive and find a course. It will be a four week intensive training and i have prepared myself as much as I could. I am looking forward to the mental as well as physical challenge.
 Last night I had an evening with friends I have met in chiang mai over the past few weeks and am sad to leave their great company and this lovely city. we went to the flower festival, watched the beauty pageant and had a celebratory ice cream (there is no processed foods allowed at the course and it's all veggie food so I needed a last unhealthy fix!)
Onwards to the next part of my adventure! !

This is luciano, an Italian guy who rides around with his hilarious thai wife and gives out free hugs!

People doing acroyoga in the park, also circus tricks!

The tourist beauty pageant,  it was pretty cringe worthy.

The local girls were a lot better! All that hairspray!

4 months today!

I have officially been travelling for four months! It seems like I have been away for ages. I am currently spending the last week before my yoga course in chiang mai. It is nice to be settled in one place and to get to know it really well. I am going running and going to yoga classes to prepare. I think the course will be quite mentally and physically demanding so I am also doing some reading too. 

I have met some really nice people doing a massage course and I have very willingly agreed to go to the school to get a few free massages so they can practice. 

At this point in my trip, I have realised I have learnt quite a lot about myself. Things I like and don't like, what I want to achieve and what is important to me. I was hoping for some kind of epiphany telling me what I want to do in the future but I have figured out it doesn't work like that. Meeting new people and spending time in different countries and cultures encourages you to think about life and all of it's wonderful opportunities, almost making it harder to know what you want to do after travelling. 

When you meet other travellers, you generally ask each other questions to try and find out some information about them. I have realised I enjoy asking the questions but don't enjoy answering them and talking about myself. However, it makes you learn more about yourself and appreciate your talents a lot more. A good example of this happened in Pai. The hostel in which I stayed was full of musicians and artists and most evenings a guy called john played live music at a bar in town. We were chatting as a group a few days into my stay and I was asked what I studied, 'German and Music' I replied and he clocked on immediately. 'What instrument?', 'Piano'. He was impressed and the next day he found a keyboard and set it up outside. He wanted me to play but I was too shy, not confident enough in my ability and I was worried I wouldn't live up to whatever expectation the group had. Another day passed and I kept eyeing up the keyboard. I ended up waiting until nobody was around and then I started playing. It felt great, partly because I had really missed playing and partly because no one was there. Or so I thought. 'So you can play!' I heard from the room next door. John came out and I instantly went red but felt pretty good. This gave me a confidence boost and the next night we had a jam session. Everyone played or sang and I was asked to play the piano. I messed up a few times but when I looked up everyone was smiling and I got lots of hugs and people actually thanking me for playing, they had all really enjoyed it and i felt on cloud nine. I may not be the worlds best pianist but that experience has given me such a confidence boast. Many people say to me they wish they played an instrument so I shouldn't be so shy about it. 

Similiarly, when I say I speak German or that I do yoga or that I did a triathlon once or that I love singing or even that I have a degree, it makes you recount these achievements and hardwork that went into them and really appreciate what you can do. 

mae hong son

Once I started to feel better I took the bus to a small city about three hours from Pai. The people here are super friendly and it didn't take me long to find a quaint guesthouse by the lake. There is not too much to do here so I used the time wisely by relaxing, reading, playing my uke and exploring the markets. One evening there was a dance show and girls looked great all dressed up in traditional costume.

pai

I am really enjoying being in Pai. I have met some lovely people and have been having a lot of fun chilling out and going out with them. Last night was one of the american guys birthdays and we played beer olympics, which consists of drinking games played in teams. Considering I had never played the majority of the games I wasn't too bad! We went out dancing afterwards and today has been a chilled day before a big music festival tonight.
The music festival was a lot of fun. We had quite a big group but somehow managed to stay together. I really didn't know what to expect from a thai music festival but I think they did a great job. The next day was spent chilling out at waterfalls, which were very cold and we stopped off at a fruit farm which gives you bowls full of banana chips,  jam, peanuts, fruit and roselle juice and you just have to pay a donation.
Annoyingly I picked up a cold that had been going around so I have had a few bed days. Luckily the people I've met here are super nice and have been looking after me.
Going to take it easy for a few days to make sure I am fit for my yoga course.

so many markets!

Chiang Mai is full of markets. The huge night bazaar is constructed every night and every Saturday and Sunday the walking markets offer their goods to tourists and locals alike. I managed to get there just as the stall owners had finished setting up but it soon got busy! There was really so much on offer I could have bought suitcases full of trinkets and eaten tons of delicious thai food. I tried the local dish, kow soi, for dinner and that was delicious. A noodle dish in a thai curry sauce with chicken. Yum!
I found a fruit stall that sells muesli and yoghurt at another small market so went there for breakfast this morning before going to the visa office. I got chatting to the only other foreigner there who was an 81 year old grandpa escaping the cold in Canada.  We had a lovely chat about travelling as we enjoyed our muesli. He told me a funny story about a Thai man he met with the name pum pui. Apparently his name means 'fat belly', which was what he had when he was born so they called him that! I think Thai people have a wicked sense of humour!
Getting my visa extension for my yoga course was also an experience. As I arrived 30 minutes early thinking I'd beat the crowd,  it was full and there were also two white monks. I sat behind them and eavesdropped, finding out that one was German and the other Russian. I have never seen European Buddhist monks before and it was quite strange.  Totally shaved eyebrows and heads.
I have met a lot of french people in Chiang mai and I am looking forward to meeting more at my next destination, Pai.

Pyin oo lwin

Edward and I were up early to catch a share taxi to a town two hours drive outside of Mandalay. The winding drive took us up through mountains with beautiful autumnal views. We were dropped off at a village 9km from town and noticed a village festival was being set up. We asked what was happening and was told it was Independence Day. We went through the village and started on an hour long trek to a waterfall. The trek was very steep and we were already dreading the walk back up. We met lots of Burmese tourists and locals on the way down. The fall was stunning and we enjoyed sitting, drinking tea and observing the shameless Burmese taking hundreds of selfies. We wanted to start the trek back up before it got too hot and witnessed two rich Burmese kids being carried up the path lying in hammocks attached to a large bamboo. Pretty lazy if you ask me! 

Edward and I managed the steep climb up and was even taken the rest of the way by a pick up can full of very friendly Burmese girls. In between the giggling we found out they were all friends in Mandalay and studied at the university. Once we arrived at the village we found the festival in full swing. Kids were eating ice cream and the men were participating in local games. One was a tall piece of bamboo that had lots of oil on it and the guys had to try and climb it. The locals found it very funny when the guys slid down. Another game was two men sitting on a piece of bamboo with a pillow in one hand that they had to use to try and hit the other guy off the bamboo. There was a great atmosphere and we got lots of smiles and 'hello's like always.

We ventured into town once our stomachs began to grumble and found a very busy Indian restaurant. We were given a lot of food and it was very tasty. Next stop was the national botanical gardens. We had a walk through an aviary and saw some lovely looking birds and a cheeky monkey being fed by a monk. There was also a music festival. We didn't have tickets like the locals but were told we could go in for free just because we were tourists. This shocked us both because we are usually always charged at least 5 times more than the locals! 

After a long day we got a shared taxi home and had a very yummy dinner!