Ember Travels

"Your mind is like a monkey; jumping around out of control and really smelly.  You wouldn't go a day without bathing would you? Why would you go a day without cleaning your mind?" This was the best analogy Joelee could think of to explain meditation to a bunch of westerners.  Somehow, watching a monk give a PowerPoint presentation didn't seem normal.  PowerPoint was for corporate America, not orange-robed, bald-headed monks who spend years wandering trough the jungle seeking enlightenment. But, he assured us he did not suffer from technology, thus it was acceptable to use. Joelee would be guiding us through our meditative journeys for the next four days. He had been a monk since the age of 16, got his masters degree in India and was now a professor at the Buddhist university in Chiang Mai. Before we left for the meditation center he gave us an overview of Buddhism and Thai culture. Contrary to popular belief, Buddhism isn't a religion but rather a way of life. The...

Four days ago, I had never meditated for a minute in my life. To be honest, I thought meditation was just a fancy word for sitting and thinking. Didn't I do enough of that already? In the past six months I've spent so much time on buses, trains and planes sitting alone and thinking that I probably could have written an Academy Award-worthy screenplay. Too bad I spent most of my thinking time pondering things like how to catch a baby koala and what life would be like if I had Cheetos for toes, instead of putting my mental effort towards a productive cause.  The fact of the matter is that I wanted to meet a monk.   So I put my college degree-worthy research skills to use and started googling. Where do monks hang out? The temple. What do monks do? Meditate. Do monks talk to women? Rarely. Would a monk talk to me if I meditated? Maybe.Thus, I vowed to enter the world of meditation in hopes of meeting a somewhat westernized monk who might be willing to tell me a little bit about mo...

The mystery of Pai runs deep through the ever-flowing stream, chatter of the locals at the nightly market and the veins of minerals in the highest mountains.   On the surface it seems like a normal mountain town, well at least in the realm of normal. I can say for a fact that I have never before met lazier people or been greeted by a town boasting a slower pace of life. The town has adopted the tag line, "Slow life @ Pie" which is plastered all over tee shirts, magnets, postcards and random signs along the road. Cafe owners greet me with, "come, relax, enjoy the laid back life. If you eat here you will never die." And somehow, I got suckered into all of it. At first, it all seemed normal and I actually appreciated a relaxing break from traveling. However, the more time I spent wandering the streets of Pai, and the more locals I met, I got a suspicion that something was out of order. The women have a sort of giddy middle schooler temperament and when life gets hard, ...

How do people make the decisions they do? I am convinced that absolutely no one in this world knows exactly what they want. Sure, I could give you two options, and you could choose the best, but when it comes to issues like  what do you want to do for the rest of your life  or  what makes you happy  we're all clueless dummies. Still not convinced? Consider our divorce rate, extreme dissatisfaction with jobs and debt. Where do all of us dissatisfied employees and lovers turn? I'll leave that for you to answer. So what does this have to do with traveling, you may ask? Well, I somehow ended up in Thailand without a very good explanation of why I chose to come here. I have a habit of making these flash decisions when it comes to traveling and they seem to prove more rewarding than the well thought out ones. My alibi? The food. Eight months ago the word "Asia" made me cringe. Then, some girl said Southeast Asia was a real hotspot for backpackers. I went home that night an...

“EMBER! Where you go? I be looking for you,” came a low voice in broken English. If I didn’t know better, I would have mistaken him for a fortune teller. He was a wise old man with weathered skin, always moving in a slow thought out manner. Long white robes draped from his bony frame, and an earthen colored turban was perched above his bushy eyebrows. All he was missing was a glass ball and a book of fortunes. I met Hutyee Boat (pronounced Ha-jee Boat) the day before in a frenzy to find an available bungalow on Koh Lanta Island. I seemed to have misunderstood what “high season” meant and was in a bit of a housing predicament. “Come, come, sit,” he exclaimed and placed a glass of fluorescent green bubblegum flavored drink in front of my famished figure. “No bungalow now, I call bungalow down the street, they come pick you up in tuk tuk. Maybe you like and stay, I happy. If no, come back tomorrow, you can bungalow with Hutyee Boat.” And that was exactly what I did. As he yelled, “goodbye...

...Seems to be my life these days. After a few busy days in Bangkok meeting the ladyboys and doing a couple of other things I never thought I'd do-like riding on a motorcycle taxi sideways in a dress and eating chicken foot curry-I was ready for some relaxation. Fellow backpackers raved about the ease and enjoyment of traveling Southeast Asia saying it was the perfect mix of sightseeing and relaxation and I was ready to put that to the test by visiting Thailand's famous diving island, Koh Tao.  One of my favorite things about Thailand is how easy it is to get around. I had already mapped out my plan of action: take train from Bangkok to Chompon, take bus to port, then catch ferry to Koh Tao. When I arrived at the train station to purchase my ticket they asked if i was headed for Koh Tao and suggested a combination train-bus-boat ticket. Being in the habit of figuring out my own travel plan and assuming they were trying to rip me off, I resisted. It wasn't until they said th...

One of Colorado's quirkier cities is Trinidad; a small town in the south alternatively know as the sex change capital of the world. Last time I drove through, I stopped to grab a coffee and the first person I saw in the cafe was a transvestite...no joke! I know they're around, but what the people bestowing this coveted title forgot is that there exists a little city on the other side of the world that blows Trinidad out of the water. It's called Bangkok. Have you seen the Hangover 2? If not don't rush out to see it. If so, let's just say Bangkok is not over exaggerated. You name it they have it. Monks, fake passports and ladyboys are a few of the favorites I've come across. A ladyboy is pretty much a fancy name for a man who becomes a woman. It is a thriving industry here and there seems to be no shortage of them in Bangkok. My recent expat Bangkok friend insisted that I see the ladyboys before I leave the city. I'm always looking for an adventure and up to ...