Year Two, Lessons, Adventures and More!

My 2^nd year in Thailand went by so fast, I forgot to take time to write this before the big day. Now I’ll just record some of the highlights and some of my thoughts after the fact.  Much of my time has been dedicated to volunteering to help the elephant and trying to learn the Thai language.  Although I realize that one can only do what one can do, I feel I've come up short in both areas, especially learning Thai. 

On the other hand most people my age wouldn't even bother  ใซ่ไหม

Mid-January I was fortunate enough to photograph The Bike for Elephants event.   Next year I hope to be even more involved.   The 2012 Event is scheduled for January 15^th and 16^th.  Information is available at http://www.bring-the-elephant-home.org/2011/09/30/trailer-bike-for-elephants-2012/en/  The video trailer is really cool! 

Bike for Elephants 2010

We went to Luang Prabong, what an amazing little city.  The city has a tourist friendly phrase “Stay another Day” Works for me!   I fully intend to return the first part of 2012.  Previous blog articles were written so I won't belabor the point here. 

Morning Alms in Luang Prabong

From there we went to the Plain of Jars where I saw first had some of the results of indiscriminate bombing of Laos in the 1960’s and 1970’s.   Since that time I’ve been a casual student of the Vietnam war.  The Vietnamese refer to it as “the American war”.  One of the books I read mentioned that miraculously none of the jars on the Plain of Jars were damaged by the bombing.  The author obviously has never been there!

Bomb Damage

In late January I started my trip gathering information for the “Shades of Gray” article I wrote.  What I know now is that the situation here is much more complicated that I could have ever imagined!  One lesson I have learned is that there are no domestic elephants in Thailand or anywhere else!  They are in captivity.  Volumes can be written, and doubtless will be written about their situation, the history, the present and the future. Much more than the elephant is at stake here; this is also about the forest, the culture and the people. It’s about tourism, revenue and education.  It’s about caring, not caring, kindness, greed, generosity and cruelty.  

Working Elephant

By April  I realized that I needed to discontinue my relationship with the pre-school.  God love em, they just were not ready to bring on a person needing a work permit. My best option was to leave things on good terms, which I managed to do.  I wish them well in the future. The kids were absolutely adorable.  This was also the time when I decided to eventually move to Chiang Mai though the move didn’t happen till late September.

Nutty Putty is used the same here as in the States. 

More trips than I had planned were made to Vientiane for visa runs.  While I like Vientiane, it’s not a place I really want to visit every 60 to 90 days.  The visa and work permit thing has sorted itself out so hopefully the next time I go to Laos will be to photograph elephants in February. On my last visa run a met a chap who introduced me to the real deal when it comes to Lao Coffee.  Amazing beverage!

Michael and the Best Coffee Vendors in Lao, well that's our opinion!

One thing that I enjoy is finding signs that lose or gain something in their translation to English.  No Paking is one of my favorites.  It’s in Vientiane as well.

No Paking! 

In July I went on a meditation retreat at Wat ChomTong about an hour South of Chiang Mai.  Why is my meditation practice so sporadic now?   I think my priorities need to be reviewed, but that’s for a different journal.

The Chedi at Wat Chomtong

In late July I went back to the States for two weeks to see family, especially my grandson who is now 5 and has declared that I’m silly. He likes silly, it’s a fun thing!

Andy and his parents on his first roller coaster ride! 

After Southern Colorado I went to visit my niece Kate and her family in Colorado.  We had an opportunity to go to Rocky Mountain National Park, which is one of my very favorite places. It was there that I added like 18 pounds of See's candy to bring back to Thailand.  It's long gone, gave most of it away, but not all.

Brighton, Mattie, Evelyn, Preston and Quinton

In late August I changed my idea of an Art show to raise general money for the elephants to one supporting Pang Pornsawan.   This project is taking a lot of my time, but will be very rewarding.  I am so touched by this elephant that I'm certain she has and will continue to change my life!  It's customary when an elephant comes to the Elephant Nature Park, he or she is given a new name.  I have no right to do so, but if I were to have the opportunity her new name will be Dharma, or Dhamma if you prefer.

The morning I met her, she changed me; I can't explain, just trust me. 

During the past year I've made two really good life changing decisions

Maliwan and I have both recently spent three weeks at ChomTong.  After she returned we sat down and decided it was time to move the relationship to the next step, so we are officially engaged.

Maliwan and her new sewing machine, taken in Chiang Rai 6 months ago
She now has three (3) of them ! 

The end of September marked the end of my residence in Chiang Rai and the actual move to Chiang Mai.  I’m grateful to be here!   Aw let’s face it, gentle reader, I’m grateful to be anywhere!!   As I write this, on this important Buddhist Holiday I'm listening to the monks, in the Wat just down the street, doing their evening chants.  There is civility here, I love it.

The Tourist


Abundant Blessings, 

Want to Ride an elephant?

People seem to think it's glorious to ride an elephant.  Well, before you sign up, you might want to read this.
http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/detail.asp?id=11019

We are Moving!

This is about delightful people, opportunity and perhaps fate.

For the past two years, well 23 1/2 months I have lived in Chiang Rai and loved every minute of it.  Opportunities and the winds of change dictate that it's time to move on to Chiang Mai.   Let's face it, over the last year, I've spent more and more time in Chiang Mai and less and less at home in Chiang Rai.  After we finished out meditations at Chom Tong it was clear to both Maliwan and I that it was time to move.

Standing in the Door of our new home, the lease is signed!

When I mentioned the decision to Lek she smiled, drew a map to an area where there were houses for rent. I wanted a house with a kitchen, not a condo, and not a room.  I also wanted to live inside the moat, inside the old city of Chiang Mai.  And I wanted to do this with not much budget.   The house we went to see is inside the moat and the rent is reasonable.  Setting this arrangement was a God Shot.  It was too easy to be anything else.

Maliwan watches Knun Nui lock the gate, we'll be back in a few days! 

As soon as we signed the lease, I went to tell Khun Nam at the Patchkit house.  She is happy for us and was perfectly happy to let us out of our lease a month early.   Need a room in Chiang Mai, please check out http://www.pachkit.com/ Great service, great prices and absolutely lovely people.  There new restaurant is really quite good.  Personally I think they do a better job with the Thai food than the Western, but I also recognize that the longer I'm hear the more I enjoy the local cuisine.

Today I went to break the news to Khun Choke and Khun Kan. They are always gracious and supportive, the lease says 30 days notice, they are not worried about such details between friends. We shall miss them terribly. The house we are now living in will be available for rent soon after the 1st of October. The house is in the small compound at 88 Ratchayotha Rd (almost across from the Shell Station) Khun Kan and her husband Khun Choke have been wonderful friends to me and to Maliwan.  I'm delighted to recommend to to anyone who will treat this home with love and respect.

Khun Kan and Khun Choke

I should also tell you that Khun Choke and Khun Kan have built a brand new apartment building which will be ready for occupancy by the 1st of October.  The apartments are spacious and the prices are very reasonable between 5,000 and 6,000 per month.  There are still a few units left, but at this price and location I wouldn't wait long.  They are cati-corner from the Chiang Rai Condohotel. You can contact them directly at kanwilai@hotmail.com or by phone at 089-998-9248.

The new apartment building, ready by 1 October! 

We have made friends in Chiang Rai who we will certainly want to visit and we will certainly hope they come to visit us in Chiang Mai.   This move is about opportunity and serves as proof positive that all things are impermanent, the way nature intended.

Khun Maroot Nui, Friend, neighbor and nephew of Khun Choke

Good friends, neighbors, Jose and Monique 

We are so very blessed!

Landmines Suck

Soon I will write a proper article about the rescue of Pansuawan and 18 year old elephant who was tragically wounded by a landmine and about the people who took action to help her, but not tonight.  That article I’ll post in Asian Elephant Stories where it belongs.  Tonight I just need to vent.

Yesterday I was asked to go photograph this elephant who had stepped on a land mine.  We left mid-day and arrive at the pick-up site about dark.  This morning we loaded her on a truck and took her to the  elephant hospital at TECC .  A lot of good people were involved and without them this would not have happened, but that’s the story line to be written after I’ve cooled off a bit.

Tonight I’m in my room in Chiang Mai processing the photographs from today and I’m getting more and more angry.  What stupid self-centered son-of-a-bitch decided that minefields were a good idea?  Someone came up with this method of making war, terrorism if you like that word; I don’t.  The tactic allows the good guys to deter advancing enemies, inflict casualties and reduce enemy morale all without committing precious manpower.  If you have studied any military science beyond boot camp you have already been exposed to this logic.  The problem is that the logic is flawed, horribly flawed.  For example:

• a    I have never heard of a minefield being properly mapped and later cleared by the army who put it there in the first place.  Rather, armies tend to be mobile and fluid.   An area will be mined and in a matter of days it may have no military significance at all.   Do you think, even for a moment, that the U.S. Army has any clue as to the location of the mines it left in Vietnam?  Hell that was 40 years ago; same question replace Vietnam with Iraq / Afghanistan.
• b      Armies may return to the area they mined a few months ago and find the minefields are efficiently killing their own soldiers.  This is a problem!
• c.       Mines are indiscriminate.  A mine does not know the war is over.  A mine does not know that a child, a cow or an elephant is standing on it.  All it knows is that something set off the triggering device and it’s time to go boom!
• 
  

Thailand is borders Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia.  All three of these countries have mine fields.  Myanmar is by far the worst.  The border areas are infested with minefields.   It’s also fair to say that there are mines on the Thai side of these borders as well.

A week ago an elephant name Pansuawan stepped on a landmine.  It took a week for the owners to come forth with this information so the elephant could receive medical treatment.  They needed a way to not get in trouble, or so it would appear.   I spoke to the doctor who is treating her.  She is the 15^th such case that he is personally aware of.   How many people?  How much live stock, how many wild animals have been killed or maimed in these fields of terror?

For tonight I’ll just say that landmines really suck.  I feel like more research on my part will be coming.  Perhaps I’ll get involved in some way.   I’m a tough old coot and I can work around tragedy and go home and sleep.  For some reason this elephant has scraped away a layer of toughness and I feel really raw.  Maybe it’s the fact that her wound is fresh and was untreated when I first saw her, maybe it’s the fact that she is extremely gentle and seemed to look at me with a love and respect I have not earned.  Maybe I’m just evolving.  Whatever it is, gentle reader, I thank you for letting me vent.

Abundant Blessings,

Yesterday I had the privilege of riding 

Vipassana Meditation

I will start this by telling you, gentle reader, that I am writing about my personal experience and make absolutely no claim of expertise.  The subject is deep, deeper than I would ever have imagined.

There are many types of meditation.  Many use mantras, external sounds and other methods to allow the meditator to concentrate.  These types of meditation offer moments of peace and often bliss.  The effect is not long lasting after the meditation period ends.  I’m not suggesting they are bad in any way, I am suggesting that the results may not be a permanent as one might hope for.  Then there is Vipassana meditation.  Vipassana means insight.  Vipassana is said to be passed down from Gautama the Buddha.  By the way the word Buddha means enlightened; Buddha was the enlightened one.

The popularity of Vipassana meditation has waxed and waned. The writings of Buddhaghosa were very influential, especially his exegesis “The Vissidhimagga” written in 412, which was the basis for the current revival of Vipassana started by Sayadaw Mahasi in Burma in the 1930’s. The flame of Vipassana was preserved by a small following in Burma who kept the practice alive for several hundred years.  Recently it has spread and is particularly prevalent in Thailand as well as in the West.  You can find a lot of information about sites and so forth on line.  Just google Vipassana.  Also I have collected some information I am willing to share.  Just contact me by email if you are interested.

Vipassana is more about awareness than concentration.  Of course there needs to be a bit of concentration to achieve any awareness.  As taught at the mediation center I attended each session consists of three parts, mindful prostration, walking meditation and sitting meditation.  The idea is to become aware of self.  Self awareness is truth. And as Jesus said “the truth will set you free”.  Who should take this path?  Only those who really want to know the truth.  Vipassana is not for spiritual wimps, it’s for people who want to know a new happiness and a new freedom.  I’m reminded of a sign I once saw in the back offices of the U.S. State Department.  It read “Toil is the price of greatness and the Gods have deemed that you pay in advance”.

In the United States and other countries there are several centers.  There is a comprehensive list in the back of the book “The Art of Living – Vipassana Meditation”.  I’m happy to share this list with you for the asking.   Here in Thailand there are also several centers.  I chose the International Meditation Center at Wat Chom Tong a few kilometers South of Chiang Mai.  This choice I made solely based on the recommendation of a good friend who had been there.   I recommend the center to you based on several factors:

a.      a.   My experience was all positive.  The teacher was excellent and the facility totally appropriate.

b.      b.  The location is convenient, assuming you are in Thailand.

c.      c.   Wat Chom Tong is the home of Ajahn Tong who created this center.  He is a true master, considered to be enlightened my many Thais and foreigners.  His presence is felt. People who choose a site based on a master often come here, as did my teacher Jonathan.  

Ajan Tong 

d.     d.  The proper name of the Wat is Prathat Sri Chom Tong.  The preface Prathat Sri indicates that the wat has a relic of the Buddha and is therefore of great significance.   It’s a very cool place to meditate.  

The Temple in the evening

Most of the internet sites and books suggest that a first course should be 10 days.  At Wat Chom Tong they recommend 21.  I thought 21 days was a long time, but signed up and went.  I’m glad that I took their advice.  In the future I can go back and do 10 day retreats when it suites me.  I’m already trying to schedule my next retreat.   There must be a combination of concentration and awareness in this meditation. Ajon Tong teaches with great emphasis on awareness because that is how the mediator  will  gain self awareness.  Mindfulness is a key word at Wat Chom Tong.  It’s amazing how much of life I have gone through totally unaware.  To be mindful of my surroundings helps me to learn about me.  Getting to know me is a good thing.

Ajon Tong receives alms
To give alms to the enlighted one is deemed most excellent merit

While there, we are introduced to a little Dharma and allowed to go make merit in the same way the Thai Buddhists do.   

There are three refuges; Buddha (enlightenment), Dharma (teaching) and Sangha (community).   The key to everything is the concept of anatta, which means no-self or no-ego. Does this mean I’ve become a Buddhist?  Not really, but I’m grateful that my teachings of the past allow me to accept their wisdom and incorporate it into my own philosophy.                                                                                                                       

Wat Prathat Sri Chom Tong

Wat Prathat Sri Chom Tong is a very special place.  The formal designation Prathat Sri indicates that it houses a relic of the Buddha.  This is analogous to the Catholic cathedrals which house relics of the various saints.  This relic, is said to be part of the right side of The Lord Buddha’s head.  This relic is not buried, as are most.  Rather, it is kept in a golden mondoo and is brought out for display during major Buddhist holidays.

The Chedi at Wat Prathat Sri Chom Tong

Wat Prathat Sri Chom Tong is also home of the Insight Meditation Center of Northern Thailand.  The Wat actually houses two complimentary centers one Thai and one international.  Vipassana Meditation as taught at the international center is the subject of my next article.  

Chedi just after sundown

While I was at the center I had the opportunity to see the temple during the evening, even to meditate on it's serene grounds.  What an amazing experience!

Summer Vacation 2011

On the 28^th of July I left Bangkok at 5:00 p.m.  3 ½ hours to Taipe, 13 hours to San Franciso, 1 ½ hours to San Diego and a one hour van ride to Fallbrook and I was there by midnight!  That’s one really long day.  Coming back was almost as weird, we sort of just skipped Wednesday having checked in the night Tuesday night and arriving in Bangkok on Thursday morning.

The trip was too short, but I'm glad that I was able to go.  The photographs from my vacation to the States have been culled to 100 and uploaded to Photobucket.  You can see them at:  http://s935.photobucket.com/albums/ad200/jnelson1944/State_Side_2011/  A hundred of my favorites might be boring to you, so I’ll include a select few in this article.

Darth Vader poses with us at Lego Land

The California segment was very enjoyable.  I hooked up with my son, daughter-in-law and grandson.  We went to an extended family gathering, a Padres game, Balboa Park and spent two days at Lego Land.  Frankly I knew I’d get a kick out of watching Andy enjoy Lego Land.  To my pleasant surprise I enjoyed the park on it’s own merit.  Warning!  Do not eat at the Pizza place; looks edible but it really isn’t.  Other food locations seemed to be O.K.  If you happen to be in Falbrook try Truplano's Italian Bistro.  The food is excellent and the price is reasonable See:  www.trupianosbistro.com

Petco Park, is one of my favorite places.  This year the team is busy making
all the other teams look good.  Tis life! 

Cotton Candy meets 5 year old!  Gotta love it! 

The Capital Building in Lego's with Tony, Shawnees and Andy in back

Sadly the family gathering was a lost opportunity for a really big family group photo.  People were just having too much fun with the bouncing area and Wi bowling to be collected for even a few minutes.  It was certainly good to see everyone.  Tony and Sue do such a great job of hosting these gatherings.   

I did get to spend a bit of time with my nephew Jim after Tony, Shawnee and Andy returned to El Paso.

Finally an elephant that I don't mind seeing in captivity!
 A Lego Elephant, who would have thought! 

On Saturday I flew out to Denver and spent 3 days with my niece Kate and her family.  As always the hospitality is marvelous.  The kids are growing at an amazing rate.

My hat looks better on Mattie than on me

Brighton, Mattie, Evelyn, Kate, Preston & Quinton
Rocky Mountain National Park, one of my favorite photo locations

What a location! 

Family Time, So Important! 

As soon as I arrived back in Thailand I headed for Nan Rong to be with Maliwan and her family for Thai mothers day.  

Gun is Maliwan's Son, Maliwan and her parents
Thai mother's day 2011

 Last night we caught a truck to Korat and took an overnight bus home to Chiang Rai. I'm grateful to be home.  More articles to come soon!

Abundant Blessings,