Post No 9

It's a glorious Sunday! I had a fairly early start because I was on breakfast duty. I chopped around 100 small bananas, they grow in the grounds and some watermelons. Serge, a rather strident German guy was in charge of cooking eggs and porridge. Lots of washing up, I asked where was the plug and where do I get hot water? Oh we use cold water and no plug was the reply, washing greasy pans and the porridge pot is a challenge but that's they way they do things...

Everyone is responsible for washing their own cutlery (spoon, fork no knives and chopsticks) plate and bowl (melamine no china here) after eating. Again there is a special way of doing this. There are 5 rectangular bowls, the 1st a shallow one for food waste which is composted, the 2nd & 3rd have soapy water, the 4th is clear water with vinegar and the final bowl has drinking water after a dunking into each bowl they are drained dry.  

There is a certain way of doing most things here and often there is an assumption you just know the NLF way! I never thought I'd say that I miss bleach and a Mr Muscle type spray! I know it's probably not good for the environment but when u clean u can be confident that it is clean! Yesterday I was on community fridge cleaning duty.... There is a huge upright fridge with transparent doors like u get in a store for the use of the community, after meals, if u want to save something, usually fruit, u can pop cling film over the plate and pop into fridge, you must put your name and date on it.... Many people also buy various goodies, coca-cola and fruit juice seem to be popular plus honey, cheese, chocolate, crackers & cookies... It was my job to take it all out of fridge, check dates etc and throw the dodgy stuff out then give fridge a clean and put it back in some kind of order. A couple of people were most insistent that their Tupperware box was placed back on the same shelf.... A bit like home and car parking spaces, they wanted their particular spot!

After 2 weeks here I can understand why the long term people need To  supplement the food. Everyday brown rice, originally grown in the fields here features on the menu for lunch and dinner. I say on the menu but there isn't one, the only description of what the food is, apart from knowing it's definitely veggie is the occasional SPICY sign next to the serving bowl! Most of the time I add a little serving of everything on my plate avoiding the SPICY dishes and hope for the best! It's tasty but getting samey, especially the rice which I feel expands in my tummy. In addition to the hot food there is always a salad of lettuce leaves, tomatoes, cue, carrot and peppers.

I was disappointed that the residents or volunteers don't help with the cooking, I'd hoped to pick up some tips... Anyone can bake cakes to share but the oven looks like a monster!  Last night a couple of guys had bought themselves a steak in town which they cooked and had with salad at dinner, it sure smelt good!

I've had a leisurely day today, after breakfast I did some washing in the communities twin tub machine. Last week I sent a couple of bags to Mamas which she washed and folded for 100bht (less than £2) as it was so gloriously sunny I thought I'd get my towels and sheets done, it worked v efficiently and they were dry in a couple of hours, I'm thinking of doing my own "smalls" but maybe rigging up a little clothes line in the bathroom, I don't think I want my Bridget Jones panties and hammock bras flapping in the breeze for all to see!

Lots of new people arriving today, some pretty young beautiful girls, or "eye candy" as a couple of the guys remarked! It's going to be full up next week that's all 56 rooms booked out. There is a special silent retreat taking place, I had the option to join and it took me less than 2 seconds to decide to give it a miss! 5 days of simply meditating starting at 5.30am no reading, writing, or eating after lunch at noon. Everyone has a one to one with the visiting Monk (an English guy bedecked in orange robes) that is leading the Vipassana (Insight) when they are able to talk. Because of this, the rest of the community will observe noble silence during meals.. 32 people are taking part, I know this because it was one of my tasks to make "noble silence" badges for all the participants. Many are nervous about taking part, I think I would be too! It be interesting to see how it works out next week, there is a Dance planned for Saturday night to celebrate the ending, although it will still end before 9.30pm and of course no booze!

I've been doing some research about the next stage of my trip to Luang Prebang Laos, I will travel on a slow boat along the Mekong River which will take 2 days, it moors overnight and we stay in a guest house, both days are around 7-8 hours on the river and it's no cruise ship, sitting on wooden benches, you have to take your own snacks and drinks but thank heaven for small mercies, there is a western toilet on board (take your own loo roll)! The journey will be an experience in itself! It's very pretty, I will have to ensure I have plenty of reading matter, sun block and insect repellant and of course me pillow! I will also have to cart my luggage around too. I did look into giving the cruise a miss and letting the plane take the strain, but it would mean flying back to Bangkok... Expensive and long winded, the other alternative is a night bus, 12-15 hours..... So I decided to take the adventurous/pretty route!  Once there I've booked into a nice hotel for 5 nights that has a spa, a bath and lovely clean white linen on the beds..... Who'd of thought you could dream of Egyptian cotton sheets? Luang Prebang is listed as world heritage site and is stunning, I have that on good authority, the lonely planet guide that I've downloaded to my iPad and my darling travel consultant Lucy...  Who inspired me to visit there in the first place and I am so glad that I have that to look forward to after this "austere paradise".

Well I'm off for a swim before dinner now that I have clean dry towels and that the lovely ladies have left poolside for their orientation tour....Yep my ego is still intact! Maybe after another 2 weeks I won't pay any mind to the cellulite and wobbly bits!

Hope you have a lovely Sunday
Peace xxx