With my laptop fixed, I'm finally able to share about my recent trip, something that I should have done three months ago, before my hard disc crashed on me.
I was away on a pilgrimage trip to
Hat Yai,
Thailand where I took a bumpy coach ride departing from the
Golden Mile Complex and crossed the
Thai border via
Malaysia. It took a staggering 16 hours of traveling and going through four customs (exit
SIN > enter
MAS > exit
MAS > enter
THAI) before reaching
Hat Yai. After alighting from the coach, I had to transfer to a mini van where I was further driven away from civilization.
The temple that I was heading for, was hidden away at a remote part of
Hat Yai, surrounded by nothing but mountains and forest.
Life at the temple was laid-back yet mundane at the same time.
It's rise and shine for the monks at 4.30AM (
Thailand being one hour slower than
Singapore) to have their morning prayers after which, I would follow them out of the temple to seek alms in the village before returning for breakfast.
This is followed by area cleaning until lunch and its OTOT until dinner. During this period of time, I would go explore the temple grounds and the mysterious cave above the temple.
Over at the temple, activities begin to cease around 6PM and by 7PM, it was time to retire to bed. Early as it may sound but in this remote village, there is practically nothing else to do except sleeping because there is no electricity outside the bedroom at night. The only way to navigate your way around was with a torchlight but with thousands of screaming bats flying out of the cave foraging for food at this hour, it is safer to stay indoors.
Unless you're brave enough to romance the night away with the bats, the only form of entertainment after dark was star-gazing. The night view above the temple was enthralling as thousands of stars sparkle like diamonds right before your very eyes! On the other hand, my favorite activity during day time would be chasing after the chickens and eating freshly plucked
luku langsat by the buckets.
For someone from the city, life could be a little hard getting accustomed to as there was no internet access, no TV, no newspapers, nothing, zilch. In other words, I'm totally cut off from the outside world with no means to any information!
It was only after leaving the temple for town, which was a two hours drive away that I realized that
Bangkok has been declared to be in a state of emergency.
Fortunately, the situation at
Hat Yai was a far cry from the tension at
Bangkok.
Singaporeans and
ang mohs alike still thronged the night market in search for cheap bargains around the
Lee Garden Hotel where I put up for the last night. Even the local people seemed undisturbed and go about their daily lives peddling their wares on the street. Having lived in seclusion for the past few days, I too was out and about in the street, taking in all the lights, sounds, food and even a body massage at the parlor!
It's a shame that I only had less than a day's time in town as I was soon seated on the couch homeward bound. The journey back home took a little longer than expected as we were caught in several torrential showers and even an accident along the way.
This trip was truly a fruitful experience albeit a little boring living the life of a monk.
View the rest of the pictures
here.
Over at the temple, activities begin to cease around 6PM and by 7PM, it was time to retire to bed. Early as it may sound but in this remote village, there is practically nothing else to do except sleeping because there is no electricity outside the bedroom at night. The only way to navigate your way around was with a torchlight but with thousands of screaming bats flying out of the cave foraging for food at this hour, it is safer to stay indoors.
dead_cockroach@xanga
True
Comments (2)
Hat Yai is beautiful and very close to where my boyfriend lives :3
I went there by train from Kuala lumpur...it was a wonderful trip...