I came to Koh Phang Ngan looking for a quiet place to chill for a while and detox my body. Something brought me to Haad Tien, where the Sanctuary is located andhere I found a more in-touch community away from the party scene and the constant blare of videos and all night bars. Instead I found flower children studying Sharmanic Healing and Ayurvedic Yoga Massage courses.
Perfect.
And then the rain came. actually it started with a wizz bang storm that was totally, totally cool and exhilerting and brought me back to nature with a bang, and a crash and a kaboom. The rain settled in and bungalow confined I returned to an old learn to draw project and read, a lot. A couple of days later the big one came. At first it was fun but as my bungalow shook uncontrollably, excitement turned to concern. How much would it take to blow a bungalow over. I was reading a book set in Kansas and started feeling like Dorothy, about to be swept home early to Oz. The next morning, the bungalow thankfully still in tact, I awoke to see
the Thais, gobsmacked, watching the 2m waves crashing onto the beach and coming up to the restaurant. This was the edge of a typhoon in the Phillipines and the worst storm the island had seen in many years. Many boats went missing including a speed boat full of crazy farang who had convinced a reluctant driver to take them to Phang Ngan from Samui for US$500. They were never seen again. The navy was called in to rescue tourists from Koh Tao and all hopes of diving on this coast disappeared.
Instead I turned my attention to my belly, which after a week of healthy food and no toxins was still grumbling a lot and providing a near constant ache. What had I done to myself in Mongolia? The question was answered in the expressions of staff when I told them I had broken 12 years vegetarianism to eat mutton. I decided to undertake a 3 1/2 day colonic fast, not too full on like the 7 day option and kinder on my bank balance, but still hopefully ridding the renegade meat. The basic ethos behind fasting is that your body spends 70% of its energy in digestion. If you stop eating then the body turns its attention to
cleaning the rest of the body and removing toxins.
I had to eat raw food for a couple of days before and then take some herbs the night before. The first morning I awoke to the joy of the psylium-clay shake. The bentonite clay absorbs 40 times its own weight in toxins and the psytlium husks gently brush and clean the inside of the intestines, pushing everything through. Unfortunately I didn't realise quite how fast
it thickens, got a third the way through my skull, tastebuds okaying it but throat activating gag
reflexes and my brain and throat launched into a heated exchange:
throat: what the f*@k
brain: you've got to drink it. it's good for you.
throat: you're kidding. no way.
brain: swallow it NOW.
throat: urgghhh.
I still had most of it to drink and it got worse. But I managed to get it all down. Feeling sick now. Must lie down!
1.5 hours later more herbs.
1.5 later again, another shake. Pleeeaaase noooo!
This one had watermelon in it and I slammed it down in record speed. Not too bad.
Maybe I can cope with 4 of these a day. Yuck.
Life got trippier. 4pm is colonic time. The bit I'm really nervous about. Basically you have to lie on your back on a long flat board with a toilet at one end and a bucket overhead with 8 gallons of liquid attached to a plastic tube. No points for guessing where the plastic tube has to go. Mmmmm. The things we do for kicks. Gravity feeds the mixture into your colon and intestines, bend the pipe and stop the flow, massage belly vigrously, release, and hopefully all the crap
comes out. Repeat until the bucket is empty. Goodbye rank festy mutton!
Day two I had so much energy. Coincidentally it also stopped raining and the sun came to visit. I got up early for a quick dip in the sea, went to yoga (the yoga hall up in the treetops looks out over the jungle and sea and is stunning) and amazed myself with my strength and stamina. I swam and walked and lay in the sun photo synthesizing and catching up on well needed vitamin D. Preceded by a brilliant nights sleep was looking forward to another one but alas it was not to be. The once a week disco kicked in and went until 8am. Needless to say I was a mess on day 3.
Day4 the colonic mixure had wheatgrass in it and was exhausting. After so much clean living it still made me nauseus. I broke my fast with papaya. I have to spend five days moving back to normal food. Fruit to raw vegatables to cooked vegetables to carbs and starches and then finally protein. An excellent way to monitor my body's reaction to different foods. My first coffee laid me flat for half a day.
After hanging around for another week I'm now off to Penang on a visa run. Looking forward to exploring little India and trying my body out on curry. Mmmmm.
Boat leaving soon, gotta go!