From buckets of joy to bowls of slop

I'm writing this from Monte Vista, a retreat on Ko Phangan, Thailand. It's set high up on the hills overlooking the ocean and is devoted to helping the hung-over, lardy and otherwise overindulged to find their inner Gillian McKeith. Having spent five days on Ko Phangan I can see why they do a roaring trade.

This is the party island to end them all. Every night on the beach the hoards head over for a boogie and a Bucket of Joy, the local cocktail. It's a proper bucket (kind of sandcastle sized) filled with Thai whiskey, Thai Red Bull (god knows what's in the Red Bull but it sure ain't the British version) and a mixer. It's proper loony juice. Once they're sure that all sense has been well and truly removed, the locals bring out ridiculously dangerous games that appeal to your drunken sense of invincibility - a giant burning skipping rope, a burning hoop to jump through and other delights. It's easy to spot the casualties the following day, to the extent that the island can start to look like a huge - and very picturesque - burns unit. Luckily I managed to avoid the temptation to prove my flameproof jumping prowess and escaped with my skin intact. My birthday was spent trying out Thai boxing in the morning, then on the beach in the evening with a Bucket of Joy, reminding myself that I'm now 32 and that one day I must stop acting 23. I was joined by Dee and Lorraine who I'm travelling with for a while longer, and Jo who made it down from Bangkok for a long weekend. It was a top day.

From one extreme to the other, Monte Vista is pretty much silent. There's yoga every morning at 8am (EIGHT AM!! Those kind of early mornings are a distant memory!) then fruit for breakfast. Lunch and dinner is a 'Tri-Doshic (?)Ayervedic meal', a plate of beige gruel that is apparently very good for cleansing your system. Mmm. Then there's a meditation every evening for an hour. Folks, it's going to be struggle. More on my progress in due course.

Comments

[Quincyschick]

[das ist gut] Oh Jen, I do feel for you! You must be soooooo bored and hungry... I don't think I'd be able to do that. It's a shame you're not having colonics or you could have posted pictures of the "matter" on your blog. "This is a rubber ball I ate when I was 5 years old" etc!
Lots of love xxxxxxxxxx

[Jen]

Err... actually I am having colonics. Daily. But rest assured I won't go into that here, suffice to say I am being truly cleansed inside and out! xx