On my way to Kathmandu

I'm sitting in Bangkok airport. I've just finished an hour long foot and shoulder massage and sampled the Ayuverdic lotions and potions in the airport. I feel refreshed and pampered as I woke up at 5 this morning to meditate, do yoga, eat some fruit and mueslix and orange juice and catch a cab to the airport. On the way Creedence Clearwater Revival played and I sent loving thoughts to my dad as CCR is one of his favorite bands and my sister Stacy as we attended a John Fogerty concert in the Santa Barbara bowl and it was incredible! I wai'ed to pictures of the King posted all the way to the airport and feel generally blissed out to be on yet another adventure.
Just yesterday, I bought a smaller, lighter backpack and left two giant bags full of STUFF with my friend Matt who lives in Bangkok. I feel light and free and ready to roll on yet another backpacking journey that I haven't felt in about five years. First, Nepal and then India...I've never wanted to go to India and witness the filth, disease and pestilence, but I've learned that India is everything in life - major spirituality all the time - and if I can embrace India, I can embrace life. I look forward to diving in to the challenge of the this country. But first, Nepal....a gentle segue into Indian culture in Delhi, Dharamsala and Ladakh (my Indian destinations).
I've already been invited to dinner on my first night in Nepal from a friend. I've also just received an email inviting me to a birthday party for a dutch lady named Silke who is a good friend of a person I met in Had Yuan. I have hotel reservations and will be picked up in the airport and I have my trusty lonely planet in my carryon to read about Nepal. I feel so very fortunate to be me. The world is my oyster and what lies in the exotic, Himalayan surrounded metropolis with just slightly fewer people than San Francisco from all over the world and history that dates back to Buddha is truly a marvelous gift waiting to be opened.
I left Had Yuan with a sweet feeling of completeness. The buggy blue eyed man came back and we were friends. I feel again that life has offered me amazing lessons. On my last day, I met a gentleman from Holland with blue eyes, a tan lined face and a heart the size of Montana. He was calm and very kind. We instantly connected. Although he has no interest in going to India for all the same reasons that I do, he is going to join me there in one month. We will see what unfurls. He had a dream that we were witnessing a body burning and we were both crying out of love. I can see that happening. He decided to wait for one month b/c he feels I need this journey through India on my own. I agree. We will see what the universe unfurls...as always, I am grateful for all that life offers...
The night before I left, I went back to Pyramid Yoga for a final kirtan and it was absolutely beautiful. It was Jenika's (the leader of kirtan) last night and many people attended. We sung to our hearts' delight and it just felt so loving and powerful. Everyone was glowing! After, we all went to Kerry's house (a lovely woman from the other yoga school - Agama) and sang w/a guitar around a bonfire and ate fruit and drank hot chai cooked over the fire. Again, this was lovely. The next morning, Kerry and I discussed love and India and lessons through yoga. She referred me to an acupuncurist to straighten the energy on my arm after the injury. I went to him and after the treatment, I started crying with all the fears I had about going to India and how incredibly lonely I felt. He switched to reiki on my stomach (where my sadness was) and told me for 40 minutes about all of the incredible spiritural experiences he had in India. He pointed out that I can always go to a fancy hotel if it gets too much or leave. I'm not trapped. But that this country holds more beauty and lessons and spirituality than any place on earth. In essence, he unblocked my energy (I felt little pops of energy with each needle), then I cried the pain out through my eyes, then he filled those spaces with white light ideas and facts about India. At the end of the session, I wasn't scared about India anymore and I embraced the fact that in going alone, that, too, is a beautiful thing. Now, I have a companion to join me after one month and there is something very calm and spiritual about this man. We will both be on amazing journeys. And it won't be easy.
Again, I feel blessed and happy and healthy and safe.
Nepalese people have asked the king to leave the palace and the army supports the people. I joke that they just wanted to clear the palace so I'd have a place to stay (Confessions of a High Maintenance Traveller strikes again!). But really, it will be an interesting time to be in Nepal and to learn about the people's feelings re. democracy and the monarchy. It is safe for me to be there. And so very interesting.
I came up to BKK with Jenika (the kirtan leader) and she gave me a talisman and all sorts of advice and encouragement re. my journey. She says it's perfect acclimization in Thailand, Nepal, India order and that it's going to be a journey of a lifetime. We discussed many beautiful things about yoga and spirituality and the journey of life. She is the last friend I saw before coming to this airport. She gave me a talisman of Lakshmi and Ganesh that I put on my gold chain with the jade buddha on it. I have the items I need to give due reverence to the Buddhists and the Hindus. I have the confidence and love and excitement to give myself due reverence on my journey.
Indeed, I surrender to the Universe and what continues to unfurl is nothing less than perfect, even the hardships offer me deep insights as everything that happens and everyone I meet is a reflection of something in me that I came on this journey to unravel and to love. So, love to one and all! Kathmandu, here I come. Dhanuvad!