There are few times in life when i am able to be 100% in the moment. I always get so fed up during a yoga or meditation class when they tell you to concentrate on your breathing and think of nothing - there's far too many things to think about to do that, especially when they have me contorted into uncomfortable positions. The only thing I have found that allows me to be present in the current moment, where nothing else can possibly enter my mind, is cooking. It is my form of meditation, a time when i am completely absorbed in what i am doing and incapable of negative thoughts or worries. I am happy to say that I have found yet another form of "meditation" in rock climbing. When you're clinging to a rock 100 feet above the ground, it's really hard to not be in the moment! I managed to get in about 7 climbs yesterday, scaling the limestone cliffs above the ocean, with views that would have taken my breath away (had the climb up there not managed that all on it's own). The locals that climbed with me were absolutely amazing, encouraging me so much that there was no way i couldn't make it to the top, and feeding me so many bananas as they insisted that "you eat like monkey, you climb like monkey". Krabie has this strange vibe, a black hole phenomenon that will suck you in and may never decide to spit you back out. The locals are decked out in dreds, covered in tattoos of jim morrison and bob marley, and all they are concerned about is making sure you have a good time. I'm pretty sure they have the best life imaginable - climbing every day, spending the nights on the beach listening to live reggae bands, and filling themseleves with bananas. I was planning on doing a couple days of kayaking and horseback riding, but now i think i just may head back to the beach and spend a few more days hanging from rocks - apparently the effects of the bananas have gone straight to my head:)
a few photos updated on flickr of the climb. i've yet to document any evidence of the brutally scratched knees that have left me looking like i had a run-in with the the school-yard bully at recess.
