After my dorian incident in the local bus (cfr. previous blogpost), I had to take an express bus to rhe airport. I honestly didn't expect very much comfort on the Asian buses, but I have to change my mind! I had a huge seat, with tons of legspace and...a massage couch!!No need telling that I kept the damn thing on for the entire 2h ride! It was so relaxing that I even took a nap...
Kuala Lumpur International Airport is very nice! Even if you are stuck for a long time in transit, you won't get bored! What I particularly liked is the Capsule Container Hotel.
You can rent a capsule for a certain amount of time and have a rest. That's amazing! I wish I had one of these when I got stuck in New York for 14h last year. It would have saved me 2 taxi rides and an expensive hotelroom!
When I landed on Langkawi, it was 10pm tus dark already. In Langkawi I am volunteering at a local family with gardening (via workaway). Pei Pei, the lady of the house, was picking me up at the airport.
In the car she explained me the rules of the house and what we already discussed with regards to the work I was doing and what I would get in return.
The place I'm staying is really nice! It's a small wooden house with such beautiful views and lots of space where I can unroll my yogamat.
•••my cosy little sleeping corner•••
Every morning I wake up around 6.30am. At 7am I'm having breakfast and at 7.30am I start working. My work is different every day, but it starts with watering the plants in the garden. That means +/- 30mins of easy labor, where I can still take the time to awaken my mind.
The first 2 days I was pulling weeds. Not necessarily hard work, but staying bent over for 4 hours is killing for the back...and not to mention the heat of the burning sun on my neck.
The third day I made a flower bed.
Apart from working, I am mainly chilling, a very important activity when you travel! After making this flower bed, I got a reward:
•••under the coconut tree, I'll be chilling with me•••
Pei Pei gave me a bike, so I can get around. The first day already I got lost! I needed to follow her back to the house from the bike shop (me on the bike, she was driving her white car). Note: almost all Langkawi cars are white and almost all the same brand)
Somewhere along the way se turned right and I didn't see that. Consequently, I found myself riding for a long time without seeing her. My intuition told me I was going too far but she would wait for me at every junction and since I hadn't seen het, she must be still ahead. I started believing my intuition at the point where I started to see the ocean. I didn't remember seeing that before.
I do remembering her telling methat she didn't live far from the airport (true: I always see the planes departing from the backyard). So I stopped and asked an old man to point me into the direction of the airport. Just what I thought...I had to go back. [before asking anyone for directions I once went back and then changed my mind again, thinking I maybe had to go a little further. So...I did the same road for about 4 times in the scortching heat in the middle of the afternoon.]
Stupid me didn't take her backpack from Pei Pei's car so I didn't have my phone nor passport with me and most important my bottle of water! I stopped along the road and begged for a little 'free' water - I felt I was going to faint otherwise. I'm sending this man lots of love and kindness for helping me!
Of course everything ended well and I got reunited with Pei Pei somewhere along the way. The most important thing in such a situation: just breathe and stay calm, no need to panic. Even if you're in a country where they don't understand you and you don't even know where you're staying at. 😅
In the evening Pei Pei took me to the beach where she introduced me to 'sun gazing'. I haven't had the chance to do some research on that topic - I don't have internet at the house - but you could see it as a form of meditation. Pei Pei is a level I en II reiki practitioner so she knows a lot about chakras and energy channels. She did a chakra cleansing with me and we ended with a breathing exercise from tai chi. I'm happy to share this expeience with whoever is interested in! We do need a beautiful sunset somewhere...at least for the sun gazing part we do.
The second day I went by myself exploring the beach area, but to be honest I find it too crowded and touristic. I prefer the backyard view or I'll look for other nice sceneries.
After you've been to Aruba and are used to the white sandy beaches with clear blue water...you're not easily satisfied any more when it coles to beaches. It looks like I'm missing the Arubean beaches sometimes.
But for now let's try to be mindfull, be in the moment and enjoy the present:
PS: the family cat peed on me while I was working in the garden & the landlady gave me a stick to use at night when going to the bathroom, which is outside...to scare off the rice field snakes
Labels: Malaysia, Travel
