27 November 2023 Uvita

In search of mosquito repellent

Years ago, I was visiting Wat Thamkrabok monastery in Thailand. I try to visit at least once a year and normally my accommodation is extremely basic but this time I was given a room in a new building with a proper bed, not just an old mattress on the floor, and even a desk and chair.

Around 3am my cellphone rang and I was asked if I would share my room with a man from the UK currently in a taxi heading to the monastery for addiction treatment. Apparently, he should have arrived here the previous day but he had decided to have one last ‘hit’ before surrendering to the monastery. This is a dangerous thing to do in Bangkok and not unexpectedly he was robbed of all his money and did not get the drugs he wanted. It could have been worse. The monastery would have to pay for the taxi until the man could arrange a funds transfer.

He was going to share my room until the Admission Office opened at 9am in the morning. I made him comfortable and as it was now approaching 5am, I decided to take my meditation mat and bench outside to ‘sit’ for an hour.

Once I had started my meditation I remembered that dawn is a prime time for being bitten by mosquitoes. I could hear at least one buzzing past my face, but I decided not to disturb my temporary roommate by going in search of insect repellent. I resolved to practice ‘Loving Kindness’ (Metta) for mosquitoes.

So for most of the next hour I directed my best wishes towards mosquitoes reciting:

May you be safe,
May you be well,
May you be happy.

Much to my relief, I did not receive a single bite during this time!
VJC

I didn’t have an alarm set but I was awake at 6:55.

No problem, I can make some coffee and go back to bed. Well maybe not… the apartment’s coffee maker was broken and there was no kettle to boil water.

OK I will go out for coffee and a walk on the beach.

But first, my mobile phone won’t charge because of a USB problem! Moisture or dirt in the USB charging port, so I left phone with a cooling fan blowing directly onto it and went for a stroll on the beach.

I intentionally brought cash with me to pay the entrance fee (and to have breakfast later), but the Parque Nacional Marino Ballena only accepts credit or bank cards. Fortunately, the Parque Ranger very kindly let me through to the beach anyway and said I could pay later.

It’s not yet 10 am and it’s very, very hot so just walked 20 minutes up the beach and 20 minutes back.

On the way back to the apartment there was nowhere open for coffee or for breakfast.

Around 1 pm I went to El Hornito to get a large chicken sandwich to take away. I took a seat at a table for the ten minutes it would take to make my sandwich, during which short time, I became a major blood donor for mosquitoes… sometimes Loving Kindness is not enough… ahhhhhh

I ate half the Chicken sandwich and put the rest in the fridge for later. Decided to do a little hand washing and left some clothes in the bathroom sink with the tape running, thinking that the overflow drainage holes would prevent any unintended water spillage. Think again… the overflow drainage holes did not drain!

The flooded shower room delayed my joining Monday’s ‘Sit-and-Share’ meeting but not by much. It is always good to make a connection, albeit a virtual one, with friends across the world.

My cellphone seems to be fixed now and is fully charged.

I took a 15-minute walk to the nearest supermarket for crisps and ice cream.

Supper consisted of potato crisps and the leftover chicken sandwich followed by ice-cream.

I am going to try to hit the beach early tomorrow to walk to the ‘Whales Tale’ and swim at low tide… but we will see!

Good night.

Budget costs: